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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.58.24

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: in his distress he imagines that he sees her yellow clothing behind a tree and calls on her to stop hiding

3.58.24

tiṣṭha tiṣṭha varārohe na te 'sti karuṇā mayi
nātyarthaṃ hāsyaśīlāsi kimarthaṃ mām upekṣase

Stay, stay, O fair-hipped one! Have you no pity for me? You were never one so given to jesting—why do you neglect me?

Words: tiṣṭha — stay; tiṣṭha — stay; varārohe — O fair-hipped one; na — not; te — to you; 'sti — is; karuṇā — compassion; mayi — for me; nātyarthaṃ — not overmuch; hāsyaśīlāsi — are you of a jesting nature; kimarthaṃ — why; mām — me; upekṣase — do you neglect

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.