← 3.17.17 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 17: Śūrpaṇakhā attacks Sītā · 3.17.19 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.17.18

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: Rāma intercepts her and tells Lakṣmaṇa that joking with a cruel person has endangered Sītā → he orders him to disfigure Śūrpaṇakhā

3.17.18

tāṃ mṛtyupāśapratimām āpatantīṃ mahābalaḥ
nigṛhya rāmaḥ kupitas tato lakṣmaṇam abravīt

Mighty Rāma, seizing her as she rushed on like the noose of death, then, enraged, spoke to Lakṣmaṇa:

Words: tāṃ — her; mṛtyupāśapratimām — resembling the noose of death; āpatantīṃ — rushing on, falling upon; mahābalaḥ — the mighty one; nigṛhya — having seized, restrained; rāmaḥ — Rāma; kupitas — enraged; tato — then; lakṣmaṇam — to Lakṣmaṇa; abravīt — spoke

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.