Shloka 3.39.5

एकोनचत्वारिंशः सर्गः (Aranyakanda 39): राक्षसस्य रामत्रासवर्णनम् / The Demon’s Account of Rama-Fear

Devanagari script

निहत्य दण्डकारण्ये तापसान्धर्मचारिणः।रुधिराणि पिबंस्तेषां तथा मांसानि भक्षयन्।।।।

Transliteration

nihatya daṇḍakāraṇye tāpasān dharmacāriṇaḥ |

rudhirāṇi pibans teṣāṃ tathā māṃsāni bhakṣayan ||

Translation

In the Daṇḍaka forest I slew ascetics who lived by righteousness, drinking their blood and devouring their flesh.

Context

I wandered about the Dandaka forest slaying righteous ascetics, drinking their blood and eating their flesh.

Characters & Entities

• Marīca
• Daṇḍakāraṇya (Daṇḍaka forest)
• tāpasas (ascetics)

FAQs

What is the core ethical principle (Dharma) in this verse?

The verse highlights the gravity of harming dharmic ascetics; dharma demands protection of the righteous and condemns predation upon the defenseless.

What is the narrative situation?

Marīca confesses extreme past cruelty to show Rāvaṇa that such adharma inevitably meets a corrective force—embodied later by Rāma.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

By contrast, the virtue emphasized is the ascetics’ dharma-niṣṭhā (steadfast righteousness), underscoring why their protection is central in the epic.