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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.38.14
Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 38: Rāvaṇa compels Mārīca. He rejects unwelcome advice, offers half his Kingdom for help and threatens immediate death if Mārīca refuses the deer disguise
In the sequence: he says he came for assistance, not a judgment on the plan
3.38.14
abhyāgataṃ māṃ daurātmyāt paruṣaṃ vadasīdṛśam
guṇadoṣau na pṛcchāmi kṣamaṃ cātmani rākṣasa
asmiṃs tu sa bhavān kṛtye sāhāryyaṃ kartum arhasi
Out of malice you speak such harsh words to me, who have come to you (as a guest); I ask you neither about merits and faults nor about what is fitting for me, O rākṣasa; but your honour must render assistance in this task.
Words: abhyāgataṃ — who has come (as a guest); māṃ — to me; daurātmyāt — out of malice, wickedness; paruṣaṃ — harsh (words); vadasīdṛśam — you speak such; guṇadoṣau — merits and faults; na pṛcchāmi — I do not ask; kṣamaṃ — what is fitting; cātmani — and for myself; rākṣasa — O rākṣasa; asmiṃs tu — but in this; sa bhavān — your honour; kṛtye — task, deed; sāhāryyaṃ — assistance [source spells 'sāhāryyaṃ']; kartum arhasi — ought to render
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.