← 3.41.19 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 41: Rāma pursues the deer · 3.41.21 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.41.20

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 41: Rāma pursues the deer. Lakṣmaṇa suspects Mārīca, Sītā asks for the living animal or its hide and Rāma leaves Lakṣmaṇa to guard her

In the sequence: she hopes to take it back to Ayodhyā as a living marvel for the family → if it cannot be caught alive, she asks for its golden hide to spread over her grass couch

3.41.20

kāmavṛttam idaṃ raudraṃ strīṇām asadṛśaṃ matam
vapuṣā tv asya sattvasya vismayo janito mama

This self-willed and savage (wish) is deemed unbecoming for women; yet by the beauty of this creature wonder has been stirred in me.

Words: kāmavṛttam — self-willed, wanton; idaṃ — this; raudraṃ — savage, fierce; strīṇām — of, for women; asadṛśaṃ — unbecoming, unfitting; matam — deemed, considered; vapuṣā — by the body, beauty; tv — but; asya sattvasya — of this creature; vismayo — wonder; janito — produced; mama — in me

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.