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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.63.11
Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 63: Discovery of the wounded Jaṭāyu. Rāma mistakes him for Sītā’s killer, Jaṭāyu names Rāvaṇa and explains the wreckage, the brothers embrace him
In the sequence: Rāma sees the great blood-covered bird lying on the ground and wrongly assumes it is a rākṣasa in vulture form that has eaten Sītā
3.63.11
gṛdhrarūpam idaṃ vyaktaṃ rakṣo bhramati kānanam
bhakṣayitvā viśālākṣīm āste sītāṃ yathāsukham
enaṃ vadhiṣye dīptāgrair ghorair bāṇair ajihmagaiḥ
“Clearly this is a rākṣasa in the form of a vulture that roams the forest; having devoured wide-eyed Sītā, it now rests at its ease. I shall slay it with dreadful, flame-tipped, straight-flying arrows.”
Words: gṛdhrarūpam — in the form of a vulture; idaṃ — this; vyaktaṃ — clearly, evidently; rakṣo — rākṣasa; bhramati — roams, wanders; kānanam — the forest; bhakṣayitvā — having devoured; viśālākṣīm — wide-eyed (Sītā); āste — rests, sits; sītāṃ — Sītā; yathāsukham — at ease, comfortably; enaṃ — this one, it; vadhiṣye — I shall slay; dīptāgrair — flame-tipped; ghorair — dreadful; bāṇair — with arrows; ajihmagaiḥ — straight-flying
Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.