← 3.60.21 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 60: Traces of Sītā’s abduction · 3.60.23 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.60.22

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

3.60.22

evaṃ sa ruṣito rāmo didhakṣann iva cakṣuṣā
dadarśa bhūmau niṣkrāntaṃ rākṣasasya padaṃ mahat

Thus enraged, Rāma, as if about to burn it up with his gaze, saw upon the ground the great footprint of a rākṣasa, deeply impressed.

Words: evaṃ — thus; sa — he; ruṣito — enraged; rāmo — Rāma; didhakṣann — wishing to burn; iva — as if; cakṣuṣā — with his gaze, eye; dadarśa — saw; bhūmau — on the ground; niṣkrāntaṃ — impressed, sunk in; rākṣasasya — of a rākṣasa; padaṃ — footprint; mahat — great

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.