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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.51.4

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 connects the deer deception with the abduction and condemns his attack on the bird who tried to save her

3.51.4

tvayaiva nūnaṃ duṣṭātman bhīruṇā hartum icchatā
mamāpavāhito bhartā mṛgarūpeṇa māyayā
yo hi mām udyatas trātuṃ so 'py ayaṃ vinipātitaḥ

Surely by you alone, evil-souled coward wishing to abduct me, was my husband lured away by magic in the guise of a deer; and even he who rose to save me has been struck down.

Words: tvayaiva — by you alone; nūnaṃ — surely; duṣṭātman — O evil-souled one; bhīruṇā — by the coward; hartum — to abduct; icchatā — wishing; mamāpavāhito — my (husband) was lured away; bhartā — husband; mṛgarūpeṇa — in the form of a deer; māyayā — by magic, illusion; yo — who; hi — indeed; mām — me; udyatas — rose up, set out; trātuṃ — to save; so 'py — he too; ayaṃ — this one (Jaṭāyu); vinipātitaḥ — has been struck down

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.