← 3.36.27 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 36: Mārīca’s story of his first defeat
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.36.28
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: he predicts a burning Laṅkā surrounded by arrows and urges Rāvaṇa to remain content with his own wives → abducting Sītā will bring death to him and his relatives.
3.36.28
nivāryamāṇaḥ suhṛdā mayā bhṛśaṃ prasahya sītāṃ yadi dharṣayiṣyasi
gamiṣyasi kṣīṇabalaḥ sabāndhavo yamakṣayaṃ rāmaśarāttajīvitaḥ
Though earnestly restrained by me, your well-wisher, if you violently assault Sītā, you will go—your strength drained, with your kinsmen—to the abode of Yama, your life seized by Rāma's arrows.
Words: nivāryamāṇaḥ — being restrained; suhṛdā — by (your) well-wisher; mayā — by me; bhṛśaṃ — earnestly, strongly; prasahya — by force, violently; sītāṃ — Sītā; yadi — if; dharṣayiṣyasi — you will assault, violate; gamiṣyasi — you will go; kṣīṇabalaḥ — with strength drained; sabāndhavo — with your kinsmen; yamakṣayaṃ — to the abode of Yama; rāmaśarāttajīvitaḥ — your life seized by Rāma's arrows
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.