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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.4.2

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 4: Śarabhaṅga’s ascent through fire. Indra departs before meeting Rāma, the ṛṣi receives him and rises young from the flames to Brahmā’s world

In the sequence: Rāma embraces and comforts Sītā, then proposes going quickly to the ṛṣi Śarabhaṅga because the forest is difficult and unfamiliar

3.4.2

kaṣṭaṃ vanam idaṃ durgaṃ na ca smo vanagocarāḥ
abhigacchāmahe śīghraṃ śarabhaṅgaṃ tapodhanam

“This forest is harsh and hard to traverse, and we are not used to dwelling in the wild; let us quickly go to Śarabhaṅga, rich in austerity.

Words: kaṣṭaṃ — harsh, grievous; vanam — forest; idaṃ — this; durgaṃ — hard to traverse; na — not; ca — and; smo — we are; vanagocarāḥ — dwellers of the forest; abhigacchāmahe — let us go to; śīghraṃ — quickly; śarabhaṅgaṃ — Śarabhaṅga; tapodhanam — rich in austerity

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.