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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.42.4

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 deer repeatedly appears and disappears, stays just beyond arrow range, and draws him farther into the forest

3.42.4

baddhāsir dhanur ādāya pradudrāva yato mṛgaḥ
taṃ sa paśyati rūpeṇa dyotamānam ivāgrataḥ

With his sword girded, taking his bow, he ran off in the direction the deer went; he saw it shining, as it were, in beauty before him.

Words: baddhāsir — with sword girded; dhanur ādāya — taking the bow; pradudrāva — ran forth; yato mṛgaḥ — where the deer (went); taṃ sa paśyati — he sees it; rūpeṇa — in beauty, form; dyotamānam — shining; ivāgrataḥ — as if before (him)

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.