← 3.23.20 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 23: Rāma prepares to fight alone · 3.23.22 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.23.21
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
3.23.21
vipraghuṣṭasvanānāṃ ca dundubhīṃś cāpi nighnatām
teṣāṃ sutumulaḥ śabdaḥ pūrayām āsa tad vanam
and (of those) shouting loud and beating kettle-drums — the tumultuous noise of them filled that forest.
Words: vipraghuṣṭasvanānāṃ — of (those) of loud-shouting voice; ca — and; dundubhīṃś — kettle-drums; cāpi — and also; nighnatām — of (those) beating; teṣāṃ — of them; sutumulaḥ — very tumultuous; śabdaḥ — noise, sound; pūrayām āsa — filled; tad vanam — that forest
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.