← 3.41.37 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 41: Rāma pursues the deer · 3.41.39 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.41.38

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: he adds that if Lakṣmaṇa is right and it is Mārīca, then killing it is justified by the rākṣasa's attacks on munis and hunters

3.41.38

utthāya bahavo yena mṛgayāyāṃ janādhipāḥ
nihatāḥ parameṣvāsās tasmād vadhyas tv ayaṃ mṛgaḥ

by whom many kings, mighty archers, setting out on the hunt, were slain; therefore this deer deserves to die.

Words: utthāya — having set out; bahavo — many; yena — by whom; mṛgayāyāṃ — in the hunt; janādhipāḥ — kings; nihatāḥ — slain; parameṣvāsās — mighty archers; tasmād — therefore; vadhyas tv ayaṃ — and this deserves death; mṛgaḥ — deer

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.