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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.54.25

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

3.54.25

vacanād eva tās tasya vikṛtā ghoradarśanāḥ
kṛtaprāñjalayo bhūtvā maithilīṃ paryavārayan

At his very word, those misshapen, dreadful-looking women, making the gesture of joined palms, surrounded Maithilī.

Words: vacanād — at the word; eva — very; tās — those; tasya — his; vikṛtā — misshapen; ghoradarśanāḥ — dreadful-looking; kṛtaprāñjalayo — with palms joined; bhūtvā — having become; maithilīṃ — Maithilī; paryavārayan — surrounded

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.