← 3.60.19 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 60: Traces of Sītā’s abduction · 3.60.21 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.60.20

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: angered by the silence around him, he threatens to destroy the mountain or dry up the river unless they reveal her whereabouts. Rāma finds the deep footprint of a rākṣasa and Sītā's trampled tracks

3.60.20

mama bāṇāgninirdagdho bhasmībhūto bhaviṣyasi
asevyaḥ satataṃ caiva nistṛṇadrumapallavaḥ

“Scorched by the fire of my arrows, you shall be reduced to ashes, forever unfit to dwell upon, stripped of grass, trees, and shoots.”

Words: mama — my; bāṇāgninirdagdho — scorched by the fire of arrows; bhasmībhūto — reduced to ashes; bhaviṣyasi — you shall be; asevyaḥ — unfit to dwell upon, not to be resorted to; satataṃ — forever, constantly; caiva — and indeed; nistṛṇadrumapallavaḥ — stripped of grass, trees, and 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.