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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.58.29

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

3.58.29

komalā vilapantyās tu kāntāyā bhakṣitā śubhā
nūnaṃ vikṣipyamāṇau tau bāhū pallavakomalau

the tender, fair neck of my lamenting beloved has been devoured; and surely those two arms, soft as tender shoots, flung about—

Words: komalā — tender; vilapantyās — of her lamenting; tu — indeed; kāntāyā — of the beloved; bhakṣitā — devoured; śubhā — the fair (neck); nūnaṃ — surely; vikṣipyamāṇau — the two flung about; tau — those two; bāhū — arms; pallavakomalau — tender as shoots

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.