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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.35.19

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 35: Mārīca’s warning. He corrects Rāvaṇa’s account of Rāma’s exile, praises Rāma’s character and urges consultation before a plan that could destroy Laṅkā

In the sequence: he praises Rāma's character and compares abducting Sītā to seizing the sun's radiance or entering a blazing fire

3.35.19

prāṇebhyo 'pi priyatarā bhāryā nityam anuvratā
dīptasyeva hutāśasya śikhā sītā sumadhyamā

Dearer to him even than his life, ever devoted, his wife—slender-waisted Sītā—is like the flame of a blazing fire.

Words: prāṇebhyo 'pi — even than his life-breaths; priyatarā — dearer; bhāryā — wife; nityam — ever, always; anuvratā — devoted, faithful; dīptasyeva — as of the blazing; hutāśasya — of the fire (oblation-eater); śikhā — flame, crest; sītā — Sītā; sumadhyamā — slender-waisted

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.