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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.8.13

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 8: Story of the tapasvin’s sword. Sītā describes how guarding Indra’s weapon corrupted a peaceful ṛṣi and warns Rāma against violence without enmity

In the sequence: seeing him enter the forest armed worries her: a warrior's bow can inflame aggression as fuel feeds fire. To explain, Sītā recalls a tapasvin whose peaceful discipline Indra wished to obstruct

3.8.13

purā kila mahābāho tapasvī satyavāk śuciḥ
kasmiṃś cid abhavat puṇye vane ratamṛgadvije

In olden days, O mighty-armed one, so it is told, there was an ascetic, truthful in speech and pure, in a certain holy forest full of happy deer and birds.

Words: purā — in olden days, formerly; kila — so it is said; mahābāho — O mighty-armed one; tapasvī — an ascetic; satyavāk — truthful in speech; śuciḥ — pure; kasmiṃś cid — in a certain; abhavat — there was; puṇye — holy; vane — forest; ratamṛgadvije — where deer and birds delighted

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.