← 3.17.18 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 17: Śūrpaṇakhā attacks Sītā · 3.17.20 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.17.19

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

3.17.19

krūrair anāryaiḥ saumitre parihāsaḥ kathaṃ cana
na kāryaḥ paśya vaidehīṃ kathaṃ cit saumya jīvatīm

“With cruel, ignoble beings, Saumitri, jesting should by no means be done; look, gentle one, at Vaidehī, barely alive!

Words: krūrair — with cruel (ones); anāryaiḥ — with ignoble (ones); saumitre — O Saumitri; parihāsaḥ — jest, joking; kathaṃ cana — by any means, at all; na kāryaḥ — should not be done; paśya — look at; vaidehīṃ — Vaidehī (Sītā); kathaṃ cit — barely, somehow; saumya — O gentle one; jīvatīm — (barely) alive

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.