← 1.25.7 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 25: Rāma kills Tāṭakā · 1.25.9 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.25.8
Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 25: Rāma kills Tāṭakā. Rāma’s bowstring draws her attack, he kills her with an arrow to the breast and the Devas ask Viśvāmitra to reward him with divine weapons
In the sequence: he grips the middle of his bow firmly in his fist and makes the bowstring twang fiercely, filling every direction with sound → the forest creatures are terrified → bewildered and enraged by the sound, Tāṭakā rushes toward its source
1.25.8
taṃ śabdam abhinidhyāya rākṣasī krodhamūrchitā
śrutvā cābhyadravad vegād yataḥ śabdo viniḥsṛtaḥ
Fixing her attention on that sound, the rākṣasī, senseless with rage, and having heard it, rushed with speed toward where the sound had issued forth.
Words: taṃ — that; śabdam — sound; abhinidhyāya — having marked, fixed attention on; rākṣasī — the rākṣasī; krodhamūrchitā — senseless with rage; śrutvā — having heard; cābhyadravad — and rushed; vegād — with speed; yataḥ — whence; śabdo — the sound; viniḥsṛtaḥ — had issued forth
Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.