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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.54.30
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: they lead her into the flowering grove → despite its beauty, she finds no comfort and collapses in fear and grief while remembering Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa.
3.54.30
sarvakāmaphalair vṛkṣair nānāpuṣpaphalair vṛtām
sarvakālamadaiś cāpi dvijaiḥ samupasevitām
a grove filled with trees bearing every desired fruit and manifold flowers and fruits, and frequented by birds intoxicated in every season.
Words: sarvakāmaphalair — bearing every desired fruit; vṛkṣair — with trees; nānāpuṣpaphalair — with manifold flowers and fruits; vṛtām — surrounded, filled; sarvakālamadaiś — intoxicated in every season; cāpi — and also; dvijaiḥ — by birds; samupasevitām — frequented
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.