← 3.23.19 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 23: Rāma prepares to fight alone · 3.23.21 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.23.20
Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 23: Rāma prepares to fight alone. He reads the omens as signs of victory, sends Sītā & Lakṣmaṇa into a mountain cave and faces the fourteen thousand
In the sequence: the rākṣasa army arrives with shouting, drums, and twanging bows, driving the animals away
3.23.20
siṃhanādaṃ visṛjatām anyonyam abhigarjatām
cāpāni vispharayatāṃ jṛmbhatāṃ cāpy abhīkṣṇaśaḥ
Of (those rākṣasas) uttering lion-roars, bellowing at one another, twanging their bows, and stretching their limbs again and again —
Words: siṃhanādaṃ — a lion-roar; visṛjatām — of (those) uttering, letting out; anyonyam — at one another, mutually; abhigarjatām — of (those) bellowing, roaring; cāpāni — bows; vispharayatāṃ — of (those) twanging, stretching; jṛmbhatāṃ — of (those) stretching (limbering up); cāpy — and also; abhīkṣṇaśaḥ — repeatedly, again and again
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.