Araṇya Kāṇḍa 36: Mārīca’s story of his first defeat · 3.36.2 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.36.1

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 36: Mārīca’s story of his first defeat. He recalls attacking Viśvāmitra’s sacrifice and being hurled a hundred yojanas into the sea by the young Rāma’s arrow

In the sequence: Mārīca recounts his former life as a powerful, arrogant killer of forest ṛṣis

3.36.1

kadā cid apy ahaṃ vīryāt paryaṭan pṛthivīm imām
balaṃ nāgasahasrasya dhārayan parvatopamaḥ

Once, in my might, roaming this earth, bearing the strength of a thousand elephants, like a mountain,

Words: kadā cid apy — once upon a time; ahaṃ — I; vīryāt — out of (my) strength, valour; paryaṭan — roaming, wandering; pṛthivīm imām — this earth; balaṃ — the strength; nāgasahasrasya — of a thousand elephants; dhārayan — bearing, holding; parvatopamaḥ — like a mountain

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.