← 3.54.31 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 54: Rāvaṇa’s deadline and threat

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.54.32

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.

3.54.32

na vindate tatra tu śarma maithilī virūpanetrābhir atīva tarjitā
patiṃ smarantī dayitaṃ ca devaraṃ vicetanābhūd bhayaśokapīḍitā

There Maithilī found no comfort, sorely threatened by the deformed-eyed demonesses; remembering her beloved husband and her brother-in-law, she swooned, tormented by fear and grief.

Words: na — not; vindate — finds; tatra — there; tu — but; śarma — comfort, peace; maithilī — Maithilī; virūpanetrābhir — by the deformed-eyed (women); atīva — exceedingly; tarjitā — threatened; patiṃ — husband; smarantī — remembering; dayitaṃ — beloved; ca — and; devaraṃ — brother-in-law (Lakṣmaṇa); vicetanābhūd — became senseless, swooned; bhayaśokapīḍitā — tormented by fear and grief

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.