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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.69.28

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 69: Kabandha’s directions to Pampā. He describes food and cool water, Śabarī’s hermitage and unfading flowers, then Sugrīva’s refuge on Ṛṣyamūka

In the sequence: elephants frequent the lake and surrounding woods

3.69.28

siktā rudhiradhārābhiḥ saṃhatya paramadvipāḥ
pracaranti pṛthak kīrṇā meghavarṇās tarasvinaḥ

Sprinkled with streams of blood, the mighty elephants, having clashed together, roam apart, scattered, cloud-colored and swift.

Words: siktā — sprinkled; rudhiradhārābhiḥ — with streams of blood; saṃhatya — having clashed together; paramadvipāḥ — the mighty elephants; pracaranti — roam, move about; pṛthak — apart, separately; kīrṇā — scattered; meghavarṇās — cloud-colored; tarasvinaḥ — swift, vigorous

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.