← 3.40.1 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 40: The golden deer appears · 3.40.3 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.40.2
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: Afraid of Rāvaṇa and expecting death from Rāma, Mārīca finally agrees to go
3.40.2
dṛṣṭāś cāhaṃ punas tena śaracāpāsidhāriṇā
madvidhodyataśastreṇa vinaṣṭaṃ jīvitaṃ ca me
If I am seen again by him—wielder of arrow, bow, and sword, who raises his weapon against ones like me—then my life is lost.
Words: dṛṣṭāś cāhaṃ — and (if) I am seen; punas — again; tena — by him; śaracāpāsidhāriṇā — wielder of arrow, bow, and sword; madvidhodyataśastreṇa — whose weapon is raised against ones like me; vinaṣṭaṃ — lost, destroyed; jīvitaṃ ca me — and my life
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.