← 3.17.4 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 17: Śūrpaṇakhā attacks Sītā · 3.17.6 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.17.5

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: teasing her, he presents Lakṣmaṇa as an unmarried young man who needs a wife and directs her to him

3.17.5

enaṃ bhaja viśālākṣi bhartāraṃ bhrātaraṃ mama
asapatnā varārohe merum arkaprabhā yathā

Take him, O large-eyed one, my brother, as a husband — free of any rival, O fair-hipped one, as the sun's radiance clings to Mount Meru.

Words: enaṃ — him; bhaja — take, resort to; viśālākṣi — O large-eyed one; bhartāraṃ — as a husband; bhrātaraṃ — brother; mama — my; asapatnā — free of a rival, without a co-wife; varārohe — O fair-hipped one; merum — Mount Meru; arkaprabhā — the sun's radiance; yathā — as, like

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.