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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.9.7
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
3.9.7
te bhakṣyamāṇā munayo daṇḍakāraṇyavāsinaḥ
asmān abhyavapadyeti mām ūcur dvijasattamāḥ
Those sages dwelling in the Daṇḍaka forest, being devoured, said to me, those best of brahmins: 'Save us!'
Words: te — those; bhakṣyamāṇā — being devoured; munayo — sages; daṇḍakāraṇyavāsinaḥ — dwelling in the Daṇḍaka forest; asmān — us; abhyavapadyeti — 'protect (us)!' thus; mām — to me; ūcur — said; dvijasattamāḥ — the best of brahmins
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.