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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.44.20

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 44: Rāvaṇa’s parivrājaka disguise. He approaches Sītā with Vedic words and praise of her beauty, she receives him as a brāhmaṇa guest

In the sequence: he recites Vedic words, speaks humbly, and praises her beauty, asking whether she is a devī

3.44.20

cārusmite cārudati cārunetre vilāsini
mano harasi me rāme nadīkūlam ivāmbhasā

O you of lovely smile, lovely teeth, and lovely eyes, O charming one — you steal my heart, beautiful woman, as a river's water steals away its bank.

Words: cārusmite — O lovely-smiling one; cārudati — O lovely-toothed one; cārunetre — O lovely-eyed one; vilāsini — O charming one; mano — the heart; harasi — you steal; me — my; rāme — O beautiful woman; nadīkūlam — a river's bank; ivāmbhasā — as by the water

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.