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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.20.4

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 20: Śūrpaṇakhā challenges Khara. She reports the fourteen deaths, threatens to die and tells him to fight Rāma or abandon Janasthāna

In the sequence: Khara asks why she has returned weeping when he sent loyal, powerful fighters to help her

3.20.4

kim etac chrotum icchāmi kāraṇaṃ yatkṛte punaḥ
hā nātheti vinardantī sarpavad veṣṭase kṣitau

I wish to hear what this reason is, for which, crying ‘Alas, my lord!’, you writhe on the ground like a serpent.

Words: kim — what; etac — this; chrotum — to hear; icchāmi — I wish; kāraṇaṃ — reason, cause; yatkṛte — for the sake of which; punaḥ — again; hā nātheti — 'Alas, O lord!'; vinardantī — crying out, wailing; sarpavad — like a serpent; veṣṭase — you writhe, roll; kṣitau — on the ground

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.