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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.58.13

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: he asks the trees she loved and the deer, elephant, and tiger whether they have seen her

3.58.13

snigdhapallavasaṃkāśāṃ pītakauśeyavāsinīm
śaṃsasva yadi vā dṛṣṭā bilva bilvopamastanī

O bilva, if she—like a glossy tender shoot, clad in yellow silk, her breasts like bilva-fruits—has been seen by you, tell me.

Words: snigdhapallavasaṃkāśāṃ — resembling a glossy tender shoot; pītakauśeyavāsinīm — clad in yellow silk; śaṃsasva — tell; yadi — if; vā — or; dṛṣṭā — seen; bilva — O bilva; bilvopamastanī — with breasts like bilva-fruits

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.