← 3.36.1 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 36: Mārīca’s story of his first defeat · 3.36.3 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.36.2

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

3.36.2

nīlajīmūtasaṃkāśas taptakāñcanakuṇḍalaḥ
bhayaṃ lokasya janayan kirīṭī parighāyudhaḥ
vyacaraṃ daṇḍakāraṇyam ṛṣimāṃsāni bhakṣayan

resembling a dark thundercloud, with earrings of refined gold, crowned and armed with an iron bludgeon, striking terror into the world, I roamed the Daṇḍaka forest, devouring the flesh of sages.

Words: nīlajīmūtasaṃkāśas — resembling a dark cloud; taptakāñcanakuṇḍalaḥ — with earrings of refined gold; bhayaṃ — fear; lokasya — of the world; janayan — producing, causing; kirīṭī — crowned, wearing a diadem; parighāyudhaḥ — armed with an iron club; vyacaraṃ — I roamed; daṇḍakāraṇyam — the Daṇḍaka forest; ṛṣimāṃsāni — the flesh of sages; bhakṣayan — devouring

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.