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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.6.5

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 6: Sutīkṣṇa’s hospitality. The ṛṣi offers heavenly worlds and a forest home, Rāma declines a long stay because hunting the resident deer would distress his host

In the sequence: Rāma introduces himself to the aged, matted-haired tapasvin

3.6.5

tatra tāpasam āsīnaṃ malapaṅkajaṭādharam
rāmaḥ sutīkṣṇaṃ vidhivat tapovṛddham abhāṣata

There Rāma duly addressed the ascetic Sutīkṣṇa, who sat wearing matted locks caked with dirt and mud, aged in austerity:

Words: tatra — there; tāpasam — the ascetic; āsīnaṃ — seated; malapaṅkajaṭādharam — wearing matted locks caked with dirt and mud; rāmaḥ — Rāma; sutīkṣṇaṃ — Sutīkṣṇa; vidhivat — duly; tapovṛddham — aged in austerity; abhāṣata — addressed

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.