← 3.38.4 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 38: Rāvaṇa compels Mārīca · 3.38.6 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.38.5
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
3.38.5
yas tyaktvā suhṛdo rājyaṃ mātaraṃ pitaraṃ tathā
strīvākyaṃ prākṛtaṃ śrutvā vanam ekapade gataḥ
who, forsaking friends, kingdom, mother, and father, on hearing the vulgar word of a woman, went off to the forest in a single step.
Words: yas — who; tyaktvā — having forsaken; suhṛdo — friends; rājyaṃ — kingdom; mātaraṃ — mother; pitaraṃ — father; tathā — and, likewise; strīvākyaṃ — a woman's word; prākṛtaṃ — vulgar, common; śrutvā — having heard; vanam — to the forest; ekapade — in a single step, instantly; gataḥ — went
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.