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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.58.16

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

3.58.16

bhramarair upagītaś ca yathā drumavaro hy ayam
eṣa vyaktaṃ vijānāti tilakas tilakapriyām

And just as this best of trees is hummed over by bees, so surely this tilaka knows her who loved the tilaka.

Words: bhramarair — by the bees; upagītaś — sung to; ca — and; yathā — as; drumavaro — the best of trees; hy — indeed; ayam — this; eṣa — this; vyaktaṃ — clearly; vijānāti — knows; tilakas — the tilaka; tilakapriyām — fond of the tilaka

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.