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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.45.40

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 45: Rāvaṇa reveals his identity. Sītā recounts her marriage and exile, he offers Queenship in Laṅkā and she rejects him with warnings of destruction

In the sequence: she insists that Rāvaṇa is as far below Rāma as lead below gold or a crow below Garuḍa, and that abducting her will destroy him

3.45.40

yad antaraṃ siṃhaśṛgālayor vane yad antaraṃ syandanikāsamudrayoḥ
surāgryasauvīrakayor yad antaraṃ tad antaraṃ dāśarathes tavaiva ca

'The difference between a lion and a jackal in the forest, between a rivulet and the sea, between fine nectar and sour gruel — such is the difference between the son of Daśaratha and you.'

Words: yad — what; antaraṃ — difference; siṃhaśṛgālayor — between a lion and a jackal; vane — in the forest; yad — what; antaraṃ — difference; syandanikāsamudrayoḥ — between a rivulet and the ocean; surāgryasauvīrakayor — between fine nectar and sour gruel; yad — what; antaraṃ — difference; tad — that; antaraṃ — difference; dāśarathes — of the son of Daśaratha; tavaiva — and of you yourself; ca — and

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.