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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.67.12

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 67: Story of Kabandha. A ṛṣi’s curse and Indra’s thunderbolt produced his deformed body, he asks for cremation to restore his discernment and name a helpful ally

In the sequence: Indra would not negate Brahmā's promise of long life → when Kabandha asked how he could survive without eating, Indra gave him the long arms and belly-mouth with which he now feeds

3.67.12

anāhāraḥ kathaṃ śakto bhagnasakthiśiromukhaḥ
vajreṇābhihataḥ kālaṃ sudīrgham api jīvitum

“‘How, without food, my thighs, head and face crushed, struck by the thunderbolt, could I be able to live for a very long time?’ (I asked).

Words: anāhāraḥ — without food; kathaṃ — how; śakto — able; bhagnasakthiśiromukhaḥ — with thighs, head and face crushed; vajreṇābhihataḥ — struck by the thunderbolt; kālaṃ — time, a span; sudīrgham — very long; api — even; jīvitum — to live

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.