# Araṇya Kāṇḍa 48 — Jaṭāyu confronts Rāvaṇa

*The aged vulture condemns the abduction, demands Sītā’s release and challenges the armed ruler despite his own disadvantage*

Portion: Jaṭāyu’s resistance and Rāvaṇa’s escape · Verses: 27 · Ref format: 3.48.<verse>

## Sequence

- Sītā's cries wake Jaṭāyu → from a tree he sees Rāvaṇa carrying her and identifies himself as the vulture King (48.1–3)
- he names Rāma as her husband and condemns a ruler who takes another man's wife instead of protecting her (48.4–7)
- he reminds Rāvaṇa that subjects follow their King's example and that power cannot endure through wrongdoing (48.8–11)
- he argues that Rāma has not injured Rāvaṇa's city or Kingdom: Khara brought his defeat upon himself by attacking for Śūrpaṇakhā's sake (48.12–14)
- he urges Rāvaṇa to release Sītā before bringing fatal consequences upon himself (48.15–18)
- Jaṭāyu says he is sixty thousand years old and acknowledges Rāvaṇa's youth, armor, weapons, and chariot, but refuses to let the abduction proceed unopposed (48.19–21)
- he challenges Rāvaṇa to fight rather than flee while the brothers are absent → he vows to serve Rāma and Daśaratha even at the cost of his life (48.22–27).

## Verses

**3.48.1**  
taṃ śabdam avasuptasya jaṭāyur atha śuśruve  
niraikṣad rāvaṇaṃ kṣipraṃ vaidehīṃ ca dadarśa saḥ  
Then Jaṭāyus, roused from sleep, heard that cry; at once he looked upon Rāvaṇa and saw Vaidehī.

**3.48.2**  
tataḥ parvatakūṭābhas tīkṣṇatuṇḍaḥ khagottamaḥ  
vanaspatigataḥ śrīmān vyājahāra śubhāṃ giram  
Then that glorious best of birds, huge as a mountain peak and sharp of beak, perched upon a great tree, uttered these noble words:

**3.48.3**  
daśagrīvasthito dharme purāṇe satyasaṃśrayaḥ  
jaṭāyur nāma nāmnāhaṃ gṛdhrarājo mahābalaḥ  
'O ten-necked one, I stand firm in the ancient dharma, a refuge of truth; Jaṭāyus by name am I, the mighty king of vultures.'

**3.48.4**  
rājā sarvasya lokasya mahendravaruṇopamaḥ  
lokānāṃ ca hite yukto rāmo daśarathātmajaḥ  
'Rāma, the son of Daśaratha, is king of all the world, the equal of great Indra and Varuṇa, ever devoted to the welfare of all people.'

**3.48.5**  
tasyaiṣā lokanāthasya dharmapatnī yaśasvinī  
sītā nāma varārohā yāṃ tvaṃ hartum ihecchasi  
'This is the illustrious lawful wife of that lord of the world — Sītā by name, the fair-hipped one, whom you here seek to carry off.'

**3.48.6**  
kathaṃ rājā sthito dharme paradārān parāmṛśet  
rakṣaṇīyā viśeṣeṇa rājadārā mahābalaḥ  
nivartaya matiṃ nīcāṃ paradārābhimarśanam  
'How could a king established in dharma lay hands on another man's wife? A king's wife above all must be protected, O mighty one. Turn back your base intent to touch another's wife.'

**3.48.7**  
na tat samācared dhīro yat paro 'sya vigarhayet  
yathātmanas tathānyeṣāṃ dārā rakṣyā vimarśanāt  
'A wise man would not do what another might condemn in him; as one guards one's own wife, so must the wives of others be guarded from violation.'

**3.48.8**  
arthaṃ vā yadi vā kāmaṃ śiṣṭāḥ śāstreṣv anāgatam  
vyavasyanty anu rājānaṃ dharmaṃ paurastyanandana  
'In matters of profit or of pleasure not laid down in the scriptures, O scion of Pulastya, the wise determine what is right by following the king's example.'

**3.48.9**  
rājā dharmaś ca kāmaś ca dravyāṇāṃ cottamo nidhiḥ  
dharmaḥ śubhaṃ vā pāpaṃ vā rājamūlaṃ pravartate  
'The king is dharma, he is desire, and he is the supreme repository of wealth; dharma itself, and whatever good or evil arises, has its root in the king.'

**3.48.10**  
pāpasvabhāvaś capalaḥ kathaṃ tvaṃ rakṣasāṃ vara  
aiśvaryam abhisaṃprāpto vimānam iva duṣkṛtī  
'O best of rākṣasas, evil-natured and fickle as you are, how have you come by such sovereignty — like some sinner who has gained a celestial car he never earned?'

**3.48.11**  
kāmasvabhāvo yo yasya na sa śakyaḥ pramārjitum  
na hi duṣṭātmanām ārya mā vasaty ālaye ciram  
'A man's inborn disposition cannot be wiped away. Yet mark this, noble sir: Fortune does not abide for long in the house of the wicked.'

**3.48.12**  
viṣaye vā pure vā te yadā rāmo mahābalaḥ  
nāparādhyati dharmātmā kathaṃ tasyāparādhyasi  
'When the mighty, righteous Rāma does no wrong to your realm or your city, why do you wrong him?'

