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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.9.14

Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 9: Rāma’s promise to the ṛṣis. He explains their refusal to spend tapasvin power on curses and declares that protecting them binds him more strongly than his own life

In the sequence: they told him that shape-changing rākṣasas attack during offerings and observances → although the tapasvins could use their tapas to kill their enemies, they will not squander their hard-earned austerity in curses

3.9.14

bahuvighnaṃ taponityaṃ duścaraṃ caiva rāghava
tena śāpaṃ na muñcāmo bhakṣyamāṇāś ca rākṣasaiḥ

'Penance is beset by many obstacles, must be kept up constantly, and is hard to practise, O Rāghava; therefore, though being devoured by the rākṣasas, we do not release a curse (upon them).'

Words: bahuvighnaṃ — beset by many obstacles; taponityaṃ — requiring constant austerity; duścaraṃ — hard to practise; caiva — and indeed; rāghava — O Rāghava; tena — therefore, by that; śāpaṃ — a curse; na — not; muñcāmo — we release, discharge; bhakṣyamāṇāś — being devoured; ca — and; rākṣasaiḥ — by the rākṣasas

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.