← 3.61.1 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 61: Lakṣmaṇa restrains Rāma’s anger · 3.61.3 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.61.2
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: Seeing Rāma poised for destruction, Lakṣmaṇa appeals to his usual restraint and concern for living beings
3.61.2
vīkṣamāṇaṃ dhanuḥ sajyaṃ niḥśvasantaṃ muhur muhuḥ
hantukāmaṃ paśuṃ rudraṃ kruddhaṃ dakṣakratau yathā
gazing at his strung bow, sighing again and again, like the angry Rudra bent on slaying the sacrificial victim at Dakṣa's sacrifice—
Words: vīkṣamāṇaṃ — gazing at; dhanuḥ — the bow; sajyaṃ — strung, fitted with a string; niḥśvasantaṃ — sighing, breathing hard; muhur muhuḥ — again and again; hantukāmaṃ — desirous of slaying; paśuṃ — the sacrificial victim, beast; rudraṃ — Rudra; kruddhaṃ — enraged; dakṣakratau — at Dakṣa's sacrifice; yathā — like, as
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.