← 3.55.16 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 55: Rāma meets Lakṣmaṇa · 3.55.18 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.55.17

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 55: Rāma meets Lakṣmaṇa. Omens and the false cry make him fear a plot against Sītā, he reproaches Lakṣmaṇa for leaving her alone

In the sequence: he fears she has been killed or taken and explains that the deer revealed itself as a rākṣasa when it died

3.55.17

na me 'sti saṃśayo vīra sarvathā janakātmajā
vinaṣṭā bhakṣitā vāpa rākṣasair vanacāribhiḥ

"I have no doubt, hero, that in every way the daughter of Janaka is lost, or devoured by the forest-roaming rākṣasas."

Words: na — not; me — for me; 'sti — there is; saṃśayo — doubt; vīra — hero; sarvathā — in every way; janakātmajā — the daughter of Janaka; vinaṣṭā — lost, perished; bhakṣitā — devoured; vāpa — or; rākṣasair — by the rākṣasas; vanacāribhiḥ — forest-roaming

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.