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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.60.17

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 60: Traces of Sītā’s abduction. Flowers, footprints, blood and chariot wreckage suggest a struggle, Rāma’s uncertainty turns to threats against the whole world

In the sequence: the brothers find fallen flowers, which he recognizes as ones he gave Sītā for her hair

3.60.17

abhijānāmi puṣpāṇi tānīmāmīha lakṣmaṇa
apinaddhāni vaidehyā mayā dattāni kānane

“I recognize these flowers here, Lakṣmaṇa — those which I gave Vaidehī in the forest, and which she bound up in her hair.”

Words: abhijānāmi — I recognize; puṣpāṇi — the flowers; tānīmāmīha — these here; lakṣmaṇa — O Lakṣmaṇa; apinaddhāni — bound up (in the hair); vaidehyā — by Vaidehī; mayā — by me; dattāni — given; kānane — in the forest

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.