← 3.8.5 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 8: Story of the tapasvin’s sword · 3.8.7 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.8.6
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: she identifies three faults arising from desire: falsehood, seeking another man's wife, and violence without enmity → she says the first two are foreign to Rāma's character, but fears that the third may follow from his promise to kill rākṣasas for the munis
3.8.6
tṛtīyaṃ yad idaṃ raudraṃ paraprāṇābhihiṃsanam
nirvairaṃ kriyate mohāt tac ca te samupasthitam
The third, this cruel thing—the slaying of others' lives, done without enmity, out of delusion—that too has now presented itself to you.
Words: tṛtīyaṃ — the third; yad idaṃ — which is this; raudraṃ — cruel, fierce; paraprāṇābhihiṃsanam — the harming of others' lives; nirvairaṃ — without enmity; kriyate — is done; mohāt — out of delusion; tac ca — and that; te — to you; samupasthitam — has presented itself, drawn near
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.