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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.37.7

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: he encountered Rāma during the exile, with Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa

3.37.7

tadāhaṃ daṇḍakāraṇye vicaran dharmadūṣakaḥ
āsādayaṃ tadā rāmaṃ tāpasaṃ dharmam āśritam

Then, wandering in the Daṇḍaka forest, a defiler of dharma, I came upon Rāma, living as an ascetic, devoted to dharma,

Words: tadāhaṃ — then I; daṇḍakāraṇye — in the Daṇḍaka forest; vicaran — wandering; dharmadūṣakaḥ — a defiler of dharma; āsādayaṃ — I came upon; tadā — then; rāmaṃ — Rāma; tāpasaṃ — as an ascetic; dharmam āśritam — devoted to dharma, resorting to dharma

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.