← 3.65.24 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 65: Kabandha’s grasp · 3.65.26 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.65.25

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: he asks who they are and declares that they have arrived as his food

3.65.25

ghoraṃ deśam imaṃ prāptau mama bhakṣāv upasthitau
vadataṃ kāryam iha vāṃ kimarthaṃ cāgatau yuvām

who, having reached this dreadful region, have come as my food? Tell what your errand here is, and for what purpose you two have come.

Words: ghoraṃ — dreadful; deśam imaṃ — this region; prāptau — the two having reached; mama — my; bhakṣāv — as (my) two morsels of food; upasthitau — the two come near, presented; vadataṃ — tell (you two); kāryam — the errand, business; iha — here; vāṃ — of you two; kimarthaṃ — for what purpose; cāgatau — and (you two) have come; yuvām — you two

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.