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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.25.13

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 25: Rāma describes the hardships of forest life. Rāma describes the forest’s hunger, exposure, dangerous animals and tapasvin hardships, Sītā remains determined to accompany him

In the sequence: insects will bite them, and thorns and tangled grass will obstruct their way

2.25.13

drumāḥ kaṇṭakinaś caiva kuśakāśāś ca bhāmini
vane vyākulaśākhāgrās tena duḥkhataraṃ vanam

Thorny trees, and kuśa and kāśa grasses, O lovely one, with branch-tips all entangled in the forest—by that the forest is more painful still.

Words: drumāḥ — trees; kaṇṭakinaś caiva — and thorny; kuśakāśāś ca — and kuśa and kāśa grasses; bhāmini — O radiant one; vane — in the forest; vyākulaśākhāgrās — with tangled branch-tips; tena duḥkhataraṃ vanam — by that the forest is more painful

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.