# Araṇya Kāṇḍa 46 — Rāvaṇa boasts of his power *He recounts defeating Kubera and seizing Puṣpaka, offers Laṅkā’s pleasures and is rebuked by Sītā for disgracing his lineage* Portion: Rāvaṇa’s disguise and Sītā’s abduction · Verses: 23 · Ref format: 3.46. ## Sequence - Rāvaṇa identifies himself as Kubera's half-brother and boasts that Devas and other beings flee before him (46.1–3) - he recounts defeating Kubera and seizing Puṣpaka, saying that Kubera now lives on Kailāsa after abandoning his former home (46.4–6) - he claims that even Indra, the wind, sun, trees, and rivers respond in fear to his presence (46.7–9) - he describes Laṅkā's walls, golden courts, gardens, traffic, and abundance, promising Sītā pleasures that will make her forget Rāma (46.10–14) - he belittles Rāma as a weak, dispossessed tapasvin and urges her not to reject him (46.15–18) - Sītā asks how he can claim kinship with the honored Kubera while proposing such a crime (46.19–20) - she predicts the destruction of the rākṣasas under his rule and says that even immortality could not save him after abducting her (46.21–23). ## Verses **3.46.1** evaṃ bruvatyāṃ sītāyāṃ saṃrabdhaḥ paruṣākṣaram lalāṭe bhrukuṭīṃ kṛtvā rāvaṇaḥ pratyuvāca ha While Sītā was speaking thus, Rāvaṇa, enraged, knitting his brows into a frown upon his forehead, replied in harsh words: **3.46.2** bhrātā vaiśravaṇasyāhaṃ sāpatnyo varavarṇini rāvaṇo nāma bhadraṃ te daśagrīvaḥ pratāpavān “I am the half-brother of Vaiśravaṇa, O lovely-hued one — Rāvaṇa by name, the majestic ten-necked one; blessings upon you. **3.46.3** yasya devāḥ sagandharvāḥ piśācapatagoragāḥ vidravanti bhayād bhītā mṛtyor iva sadā prajāḥ from whom the gods together with the gandharvas, the piśācas, the birds and the serpents flee in terror, as living beings ever flee from death. **3.46.4** yena vaiśravaṇo bhrātā vaimātraḥ kāraṇāntare dvandvam āsāditaḥ krodhād raṇe vikramya nirjitaḥ by whom his half-brother Vaiśravaṇa, on some occasion, was in anger engaged in single combat and, by sheer valour, defeated in battle; **3.46.5** madbhayārtaḥ parityajya svam adhiṣṭhānam ṛddhimat kailāsaṃ parvataśreṣṭham adhyāste naravāhanaḥ for, tormented by fear of me, having forsaken his own prosperous abode, the man-borne one (Kubera) now dwells on Kailāsa, best of mountains. **3.46.6** yasya tat puṣpakaṃ nāma vimānaṃ kāmagaṃ śubham vīryād āvarjitaṃ bhadre yena yāmi vihāyasaṃ whose splendid aerial car named Puṣpaka, going wherever one wills, I seized by my might, O gracious one, and in which I travel through the sky. **3.46.7** mama saṃjātaroṣasya mukhaṃ dṛṣṭvaiva maithili vidravanti paritrastāḥ surāḥ śakrapurogamāḥ At the mere sight of my face, when wrath has arisen in me, O Maithilī, the gods led by Śakra flee away utterly terrified. **3.46.8** yatra tiṣṭhāmy ahaṃ tatra māruto vāti śaṅkitaḥ tīvrāṃśuḥ śiśirāṃśuś ca bhayāt saṃpadyate raviḥ Wherever I stand, there the wind blows warily, and the sun, whose rays are fierce, becomes cool-rayed out of fear. **3.46.9** niṣkampapatrās taravo nadyaś ca stimitodakāḥ bhavanti yatra yatrāhaṃ tiṣṭhāmi ca carāmi ca Wherever I stand and wherever I move, the trees become still-leaved and the rivers hold their waters motionless. **3.46.10** mama pāre samudrasya laṅkā nāma purī śubhā saṃpūrṇā