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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.40.21

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

3.40.21

rājīvacitrapṛṣṭhaḥ sa virarāja mahāmṛgaḥ
rāmāśramapadābhyāśe vicacāra yathāsukham

That great deer, with a back dappled like a blue lotus, shone forth, and roamed at his ease near Rāma's hermitage.

Words: rājīvacitrapṛṣṭhaḥ — with a back dappled like a blue lotus; sa — he; virarāja — shone forth; mahāmṛgaḥ — the great deer; rāmāśramapadābhyāśe — in the vicinity of Rāma's hermitage; vicacāra — roamed; yathāsukham — at ease

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.