← 3.65.16 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 65: Kabandha’s grasp · 3.65.18 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.65.17

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

3.65.17

mahāpakṣmeṇa piṅgena vipulenāyatena ca
ekenorasi ghoreṇa nayanenāśudarśinā

With a single terrible eye upon his chest — large-lashed, tawny, broad and elongated, keen of sight;

Words: mahāpakṣmeṇa — large-lashed; piṅgena — tawny, reddish-brown; vipulenāyatena — broad and elongated; ca — and; ekenorasi — with one, on the chest; ghoreṇa — terrible; nayanenāśudarśinā — with an eye keen of sight

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.