← 3.55.19 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 55: Rāma meets Lakṣmaṇa
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.55.20
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: his twitching left eye and deep unease make him increasingly certain that something has happened, although he does not yet know what.
3.55.20
manaś ca me dīnam ihāprahṛṣṭaṃ cakṣuś ca savyaṃ kurute vikāram
asaṃśayaṃ lakṣmaṇa nāsti sītā hṛtā mṛtā vā pathi vartate vā
"And my mind here is downcast and cheerless, and my left eye is twitching; without a doubt, Lakṣmaṇa, Sītā is no more—she has been carried off, or killed, or is lost somewhere on the way."
Words: manaś — mind; ca — and; me — my; dīnam — downcast; ihāprahṛṣṭaṃ — cheerless here; cakṣuś — eye; ca — and; savyaṃ — left; kurute — makes; vikāram — a twitching, disturbance; asaṃśayaṃ — without a doubt; lakṣmaṇa — Lakṣmaṇa; nāsti — is not; sītā — Sītā; hṛtā — carried off; mṛtā — killed, dead; vā — or; pathi — on the way; vartate — is, remains; vā — or
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.