← 3.65.15 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 65: Kabandha’s grasp · 3.65.17 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.65.16

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 65: Kabandha’s grasp. A headless being with a chest-eye, belly-mouth and two long arms seizes both brothers as they search the forest

In the sequence: they see the rākṣasa Kabandha, a huge, headless and neckless being with one eye in his chest, a mouth in his belly, and two arms a yojana long → he uses those arms to catch and devour forest animals

3.65.16

romabhir nicitais tīkṣṇair mahāgirim ivocchritam
nīlameghanibhaṃ raudraṃ meghastanitaniḥsvanam

Covered with dense, sharp bristles, towering like a great mountain, dark as a black cloud, fearsome, with a voice like the thunder of clouds;

Words: romabhir — with hairs, bristles; nicitais — dense, thickset; tīkṣṇair — sharp; mahāgirim — a great mountain; ivocchritam — as if raised up, towering; nīlameghanibhaṃ — resembling a black cloud; raudraṃ — fearsome, terrible; meghastanitaniḥsvanam — with a voice like the thunder of clouds

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.