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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.48.21

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: Jaṭāyu says he is sixty thousand years old and acknowledges Rāvaṇa's youth, armor, weapons, and chariot, but refuses to let the abduction proceed unopposed

3.48.21

na śaktas tvaṃ balād dhartuṃ vaidehīṃ mama paśyataḥ
hetubhir nyāyasaṃyuktair dhruvāṃ vedaśrutīm iva

'You cannot carry Vaidehī off by force while I look on — no more than one could overturn the firm truth of Vedic revelation with well-reasoned arguments.'

Words: na — not; śaktas — able; tvaṃ — you; balād — by force; dhartuṃ — to carry off; vaidehīṃ — Vaidehī; mama — while I (look on); paśyataḥ — (of me) looking on; hetubhir — with arguments; nyāyasaṃyuktair — sound in logic; dhruvāṃ — firm, established; vedaśrutīm — the Vedic revelation; iva — like

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.