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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.51.23

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 recalls Rāma's destruction of the fourteen thousand and insists that he can kill her abductor too → Rāvaṇa continues carrying her as she struggles and laments.

3.51.23

sa kathaṃ rāghavo vīraḥ sarvāstrakuśalo balī
na tvāṃ hanyāc charais tīkṣṇair iṣṭabhāryāpahāriṇam

how should that heroic Rāghava, skilled in all weapons and mighty, not slay you with his sharp arrows—you who abduct his beloved wife?

Words: sa — that; kathaṃ — how; rāghavo — Rāghava; vīraḥ — hero; sarvāstrakuśalo — skilled in all weapons; balī — mighty; na — not; tvāṃ — you; hanyāc — should slay; charais — with arrows; tīkṣṇair — sharp; iṣṭabhāryāpahāriṇam — the abductor of his beloved wife

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.