← 3.50.4 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 50: Rāvaṇa seizes Sītā again · 3.50.6 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.50.5
Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 50: Rāvaṇa seizes Sītā again. He tears her from the trees and resumes the flight, flowers and ornaments fall while the landscape shares her distress
In the sequence: With Jaṭāyu lying near death, Sītā cries for Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa and wonders whether the disturbed animals will alert them
3.50.5
trāhi mām adya kākutstha lakṣmaṇeti varāṅganā
susaṃtrastā samākrandac chṛṇvatāṃ tu yathāntike
'Save me now, Kākutstha! Lakṣmaṇa!' — so the lovely woman, terrified, cried out, as if within earshot of those who could hear.
Words: trāhi — save, protect; mām — me; adya — now, today; kākutstha — O Kākutstha (Rāma); lakṣmaṇeti — 'Lakṣmaṇa!' thus; varāṅganā — the lovely woman; susaṃtrastā — greatly terrified; samākrandac — cried out, wailed; chṛṇvatāṃ — of those hearing; tu — indeed; yathāntike — as if nearby, within earshot
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.