← 3.44.20 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 44: Rāvaṇa’s parivrājaka disguise · 3.44.22 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.44.21

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

3.44.21

karāntamitamadhyāsi sukeśī saṃhatastanī
naiva devī na gandharvī na yakṣī na ca kiṃnarī

Your waist can be spanned by a hand, your hair is beautiful, your breasts firm-set; you are no goddess, no gandharva-woman, no yakṣī, nor kiṃnarī.

Words: karāntamitamadhyāsi — your waist can be spanned by a hand; sukeśī — having beautiful hair; saṃhatastanī — with firm, close-set breasts; naiva — not; devī — a goddess; na — not; gandharvī — a gandharva-woman; na — not; yakṣī — a yakṣī; na — not; ca — and; kiṃnarī — a kiṃnarī

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.