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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.109.18

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 109: Rāma leaves Citrakūṭa for Atri. Family memories and the army’s animal waste prompt departure, Atri recounts Anasūyā’s relief of a ten-year drought and sends Sītā to her

In the sequence: Sītā approaches the elderly woman, introduces herself, and bows

2.109.18

śithilāṃ valitāṃ vṛddhāṃ jarāpāṇḍuramūrdhajām
satataṃ vepamānāṅgīṃ pravāte kadalī yathā

— slack-limbed, wrinkled, aged, her hair grown gray with age, her limbs ever trembling like a plantain tree in the wind —

Words: śithilāṃ — slack, loose-limbed; valitāṃ — wrinkled; vṛddhāṃ — aged; jarāpāṇḍuramūrdhajām — with hair whitened by age; satataṃ — continually; vepamānāṅgīṃ — with trembling limbs; pravāte — in the wind; kadalī — a plantain tree; yathā — like

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.