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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.51.15

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 51: Sītā condemns the deception. She connects the golden deer with her abduction, challenges Rāvaṇa to face the brothers and warns him to release her

In the sequence: she interprets Rāvaṇa's refusal of sound advice as a sign that death is near, invoking the river and tortures of the world of punishment

3.51.15

na nūnaṃ cātmanaḥ śreyaḥ pathyaṃ vā samavekṣase
mṛtyukāle yathā martyo viparītāni sevate

Surely you regard neither your own good nor your welfare—just as a mortal at the hour of death takes to perverse things.

Words: na — not; nūnaṃ — surely; cātmanaḥ — and one's own; śreyaḥ — good, benefit; pathyaṃ — welfare, wholesome; vā — or; samavekṣase — you regard, consider; mṛtyukāle — at the hour of death; yathā — just as; martyo — a mortal; viparītāni — perverse, contrary things; sevate — resorts to, takes to

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.