**3.48.13**  
yadi śūrpaṇakhāhetor janasthānagataḥ kharaḥ  
ativṛtto hataḥ pūrvaṃ rāmeṇākliṣṭakarmaṇā  
'If Khara, stationed at Janasthāna, overstepped all bounds for Śūrpaṇakhā's sake and was earlier slain by Rāma of tireless deeds—'

**3.48.14**  
atra brūhi yathāsatyaṃ ko rāmasya vyatikramaḥ  
yasya tvaṃ lokanāthasya hṛtvā bhāryāṃ gamiṣyasi  
'—then tell me truly: what wrong has Rāma done, that you should carry off the wife of this lord of the world and make away with her?'

**3.48.15**  
kṣipraṃ visṛja vaidehīṃ mā tvā ghoreṇa cakṣuṣā  
dahed dahana bhūtena vṛtram indrāśanir yathā  
'Release Vaidehī at once, lest with his terrible, fire-become gaze he burn you up, as Indra's thunderbolt burned Vṛtra.'

**3.48.16**  
sarpam āśīviṣaṃ baddhvā vastrānte nāvabudhyase  
grīvāyāṃ pratimuktaṃ ca kālapāśaṃ na paśyasi  
'You have tied a venomous serpent to the hem of your robe and do not know it; you do not see the noose of Death already fastened round your neck.'

**3.48.17**  
sa bhāraḥ saumya bhartavyo yo naraṃ nāvasādayet  
tad annam upabhoktavyaṃ jīryate yad anāmayam  
'That burden alone should be borne, gentle one, which does not crush a man; that food alone should be eaten which digests without harm.'

**3.48.18**  
yat kṛtvā na bhaved dharmo na kīrtir na yaśo bhuvi  
śarīrasya bhavet khedaḥ kas tat karma samācaret  
'A deed by which no merit, no fame, no glory on earth is won, but only weariness of body results — who would ever undertake such a deed?'

**3.48.19**  
ṣaṣṭivarṣasahasrāṇi mama jātasya rāvaṇa  
pitṛpaitāmahaṃ rājyaṃ yathāvad anutiṣṭhataḥ  
'Sixty thousand years have passed since my birth, O Rāvaṇa, while I have duly ruled the kingdom of my fathers and forefathers.'

**3.48.20**  
vṛddho 'haṃ tvaṃ yuvā dhanvī sarathaḥ kavacī śarī  
tathāpy ādāya vaidehīṃ kuśalī na gamiṣyasi  
'I am old, and you are young, armed with bow, chariot, armor, and arrows; yet even so, you shall not carry Vaidehī off and go your way unscathed.'

**3.48.21**  
na śaktas tvaṃ balād dhartuṃ vaidehīṃ mama paśyataḥ  
hetubhir nyāyasaṃyuktair dhruvāṃ vedaśrutīm iva  
'You cannot carry Vaidehī off by force while I look on — no more than one could overturn the firm truth of Vedic revelation with well-reasoned arguments.'

**3.48.22**  
yudhyasva yadi śūro 'si muhūrtaṃ tiṣṭha rāvaṇa  
śayiṣyase hato bhūmau yathāpūrvaṃ kharas tathā  
'Fight, if you are a hero! Halt a moment, Rāvaṇa. You will lie slain upon the earth, just as Khara did before you.'

**3.48.23**  
asakṛt saṃyuge yena nihatā daityadānavāḥ  
nacirāc cīravāsās tvāṃ rāmo yudhi vadhiṣyati  
'Rāma, by whom the Daityas and Dānavas have been struck down again and again in battle, will before long slay you in combat, though he wears but bark garments.'

**3.48.24**  
kiṃ nu śakyaṃ mayā kartuṃ gatau dūraṃ nṛpātmajau  
kṣipraṃ tvaṃ naśyase nīca tayor bhīto na saṃśayaḥ  
'Yet what can I do, now that the two princes have gone far away? You slink off in haste, base creature, in fear of them both — of that there is no doubt.'

**3.48.25**  
na hi me jīvamānasya nayiṣyasi śubhām imām  
sītāṃ kamalapatrākṣīṃ rāmasya mahaṣīṃ priyām  
'For while I yet live, you shall not lead away this lovely Sītā, the lotus-eyed, beloved queen of Rāma.'

**3.48.26**  
avaśyaṃ tu mayā kāryaṃ priyaṃ tasya mahātmanaḥ  
jīvitenāpi rāmasya tathā daśarathasya ca  
'Come what may, I must do a service to that great-souled Rāma — and to Daśaratha too — even at the cost of my life.'

**3.48.27**  
tiṣṭha tiṣṭha daśagrīva muhūrtaṃ paśya rāvaṇa  
yuddhātithyaṃ pradāsyāmi yathāprāṇaṃ niśācara  
vṛntād iva phalaṃ tvāṃ tu pātayeyaṃ rathottamāt  
'Halt, halt, O ten-necked Rāvaṇa! Wait but a moment and look. I shall offer you the hospitality of battle with all my strength, night-roamer, and cast you down from your splendid chariot like a ripe fruit from its stalk.'