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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.54.24

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 54: Rāvaṇa’s deadline and threat. Sītā refuses him, he gives her twelve months to submit or be killed for his meal, then sends her to the aśoka grove

In the sequence: he orders the rākṣasīs to break her resistance

3.54.24

śīghram evaṃ hi rākṣasyo vikṛtā ghoradarśanāḥ
darpam asyā vineṣyantu māṃsaśoṇitabhojanāḥ

'Quickly, you rākṣasa-women, misshapen and dreadful to behold, feeders on flesh and blood—rid her of her pride!'

Words: śīghram — quickly; evaṃ — thus; hi — indeed; rākṣasyo — rākṣasa-women; vikṛtā — misshapen; ghoradarśanāḥ — dreadful to behold; darpam — pride; asyā — her; vineṣyantu — let (them) remove; māṃsaśoṇitabhojanāḥ — feeders on flesh and blood

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.