← 3.51.20 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 51: Sītā condemns the deception · 3.51.22 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.51.21

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

3.51.21

baddhas tvaṃ kālapāśena durnivāreṇa rāvaṇa
kva gato lapsyase śarma bhartur mama mahātmanaḥ

Bound by the inescapable noose of Death, Rāvaṇa, where can you go to find refuge from my great-souled husband?

Words: baddhas — bound; tvaṃ — you; kālapāśena — by the noose of Death; durnivāreṇa — inescapable, hard to ward off; rāvaṇa — O Rāvaṇa; kva — where; gato — having gone; lapsyase — will you find, obtain; śarma — refuge, safety; bhartur — from my husband; mama — my; mahātmanaḥ — great-souled

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.