← 3.38.1 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 38: Rāvaṇa compels Mārīca · 3.38.3 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.38.2

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: Rāvaṇa refuses Mārīca's advice and declares that neither Suras nor asuras can change his decision to take Sītā

3.38.2

taṃ pathyahitavaktāraṃ mārīcaṃ rākṣasādhipaḥ
abravīt paruṣaṃ vākyam ayuktaṃ kālacoditaḥ

To that Mārīca, who spoke what was wholesome and beneficial, the lord of rākṣasas, driven by fate, spoke harsh and unfitting words:

Words: taṃ — to him; pathyahitavaktāraṃ — speaker of what is wholesome and beneficial; mārīcaṃ — Mārīca; rākṣasādhipaḥ — the lord of rākṣasas; abravīt — spoke; paruṣaṃ — harsh; vākyam — words; ayuktaṃ — unfitting; kālacoditaḥ — driven by fate, impelled by time

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.