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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.15.24
Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 15: Rāma’s winter bath in the Godāvarī. Lakṣmaṇa describes cold water and imagines Bharata’s Sarayū bath, Rāma bathes with Sītā & Lakṣmaṇa and offers water
In the sequence: fog hides the river birds, leaving only their calls; frost wets the banks, makes water on the treetops pleasant to taste, and shatters the lotuses, leaving bare stalks.
3.15.24
jarājarjaritaiḥ parṇaiḥ śīrṇakesarakarṇikaiḥ
nālaśeṣā himadhvastā na bhānti kamalākarāḥ
With their leaves worn out by age, their filaments and seed-cups fallen, only their stalks remaining, shattered by frost, the lotus-ponds no longer shine.
Words: jarājarjaritaiḥ — worn out by old age; parṇaiḥ — with leaves; śīrṇakesarakarṇikaiḥ — with fallen filaments and seed-cups; nālaśeṣā — with only the stalks remaining; himadhvastā — shattered by frost; na — not; bhānti — shine; kamalākarāḥ — the lotus-ponds
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.