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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.65.28

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: Rāma laments that another mortal danger has overtaken them before they can find Sītā, but steadies his resolve to act.

3.65.28

kṛcchrāt kṛcchrataraṃ prāpya dāruṇaṃ satyavikrama
vyasanaṃ jīvitāntāya prāptam aprāpya tāṃ priyām

“Having met, O truly valiant one, a hardship more grievous than the last, a dreadful calamity has come, threatening our very lives, before we have regained that beloved.

Words: kṛcchrāt — than hardship; kṛcchrataraṃ — a greater hardship; prāpya — having met, obtained; dāruṇaṃ — dreadful; satyavikrama — O truly valiant one; vyasanaṃ — calamity, misfortune; jīvitāntāya — for the end of life; prāptam — has come, arrived; aprāpya — without having regained; tāṃ priyām — that beloved

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.