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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.64.21

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 64: Rāma performs Jaṭāyu’s funeral. Jaṭāyu reports the southward flight and dies, Rāma cremates him as kin, offers deer meat and gives water in the Godāvarī

In the sequence: Rāma honors Jaṭāyu's long life and sacrifice, saying that goodness and courage exist even among animals → he says the bird deserves the same reverence as Daśaratha and that this death pains him even more than the abduction

3.64.21

anekavārṣiko yas tu cirakālaṃ samutthitaḥ
so 'yam adya hataḥ śete kālo hi duratikramaḥ

He who lived many years and had endured for a long time — that very one lies slain today; for death is hard to overcome.

Words: anekavārṣiko — one of many years; yas — who; tu — and; cirakālaṃ — for a long time; samutthitaḥ — risen up, thriving, endured; so 'yam — that very one; adya — today; hataḥ — slain; śete — lies; kālo — death, time; hi — for; duratikramaḥ — hard to overcome

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.