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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.42.12
Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 42: Mārīca’s false cry. Mortally wounded, he calls in Rāma’s voice, Rāma fears for Sītā and takes another deer’s meat before hurrying back
In the sequence: the arrow pierces Mārīca's heart → he leaps into the air and falls, mortally wounded
3.42.12
sa bhṛśaṃ mṛgarūpasya vinirbhidya śarottamaḥ
mārīcasyaiva hṛdayaṃ vibhedāśanisaṃnibhaḥ
That best of arrows, like a thunderbolt, piercing deep into the deer-form, cleft the very heart of Mārīca.
Words: sa — it; bhṛśaṃ — deeply, violently; mṛgarūpasya — of the deer-form; vinirbhidya — having pierced through; śarottamaḥ — the best of arrows; mārīcasyaiva — of Mārīca himself; hṛdayaṃ — the heart; vibhedāśanisaṃnibhaḥ — (the arrow) like a thunderbolt cleft (it)
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.