← 2.57.14 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 57: Daśaratha’s arrow aimed at a sound · 2.57.16 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.57.15

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 57: Daśaratha’s arrow aimed at a sound. He recalls mistaking a filling pot for an elephant and shooting a youth who directs him to his blind parents

In the sequence: waiting in darkness for an animal to drink, he heard a pot filling with water → mistaking the sound for an elephant, he shot without seeing his target

2.57.15

nipāne mahiṣaṃ rātrau gajaṃ vābhyāgataṃ nadīm
anyaṃ vā śvāpadaṃ kaṃ cij jighāṃsur ajitendriyaḥ

Wishing to kill, at a watering-place by night, a buffalo or an elephant come to the river, or some other beast of prey — I, my senses unmastered —

Words: nipāne — at a watering-place; mahiṣaṃ — a buffalo; rātrau — at night; gajaṃ — an elephant; vābhyāgataṃ — or come (to); nadīm — the river; anyaṃ — another; vā — or; śvāpadaṃ — beast of prey; kaṃ — some; cij — any; jighāṃsur — wishing to kill; ajitendriyaḥ — with senses unconquered

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.