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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.37.17
Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 37: Mārīca’s second defeat and terror. His deer-form attack costs two companions, he abandons violence but still sees and fears Rāma everywhere
In the sequence: fear still makes him see Rāma behind every tree and wake in terror from dreams; even words beginning with “ra,” such as ratna and ratha, frighten him
3.37.17
rāmam eva hi paśyāmi rahite rākṣaseśvara
dṛṣṭvā svapnagataṃ rāmam udbhramāmi vicetanaḥ
In a lonely place I see Rāma and nothing else, O lord of rākṣasas; seeing Rāma come in a dream, I start up, out of my senses.
Words: rāmam eva — Rāma alone; hi — indeed; paśyāmi — I see; rahite — in a lonely, empty place; rākṣaseśvara — O lord of rākṣasas; dṛṣṭvā — having seen; svapnagataṃ — come in a dream; rāmam — Rāma; udbhramāmi — I start up, become agitated; vicetanaḥ — senseless, out of my wits
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.