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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.53.18

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 53: Rāvaṇa’s offer to Sītā. He displays his palace, promises wealth and authority over his wives, claims rescue is impossible and bows at her feet

In the sequence: he offers her authority over his other wives and urges her to accept him

3.53.18

sādhu kiṃ te 'nyayā buddhyā rocayasva vaco mama
bhajasva mābhitaptasya prasādaṃ kartum arhasi

Come, what use to you is any other thought? Delight in my words. Love me; you ought to be gracious to one so tormented (with love).

Words: sādhu — come, well; kiṃ — what (use); te — to you; 'nyayā — by another; buddhyā — thought, notion; rocayasva — take delight in; vaco — words; mama — my; bhajasva — love, be devoted to; mābhitaptasya — to me who am tormented; prasādaṃ — favour, grace; kartum — to show, do; arhasi — you ought

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.