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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.9.4
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: he takes up her own principle that a warrior carries a bow to prevent cries of distress: the Daṇḍaka munis have already sought his protection against repeated attacks
3.9.4
te cārtā daṇḍakāraṇye munayaḥ saṃśitavratāḥ
māṃ sīte svayam āgamya śaraṇyāḥ śaraṇaṃ gatāḥ
And those distressed sages of rigorous vows in the Daṇḍaka forest, O Sītā, though themselves worthy of giving refuge, have come to me of their own accord and taken refuge.
Words: te — those; cārtā — and distressed; daṇḍakāraṇye — in the Daṇḍaka forest; munayaḥ — the sages; saṃśitavratāḥ — of rigorous vows; māṃ — me; sīte — O Sītā; svayam — of their own accord, themselves; āgamya — having come; śaraṇyāḥ — worthy of giving refuge; śaraṇaṃ — refuge; gatāḥ — have gone (to), taken
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.