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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.15.8
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: Lakṣmaṇa describes the sun’s southward course and the snowy Himālaya
3.15.8
sevamāne dṛḍhaṃ sūrye diśam antakasevitām
vihīnatilakeva strī nottarā dik prakāśate
As the sun steadfastly resorts to the quarter frequented by Death (the south), the northern quarter, like a woman bereft of her forehead-mark, does not shine.
Words: sevamāne — as it resorts to; dṛḍhaṃ — firmly, steadfastly; sūrye — the sun; diśam — the quarter, direction; antakasevitām — frequented by Death (the south); vihīnatilakeva — like (a woman) deprived of her forehead-mark; strī — a woman; nottarā — not the northern; dik — quarter, direction; prakāśate — shines, appears bright
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.