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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.10.58
Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 10: Ten years among the hermitages. Māṇḍakarṇi’s lake music is explained, years of visits lead toward Agastya, Rāma recounts his digestion of Vātāpi
In the sequence: after the meal Ilvala would call him out, and Vātāpi would tear through their bodies, killing them → the brothers destroyed thousands in this way
3.10.58
brāhmaṇānāṃ sahasrāṇi tair evaṃ kāmarūpibhiḥ
vināśitāni saṃhatya nityaśaḥ piśitāśanaiḥ
Thousands of brahmins were thus destroyed by those two, who could take any form at will, joining together — those constant flesh-eaters.
Words: brāhmaṇānāṃ — of brahmins; sahasrāṇi — thousands; tair — by those; evaṃ — thus; kāmarūpibhiḥ — by those taking any form at will; vināśitāni — were destroyed; saṃhatya — joining together, in concert; nityaśaḥ — constantly; piśitāśanaiḥ — by the flesh-eaters
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.