Shloka 3.44.26
मारीचवधः — The Slaying of Maricha (Golden Deer Deception)
तत्र रामं भयं तीव्रमाविवेश विषादजम्।राक्षसं मृगरूपं तं हत्वा श्रुत्वा च तत्स्वरम्।।।।
taṃ sma paśyati rūpeṇa dyotamānam ivāgrataḥ |
avekṣyāvekṣya dhāvantaṃ dhanuṣpāṇir mahāvane |
ativṛttam iṣoḥ pātāl lobhayānaṃ kadācana ||
śaṅkitaṃ tu samudbhrāntam utpatantam ivāmbare |
dṛśyamānam adṛśyaṃ ca vanoddeśeṣu keṣucit ||
chinnābhrair iva saṃvītaṃ śāradaṃ candramaṇḍalam ||
Rāma, bow in hand, kept seeing that radiant creature ahead. Again and again he watched it run through the vast forest—sometimes slipping beyond the reach of his arrow, sometimes enticing him onward. Alarmed and bewildered, it seemed to leap up as if taking to the sky; in some stretches of woodland it would appear and then vanish. It was like the autumn moon, now veiled and now revealed by scattered clouds.
After killing the demon in the figure of a deer and hearing his voice, Rama was overtaken by intense fear born of despair.
The imagery teaches discernment (viveka): what dazzles the senses can be unstable and misleading. Dharma requires steady judgment, not being pulled by mere appearances.
Rāma continues the chase; the deer repeatedly appears and disappears, deliberately keeping him at a distance.
Rāma’s perseverance, alongside the cautionary theme that even perseverance must be guided by discrimination.