← 3.54.3 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 54: Rāvaṇa’s deadline and threat · 3.54.5 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.54.4
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: she reaffirms her marriage and says Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa will kill him → had he attempted the abduction in Rāma's presence, he would already have died like Khara
3.54.4
ikṣvākūṇāṃ kule jātaḥ siṃhaskandho mahādyutiḥ
lakṣmaṇena saha bhrātrā yas te prāṇāṃ hariṣyati
Born in the line of the Ikṣvākus, lion-shouldered, of great splendour—he, together with his brother Lakṣmaṇa, will take your life.
Words: ikṣvākūṇāṃ — of the Ikṣvākus; kule — in the line, family; jātaḥ — born; siṃhaskandho — lion-shouldered; mahādyutiḥ — of great splendour; lakṣmaṇena — with Lakṣmaṇa; saha — together; bhrātrā — brother; yas — who; te — your; prāṇāṃ — life-breaths (text prāṇāṃ for prāṇān); hariṣyati — will take away
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.