HomeRamayanaAranya KandaSarga 53Shloka 3.53.24
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Shloka 3.53.24

सीताविलापः रावणनिन्दा च (Sita’s Lament and Condemnation of Ravana)

निमेषान्तरमात्रेण विना भ्रात्रा महावने।।3.53.23।।राक्षसा निहता येन सहस्राणि चतुर्दश।स कथं राघवो वीरस्सर्वास्त्रकुशलो बली।।3.53.24।।न त्वां हन्याच्छरैस्तीक्ष्णैरिष्टभार्यापहारिणम्।

nimeṣāntaramātreṇa vinā bhrātrā mahāvane ||3.53.23||

rākṣasā nihatā yena sahasrāṇi caturdaśa |

sa kathaṃ rāghavo vīraḥ sarvāstrakuśalo balī ||3.53.24||

na tvāṃ hanyāc charais tīkṣṇair iṣṭabhāryāpahāriṇam ||

In this vast forest, in but the space of a blink, and without his brother’s aid, he slew fourteen thousand rākṣasas. How could that heroic Rāghava—mighty and skilled in every weapon—not strike you down with sharp arrows, you who have abducted his beloved wife?

Rama has killed fourteen thousand demons alone without his brother within a moment. He is a strong warrior and wellversed in the use of all kinds of weapons. You have stolen his loving wife. How can he live without killing you.

R
Rāghava (Rāma)
R
Rāvaṇa
J
Jatāyu
R
rākṣasas
M
mahāvana (great forest)
A
arrows (śara)
B
beloved wife (Sītā, implied)

Jatāyu frames Rāvaṇa’s act as adharma—abducting another’s wife—and asserts that a dharmic hero like Rāma, powerful and disciplined in arms, will necessarily punish such wrongdoing to restore moral order.

Satya appears as Jatāyu’s truthful warning: he states verifiable facts about Rāma’s prowess (the slaying of fourteen thousand rākṣasas) and draws a truthful ethical conclusion—Rāvaṇa cannot escape the consequences of abducting Sītā.