The Ramayana in Sanskrit: Book 3: Chapter 3

This is an excerpt from the Valmiki Ramayana's Aranya Kanda (Forest Book), the Sanskrit epic poem in its classical verse form, rendered in both Roman transliteration and Devanagari script. The passage narrates the encounter between Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita and the fearsome rakshasa (demon) Viradha in the Dandaka Forest: Viradha seizes Sita, boasts of his Brahma-granted invincibility, and demands the brothers flee — prompting Rama to attack with seven golden-fletched arrows, after which he and Lakshmana break Viradha's arms, and the demon falls like a mountain split by lightning. The passage's most distinctive element is Viradha's deathbed revelation: he is actually Tumburu, a celestial gandharva musician cursed by Kubera for his infatuation with the apsara Rambha, who had been told that only Rama's killing stroke could free him and return him to heaven. Viradha then directs Rama to the nearby sage Sharabhanga, requests burial in a pit according to rakshasa custom (which grants eternal reward), and ascends to heaven once cast in. The episode functions both as an action sequence establishing Rama's warrior credentials in the forest and as a theological vignette — the demon is simultaneously villain and devotee whose destruction is a liberation — typical of the Ramayana's layered dharmic storytelling.

The Ramayana in Sanskrit: Book 3: Chapter 3

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