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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.40.19

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 40: The golden deer appears. Mārīca yields to Rāvaṇa, travels to the hermitage and assumes a jewelled deer’s form that attracts Sītā while frightening the real deer

In the sequence: he moves gracefully over the grass, nibbles shoots, and approaches the trees near the hut so that Sītā will see him

3.40.19

rūpyabinduśataiś citro bhūtvā ca priyadarśanaḥ
viṭapīnāṃ kisalayān bhaṅktvādan vicacāra ha

Dappled with hundreds of silver spots and lovely to behold, breaking off the tender shoots of the trees and eating them, he roamed about.

Words: rūpyabinduśataiś — with hundreds of silver spots; citro — dappled; bhūtvā ca — and having become; priyadarśanaḥ — lovely to behold; viṭapīnāṃ — of the trees; kisalayān — the tender shoots; bhaṅktvādan — breaking and eating; vicacāra ha — roamed

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.