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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.60.4

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: Lakṣmaṇa searches the bathing places and calls out, but returns without finding her

3.60.4

kaṃ nu sā deśam āpannā vaidehī kleśanāśinī
na hi taṃ vedmi vai rāma yatra sā tanumadhyamā

“To what region has that Vaidehī, dispeller of distress, come? For I do not know, Rāma, where she of the slender waist may be.”

Words: kaṃ — which, what; nu — indeed; sā — she; deśam — region, place; āpannā — has come to, reached; vaidehī — Vaidehī (Sītā); kleśanāśinī — dispeller of distress; na — not; hi — for; taṃ — that; vedmi — I know; vai — indeed; rāma — O Rāma; yatra — where; sā — she; tanumadhyamā — of slender waist

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.