← 3.63.23 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 63: Discovery of the wounded Jaṭāyu · 3.63.25 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.63.24
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 laments that this aged friend of Daśaratha has suffered on his account → he tends and embraces the wounded bird before sinking to the ground in grief.
3.63.24
ayaṃ pitṛvayasyo me gṛdhrarājo jarānvitaḥ
śete vinihato bhūmau mama bhāgyaviparyayāt
“This king of vultures, a friend of my father's age, worn with old age, lies struck down upon the ground through the reversal of my fortune.
Words: ayaṃ — this; pitṛvayasyo — a friend of my father, of my father's age; me — my; gṛdhrarājo — the king of vultures; jarānvitaḥ — afflicted with old age; śete — lies; vinihato — struck down; bhūmau — on the ground; mama — my; bhāgyaviparyayāt — through the reversal of fortune
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.