← 3.63.25 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 63: Discovery of the wounded Jaṭāyu

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.63.26

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.

3.63.26

nikṛttapakṣaṃ rudhirāvasiktaṃ taṃ gṛdhrarājaṃ parirabhya rāmaḥ
kva maithili prāṇasamā mameti vimucya vācaṃ nipapāta bhūmau

Embracing that king of vultures, his wings shorn off and drenched in blood, and crying out “Where are you, Maithilī, dear to me as my own life?”, Rāma let fall his voice and sank to the ground.

Words: nikṛttapakṣaṃ — with wings shorn off; rudhirāvasiktaṃ — drenched in blood; taṃ — that; gṛdhrarājaṃ — king of vultures; parirabhya — having embraced; rāmaḥ — Rāma; kva — where; maithili — O Maithilī; prāṇasamā — dear as life; mameti — ‘to me’, thus; vimucya — having let go, released; vācaṃ — voice, speech; nipapāta — fell down, sank; bhūmau — to the ground

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.