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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.34.19

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 34: Rāvaṇa’s abduction plan. Mārīca must become a golden deer to lure the brothers away, leaving Sītā unguarded and Rāma vulnerable to grief

In the sequence: Rāvaṇa expects her to ask the brothers to catch it, leaving the hut unguarded → he plans to abduct her in their absence and later kill Rāma when grief has weakened him

3.34.19

tatas tayor apāye tu śūnye sītāṃ yathāsukham
nirābādho hariṣyāmi rāhuś candraprabhām iva

Then, in the absence of those two, when the place is empty, I shall carry off Sītā at my ease, unhindered, as Rāhu seizes the radiance of the moon.

Words: tatas — then; tayor apāye — at the departure of those two; tu — indeed; śūnye — in the empty (place); sītāṃ — Sītā; yathāsukham — at ease, comfortably; nirābādho — unhindered; hariṣyāmi — I shall carry off; rāhuś — Rāhu; candraprabhām — the radiance of the moon; iva — like

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.