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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.41.39

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 recalls Agastya's destruction of Vātāpi and says the same fate awaits a rākṣasa who underestimates him

3.41.39

purastād iha vātāpiḥ paribhūya tapasvinaḥ
udarastho dvijān hanti svagarbho 'śvatarīm iva

In olden days here Vātāpi, scorning ascetics, would kill the brahmins from within their bellies, as an unborn foal kills a she-mule.

Words: purastād — in olden days, before; iha — here; vātāpiḥ — Vātāpi; paribhūya — having scorned; tapasvinaḥ — the ascetics; udarastho — being in the belly; dvijān — the brahmins (twice-born); hanti — kills; svagarbho — as an embryo, unborn young; 'śvatarīm iva — like a she-mule

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.