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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.38.7
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
3.38.7
evaṃ me niścitā buddhir hṛdi mārīca vartate
na vyāvartayituṃ śakyā sendrair api surāsuraiḥ
Such is the resolve fixed in my heart, Mārīca; it cannot be turned aside even by the gods and asuras together with Indra.
Words: evaṃ — thus; me — my; niścitā — determined, fixed; buddhir — resolve, mind; hṛdi — in the heart; mārīca — O Mārīca; vartate — abides, exists; na vyāvartayituṃ — not to be turned away; śakyā — able, possible; sendrair api — even with Indra; surāsuraiḥ — by gods and asuras
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.