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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.58.5

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 searches in every direction and finds the hut deserted, its deerskins, grass, mat, and cushions scattered

3.58.5

dadarśa parṇaśālāṃ ca rahitāṃ sītayā tadā
śriyā virahitāṃ dhvastāṃ hemante padminīm iva

Then he beheld the leaf-hut bereft of Sītā, robbed of its beauty and ravaged, like a lotus-pond in winter.

Words: dadarśa — he saw; parṇaśālāṃ — the leaf-hut; ca — and; rahitāṃ — bereft; sītayā — of Sītā; tadā — then; śriyā — of splendour; virahitāṃ — deprived; dhvastāṃ — ravaged; hemante — in winter; padminīm — a lotus-pond; iva — like

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.