← 3.5.14 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 5: The ṛṣis appeal for protection · 3.5.16 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.5.15
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
3.5.15
ehi paśya śarīrāṇi munīnāṃ bhāvitātmanām
hatānāṃ rākṣasair ghorair bahūnāṃ bahudhā vane
Come, look at the bodies of the sages of purified souls, many of them, slain in various ways in the forest by the dreadful rākṣasas.
Words: ehi — come; paśya — look at; śarīrāṇi — the bodies; munīnāṃ — of the sages; bhāvitātmanām — of purified souls; hatānāṃ — of the slain; rākṣasair — by the rākṣasas; ghorair — dreadful; bahūnāṃ — many; bahudhā — in various ways; vane — in the forest
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.