← 3.67.13 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 67: Story of Kabandha · 3.67.15 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.67.14

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

3.67.14

so 'haṃ bhujābhyāṃ dīrghābhyāṃ samākṛṣya vanecarān
siṃhadvipamṛgavyāghrān bhakṣayāmi samantataḥ

“So I, drawing forest-rangers to me with my two long arms — lions, elephants, deer and tigers — devour them from all around.

Words: so — that, he; 'haṃ — I; bhujābhyāṃ — with the two arms; dīrghābhyāṃ — long; samākṛṣya — having drawn near, pulled in; vanecarān — the forest-rangers; siṃhadvipamṛgavyāghrān — lions, elephants, deer and tigers; bhakṣayāmi — I devour; samantataḥ — from all around

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.