← 3.68.21 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 68: Kabandha advises friendship with Sugrīva

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.68.22

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 68: Kabandha advises friendship with Sugrīva. Restored by cremation, he urges a pledge before fire and explains how the two can help each other

In the sequence: Sugrīva can send monkeys searching in every direction, through mountains, rivers, and caves, and help recover Sītā wherever she has been taken.

3.68.22

sa meruśṛṅgāgragatām aninditāṃ praviśya pātālatale 'pi vāśritām
plavaṃgamānāṃ pravaras tava priyāṃ nihatya rakṣāṃsi punaḥ pradāsyati

That foremost of monkeys — even should your blameless beloved have gone to the summit of Mount Meru, or entered and taken refuge in the depths of the underworld — will slay the rākṣasas and restore her to you.

Words: sa — he, that; meruśṛṅgāgragatām — gone to the summit-peak of Meru; aninditāṃ — the blameless (fem.); praviśya — having entered; pātālatale — in the depths of the underworld; 'pi — even; vāśritām — or having taken refuge; plavaṃgamānāṃ — of the monkeys; pravaras — the foremost, best; tava — your; priyāṃ — beloved; nihatya — having slain; rakṣāṃsi — the rākṣasas; punaḥ — again, back; pradāsyati — will restore, give back

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.