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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.48.14

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 48: Jaṭāyu confronts Rāvaṇa. The aged vulture condemns the abduction, demands Sītā’s release and challenges the armed ruler despite his own disadvantage

In the sequence: he argues that Rāma has not injured Rāvaṇa's city or Kingdom: Khara brought his defeat upon himself by attacking for Śūrpaṇakhā's sake

3.48.14

atra brūhi yathāsatyaṃ ko rāmasya vyatikramaḥ
yasya tvaṃ lokanāthasya hṛtvā bhāryāṃ gamiṣyasi

'—then tell me truly: what wrong has Rāma done, that you should carry off the wife of this lord of the world and make away with her?'

Words: atra — here, on this; brūhi — tell; yathāsatyaṃ — truthfully; ko — what; rāmasya — of Rāma; vyatikramaḥ — transgression, offense; yasya — whose; tvaṃ — you; lokanāthasya — of the lord of the world; hṛtvā — having carried off; bhāryāṃ — wife; gamiṣyasi — you will go away

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.