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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.57.4

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 57: Lakṣmaṇa explains his departure. He recounts Sītā’s accusations after the false cry, Rāma insists that her harsh words should not have overridden his order

In the sequence: The account returns to the brothers' conversation on the path: Rāma asks why Lakṣmaṇa abandoned the responsibility entrusted to him

3.57.4

sphurate nayanaṃ savyaṃ bāhuś ca hṛdayaṃ ca me
dṛṣṭvā lakṣmaṇa dūre tvāṃ sītāvirahitaṃ pathi

My left eye throbs, and my arm and my heart, O Lakṣmaṇa, on seeing you at a distance on the path, bereft of Sītā.

Words: sphurate — throbs, quivers; nayanaṃ — eye; savyaṃ — left; bāhuś — arm; ca — and; hṛdayaṃ — heart; ca — and; me — my; dṛṣṭvā — on seeing; lakṣmaṇa — O Lakṣmaṇa; dūre — at a distance; tvāṃ — you; sītāvirahitaṃ — bereft of Sītā; pathi — on the path

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.