← 3.17.12 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 17: Śūrpaṇakhā attacks Sītā · 3.17.14 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.17.13

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 17: Śūrpaṇakhā attacks Sītā. The brothers’ teasing turns to danger, Rāma orders her disfigurement, Lakṣmaṇa cuts off her ears and nose and she flees

In the sequence: Śūrpaṇakhā fails to recognize the joke and takes him literally

3.17.13

iti sā lakṣmaṇenoktā karālā nirṇatodarī
manyate tad vacaḥ satyaṃ parihāsāvicakṣaṇā

Thus addressed by Lakṣmaṇa, the dreadful, hollow-bellied one, unable to see the jest, took those words to be true.

Words: iti — thus; sā — she; lakṣmaṇenoktā — addressed by Lakṣmaṇa; karālā — the dreadful one; nirṇatodarī — the hollow-bellied one; manyate — thinks, takes; tad vacaḥ — those words; satyaṃ — true; parihāsāvicakṣaṇā — unable to discern the jest

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.