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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.69.8
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: he tells the brothers that birds and fish will supply food, and describes Lakṣmaṇa preparing fish and bringing lotus-scented water for Rāma → the lakeside's animals, trees, and cool water will give relief from grief
3.69.8
nodvijante narān dṛṣṭvā vadhasyākovidāḥ śubhāḥ
ghṛtapiṇḍopamān sthūlāṃs tān dvijān bhakṣayiṣyathaḥ
They take no fright on seeing men, unacquainted with slaughter, those lovely birds; those plump birds, like lumps of ghee, you two will eat.
Words: nodvijante — do not take fright; narān — men; dṛṣṭvā — having seen; vadhasyākovidāḥ — unacquainted with killing; śubhāḥ — lovely, auspicious ones; ghṛtapiṇḍopamān — resembling lumps of ghee; sthūlāṃs — plump, fat; tān — those; dvijān — birds (twice-born); bhakṣayiṣyathaḥ — you two will eat
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.