rākṣasair ghorair yathendrasyāmarāvatī On the far shore of the ocean lies my splendid city named Laṅkā, filled with fearsome rākṣasas, like Indra's Amarāvatī. **3.46.11** prākāreṇa parikṣiptā pāṇḍureṇa virājitā hemakakṣyā purī ramyā vaidūryamaya toraṇā encircled by a white rampart and resplendent, a lovely city with golden courtyards and gateways made of beryl, **3.46.12** hastyaśvarathasaṃbhādhā tūryanādavināditā sarvakāmaphalair vṛkṣaiḥ saṃkulodyānaśobhitā thronged with elephants, horses and chariots, resounding with the blare of instruments, and graced with gardens crowded with trees that bear every desirable fruit. **3.46.13** tatra tvaṃ vasatī sīte rājaputri mayā saha na sramiṣyasi nārīṇāṃ mānuṣīṇāṃ manasvini Dwelling there with me, O Sītā, O princess, O spirited one, you will feel no longing for human women. **3.46.14** bhuñjānā mānuṣān bhogān divyāṃś ca varavarṇini na smariṣyasi rāmasya mānuṣasya gatāyuṣaḥ Enjoying pleasures both human and divine, O lovely-hued one, you will not remember Rāma, a mortal whose life is already spent. **3.46.15** sthāpayitvā priyaṃ putraṃ rājñā daśarathena yaḥ mandavīryaḥ suto jyeṣṭhas tataḥ prasthāpito vanam he whom — the eldest son but feeble in valour — King Daśaratha, having installed his favourite son as heir, thereupon dispatched to the forest. **3.46.16** tena kiṃ bhraṣṭarājyena rāmeṇa gatacetasā kariṣyasi viśālākṣi tāpasena tapasvinā What will you do, O wide-eyed one, with that Rāma — fallen from his kingdom, out of his wits, a wretched ascetic? **3.46.17** sarvarākṣasabhartāraṃ kāmāt svayam ihāgatam na manmathaśarāviṣṭaṃ pratyākhyātuṃ tvam arhasi You ought not to reject me — the lord of all rākṣasas, who has come here of my own accord out of desire, pierced by the arrows of Manmatha. **3.46.18** pratyākhyāya hi māṃ bhīru paritāpaṃ gamiṣyasi caraṇenābhihatyeva purūravasam urvaśī For if you reject me, O timid one, you will fall into remorse, as Urvaśī did after spurning Purūravas, as it were, with her foot. **3.46.19** evam uktā tu vaidehī kruddhā saṃraktalocanā abravīt paruṣaṃ vākyaṃ rahite rākṣasādhipam Addressed thus, Vaidehī, angered and her eyes turned red, spoke harsh words to the lord of rākṣasas in that lonely place. **3.46.20** kathaṃ vaiśravaṇaṃ devaṃ sarvabhūtanamaskṛtam bhrātaraṃ vyapadiśya tvam aśubhaṃ kartum icchasi “How is it that, citing as your brother the god Vaiśravaṇa, who is honoured by all beings, you wish to do so wicked a deed? **3.46.21** avaśyaṃ vinaśiṣyanti sarve rāvaṇa rākṣasāḥ yeṣāṃ tvaṃ karkaśo rājā durbuddhir ajitendriyaḥ Inevitably, O Rāvaṇa, all the rākṣasas will perish — they whose king you are, cruel, evil-minded, and with senses unconquered. **3.46.22** apahṛtya śacīṃ bhāryāṃ śakyam indrasya jīvitum na tu rāmasya bhāryāṃ mām apanīyāsti jīvitam Having carried off Śacī, the wife of Indra, one might yet survive; but having borne away me, the wife of Rāma, there is no living. **3.46.23** jīvec ciraṃ vajradharasya hastāc chacīṃ pradhṛṣyāpratirūparūpām na mādṛśīṃ rākṣasadharṣayitvā pītāmṛtasyāpi tavāsti mokṣaḥ One might live long even after violating Śacī of matchless beauty from the very hand of the wielder of the thunderbolt; but having assaulted one like me, O rākṣasa, there is no escape for you, even had you drunk the nectar of immortality.