← 2.50.8 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 50: The Citrakūṭa hut and its rites · 2.50.10 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.50.9

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 50: The Citrakūṭa hut and its rites. Lakṣmaṇa builds and roasts a black antelope, Rāma bathes and makes a protective offering before they enter

In the sequence: he notices large honeycombs, birds calling to one another, and the mountain's animal life

2.50.9

eṣa krośati natyūhas taṃ śikhī pratikūjati
ramaṇīye vanoddeśe puṣpasaṃstarasaṃkaṭe

'Here a gallinule cries out, and the peacock calls back to it, in this delightful stretch of forest thick with a carpet of flowers.'

Words: eṣa — here (this one); krośati — cries out; natyūhas — the gallinule (a water-bird); taṃ — to it; śikhī — the peacock; pratikūjati — calls back, answers; ramaṇīye — delightful; vanoddeśe — in the stretch of forest; puṣpasaṃstarasaṃkaṭe — thick with a carpet of flowers

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.