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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.56.3

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: Rāma repeatedly asks where Sītā is, recalling how she shared his exile and saying that no Kingdom could compensate for losing her

3.56.3

rājyabhraṣṭasya dīnasya daṇḍakān paridhāvataḥ
kva sā duḥkhasahāyā me vaidehī tanumadhyamā

Where is she, my companion in sorrow, slender-waisted Vaidehī—companion to me, fallen from kingship, wretched, roaming the Daṇḍaka wilds?

Words: rājyabhraṣṭasya — of (me) fallen from the kingdom; dīnasya — wretched; daṇḍakān — the Daṇḍaka (wilds); paridhāvataḥ — roaming about; kva — where; sā — she; duḥkhasahāyā — companion in sorrow; me — my; vaidehī — Vaidehī; tanumadhyamā — of slender waist

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.