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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.54.6

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

3.54.6

ya ete rākṣasāḥ proktā ghorarūpā mahābalāḥ
rāghave nirviṣāḥ sarve suparṇe pannagā yathā

These rākṣasas you have named, of terrible form and great strength—before Rāghava they are all venomless, as serpents before Garuḍa.

Words: ya — who; ete — these; rākṣasāḥ — rākṣasas; proktā — named, spoken of; ghorarūpā — of terrible form; mahābalāḥ — of great strength; rāghave — before Rāghava; nirviṣāḥ — venomless; sarve — all; suparṇe — before Garuḍa (Suparṇa); pannagā — serpents; yathā — as

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.