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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.56.16

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 56: Return to the empty hut. Rāma imagines Sītā’s loss and its consequences, hurries back with Lakṣmaṇa and finds their dwelling deserted

In the sequence: he suspects that the false cry frightened Sītā into sending Lakṣmaṇa away and that this gave their enemies an opportunity

3.56.16

duḥkhitāḥ kharaghātena rākṣasāḥ piśitāśanāḥ
taiḥ sītā nihatā ghorair bhaviṣyati na saṃśayaḥ

The flesh-eating rākṣasas, aggrieved by the slaying of Khara—by those dreadful ones Sītā will have been slain, there is no doubt.

Words: duḥkhitāḥ — aggrieved; kharaghātena — by the slaying of Khara; rākṣasāḥ — the rākṣasas; piśitāśanāḥ — flesh-eaters; taiḥ — by those; sītā — Sītā; nihatā — slain; ghorair — dreadful; bhaviṣyati — will be; na — no; saṃśayaḥ — doubt

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.