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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.66.12

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 66: Kabandha’s arms severed. Lakṣmaṇa proposes cutting their captor’s arms, the brothers strike together and Kabandha recognizes the foretold means of his release

In the sequence: he asks how Kabandha came to have this distorted body

3.66.12

tvaṃ tu ko vā kimarthaṃ vā kabandha sadṛśo vane
āsyenorasi dīptena bhagnajaṅgho viceṣṭase

“But who are you, or for what purpose, resembling a headless trunk in the forest, writhing with a blazing mouth in your chest and your legs broken?”

Words: tvaṃ — you; tu — but; ko — who; vā — or; kimarthaṃ — for what purpose; vā — or; kabandha — a headless trunk; sadṛśo — resembling; vane — in the forest; āsyenorasi — with a mouth in the chest; dīptena — blazing; bhagnajaṅgho — with broken legs; viceṣṭase — you writhe, move about

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.