← 3.65.20 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 65: Kabandha’s grasp · 3.65.22 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.65.21

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

3.65.21

atha tau samatikramya krośamātre dadarśatuḥ
mahāntaṃ dāruṇaṃ bhīmaṃ kabandhaṃ bhujasaṃvṛtam

Then, having gone forward about a krośa, the two saw the huge, dreadful, fearsome Kabandha, hemmed about by his own arms.

Words: atha — then; tau — the two; samatikramya — having advanced, passed on; krośamātre — at about a krośa; dadarśatuḥ — the two saw; mahāntaṃ — huge; dāruṇaṃ — dreadful; bhīmaṃ — fearsome; kabandhaṃ — Kabandha; bhujasaṃvṛtam — hemmed about by (his) arms

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.