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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.40.29
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: Sītā comes out gathering flowers and sees him → his extraordinary appearance holds her attention while he continues moving within view.
3.40.29
kusumāny apacinvantī cacāra rucirānanā
anarhāraṇyavāsasya sā taṃ ratnamayaṃ mṛgam
muktāmaṇivicitrāṅgaṃ dadarśa paramāṅganā
Gathering flowers, the fair-faced one wandered about; she, that peerless woman, wife of one who ill deserved to dwell in the forest, beheld that jewelled deer, its body variegated with pearls and gems.
Words: kusumāny — flowers; apacinvantī — gathering, plucking; cacāra — wandered; rucirānanā — fair-faced; anarhāraṇyavāsasya — of one who did not deserve forest-dwelling [gen., ref. to Rāma]; sā — she; taṃ ratnamayaṃ mṛgam — that jewelled deer; muktāmaṇivicitrāṅgaṃ — with body variegated with pearls and gems; dadarśa — beheld; paramāṅganā — the peerless woman
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.