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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.5.14

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 5: The ṛṣis appeal for protection. Tapasvins display the victims of rākṣasa attacks, Rāma promises to defend them and gives his exile a purpose

In the sequence: they say the rākṣasas are killing forest hermits as though they had no protector → they ask him to look at the slain munis and describe attacks around Pampā, the Mandākinī, and Citrakūṭa

3.5.14

so 'yaṃ brāhmaṇabhūyiṣṭho vānaprasthagaṇo mahān
tvan nātho 'nāthavad rāma rākṣasair vadhyate bhṛśam

This great company of forest-hermits, mostly brahmins, though it has you for its lord, is being grievously slain by the rākṣasas as if it were lordless, O Rāma.

Words: so — this; 'yaṃ — this; brāhmaṇabhūyiṣṭho — mostly brahmins; vānaprasthagaṇo — company of forest-hermits; mahān — great; tvan — having you (as lord); nātho — having as lord; 'nāthavad — as if lordless; rāma — O Rāma; rākṣasair — by the rākṣasas; vadhyate — is slain; bhṛśam — grievously

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.