← 3.58.10 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 58: Rāma searches for Sītā · 3.58.12 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.58.11
Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 58: Rāma searches for Sītā. He finds the hut disordered, questions trees and animals and imagines her yellow clothing among the woods
In the sequence: failing to find her, he runs among trees, mountains, and rivers
3.58.11
vṛkṣād vṛkṣaṃ pradhāvan sa girīṃś cāpi nadīn nadīm
babhūva vilapan rāmaḥ śokapaṅkārṇavaplutaḥ
Running from tree to tree, and over the mountains, and from river to river, Rāma fell to lamenting, sunk in a slough-ocean of grief.
Words: vṛkṣād — from tree; vṛkṣaṃ — to tree; pradhāvan — running; sa — he; girīṃś — to the mountains; cāpi — and also; nadīn — the rivers; nadīm — from river to river; babhūva — became; vilapan — lamenting; rāmaḥ — Rāma; śokapaṅkārṇavaplutaḥ — plunged in the mire-ocean of grief
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.