← 3.58.27 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 58: Rāma searches for Sītā · 3.58.29 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.58.28

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: when she does not answer, he fears again that rākṣasas have killed and eaten her

3.58.28

nūnaṃ tac chubhadantauṣṭhaṃ mukhaṃ niṣprabhatāṃ gatam
sā hi campakavarṇābhā grīvā graiveya śobhitā

Surely that face, with its fair teeth and lips, has lost its lustre; that neck, glowing like the campaka blossom, once graced with a necklace—

Words: nūnaṃ — surely; tac — that; chubhadantauṣṭhaṃ — with fair teeth and lips; mukhaṃ — face; niṣprabhatāṃ — lustrelessness; gatam — has gone to; sā — that; hi — indeed; campakavarṇābhā — of campaka-flower complexion; grīvā — the neck; graiveya — with a necklace; śobhitā — adorned

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.