← 3.61.15 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 61: Lakṣmaṇa restrains Rāma’s anger

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.61.16

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 61: Lakṣmaṇa restrains Rāma’s anger. He rejects destroying the world for one offender and urges a search and persuasion before resorting to force

In the sequence: first they should try inquiry and persuasion → only if these fail should Rāma use force against those responsible.

3.61.16

śīlena sāmnā vinayena sītāṃ nayena na prāpsyasi cen narendra
tataḥ samutsādaya hemapuṅkhair mahendravajrapratimaiḥ śaraughaiḥ

If by good conduct, conciliation, courtesy, and diplomacy you do not recover Sītā, O king of men, then root them out with floods of gold-feathered arrows that match the thunderbolt of mighty Indra.

Words: śīlena — by good conduct; sāmnā — by conciliation; vinayena — by courtesy, humility; sītāṃ — Sītā; nayena — by diplomacy, policy; na prāpsyasi — you will not obtain; cen — if; narendra — O king of men; tataḥ — then; samutsādaya — root out, destroy; hemapuṅkhair — with gold-feathered (arrows); mahendravajrapratimaiḥ — matching the thunderbolt of mighty Indra; śaraughaiḥ — with floods of arrows

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.