← 3.60.24 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 60: Traces of Sītā’s abduction · 3.60.26 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.60.25

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: he notices fragments of gold, ornament-garlands, and blood

3.60.25

taptabindunikāśaiś ca citraiḥ kṣatajabindubhiḥ
āvṛtaṃ paśya saumitre sarvato dharaṇītalam

“See, Saumitri, the surface of the earth covered all over with bright drops of blood, gleaming like molten gold.”

Words: taptabindunikāśaiś — resembling drops of molten (gold); ca — and; citraiḥ — bright, variegated; kṣatajabindubhiḥ — with drops of blood; āvṛtaṃ — covered; paśya — see; saumitre — O Saumitri; sarvato — on every side; dharaṇītalam — the surface of the earth

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.