← 3.64.22 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 64: Rāma performs Jaṭāyu’s funeral · 3.64.24 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.64.23

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

3.64.23

gṛdhrarājyaṃ parityajya pitṛpaitāmahaṃ mahat
mama hetor ayaṃ prāṇān mumoca patageśvaraḥ

Forsaking his great vulture-kingdom, inherited from father and forefathers, this lord of birds gave up his life-breaths for my sake.

Words: gṛdhrarājyaṃ — the vulture-kingdom; parityajya — having forsaken; pitṛpaitāmahaṃ — inherited from father and forefather; mahat — great; mama hetor — for my sake; ayaṃ — this; prāṇān — the life-breaths; mumoca — released, gave up; patageśvaraḥ — the lord of birds

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.