The golden deer

1. 3.43. Book 3, Canto 43: The Wondrous Deer

   3.43.1While picking flowers, Sita keeps staring at an amazing deer with a back and sides shining in silver and gold.
2. 3.43.2Sita excitedly calls out again and again to Rama and his brother Lakshmana to come quickly and see the wonderful deer.
3. 3.43.3The brothers rush to Sita and see the deer. But Lakshmana feels strong doubt and speaks up about his fear.
4. 3.43.4Lakshmana warns that the deer may be the demon Maricha in disguise. He says kings who came hunting here before were tricked and killed by such tricks.
5. 3.43.5Lakshmana says Maricha is skilled in magic and takes the shape of a deer. No real deer has ever shone with gold and jewels like this, so it must be magic.
6. 3.43.6Sita, already caught by the demon's trick, brushes aside Lakshmana's careful warning. She tells Rama the deer's rare beauty delights her.
7. 3.43.7Sita asks Rama to go and bring her the deer. She says many animals—cows, deer, monkeys, bears and Kinnaras (half-human forest beings)—wander near their hermitage without harm.
8. 3.43.8Sita says that none of the animals she has seen ever charmed her like this one. It glows with jewels and lights up the forest like the rising moon.
9. 3.43.9Sita says the deer's beauty is beyond words and has captured her heart. She begs Rama to catch it alive so he too can enjoy looking at it.
10. 3.43.10Sita imagines that after their forest exile ends and they return to rule, the deer will decorate her home. She says it will delight Bharata, the queens and herself.
11. 3.43.11Sita tells Rama that if he cannot catch the golden deer alive, he should shoot it. She dreams of sitting on its soft golden skin spread over the grass.
12. 3.43.12Sita admits that such a strong wish does not suit a gentle lady. But the deer, with its golden hair and sapphire-tipped antlers, has completely charmed her.
13. 3.43.13Sita ends her plea by saying the deer shines like the moon's path or the dawn. She says it has charmed Rama's heart too.
14. 3.43.14Rama listens to Sita, the daughter of King Janak, and looks at the deer again. Charmed by it and wanting to please her, he turns to speak to his brother Lakshman.
15. 3.43.15Rama tells Lakshman to see how badly Sita wants the deer. He says that today it must be killed for its beauty, since it is lovelier than anything in the gardens of the gods, like Nandan.
16. 3.43.16Rama wonders how an earthly forest could hold something so beautiful. He describes its smooth, shining hair and the drops of gold on its side and neck.
17. 3.43.17Rama keeps describing the deer: its red tongue flashes like lightning, its forehead shines with jewel colors, and its neck glows like pearl and shell.
18. 3.43.18Rama says no one could look at such a glowing, jeweled deer without being enchanted and amazed.
19. 3.43.19Rama explains that kings with bows enjoy hunting in the forest. While hunting, they often find treasures too.
20. 3.43.20Rama says a king has the right to treasures he finds in the forest. Such finds feel more precious to him than the riches already in his palace.
21. 3.43.21Rama notes that careless people often chase gains that turn out empty, as wise people can show. Still, he decides this deer must be hunted so Sita can sit on its golden hide.
22. 3.43.22Rama says he has never seen such a rich, soft coat on any deer, sheep, or goat. He compares the deer to a heavenly star on earth.
23. 3.43.23Rama tells Lakshman that if his fear is right and the deer is really the demon Maricha in disguise, Rama will kill him. Maricha has long terrified the holy hermits of this forest.
24. 3.43.25Rama recalls a demon named Vatapi who tricked holy men by becoming their food and then bursting out of them. When he tried it on the great sage Agastya, Agastya saw through the trick and calmly defeated him.
25. 3.43.27Rama says he will kill Maricha just as Agastya killed his foe. He tells Lakshman to stay armed and guard Sita carefully, following his orders, while he goes to hunt the deer.
26. 3.43.28Rama promises to return with the deer's skin. He points out to Lakshman how much Sita longs for it.
27. 3.43.29Rama tells Lakshman and Sita to stay alert for danger. He expects one arrow to kill the deer so he can bring the skin back quickly.
28. 3.43.30Rama adds that Jatayus, the wise old vulture king and their faithful friend, will help protect Sita. He asks Lakshman to stay watchful, as if enemies were on every side.

29. 3.44. Book 3, Canto 44: Márícha’s Death

    3.44.1After warning his brother, Rama takes his golden sword, his beloved bow, and two quivers of arrows, and hurries off.
30. 3.44.2When the deer sees Rama coming, it runs off in fear, then turns to show its head. Rama chases it wherever he glimpses its glowing beauty among the valleys.
31. 3.44.3The golden deer keeps teasing Rama. It shows itself clearly, then disappears into the woods, then flashes into view again between the trees like the moon peeking out from clouds.
32. 3.44.4The deer is really the demon Maricha in disguise. He keeps appearing and vanishing so that Rama follows him far from his hut. Rama grows angry, upset and tired, and he rests in the shade.
33. 3.44.5Maricha, the night-roaming demon, shows himself again, walking slowly among other deer close to Rama. This makes Rama angry. Rama goes after him, but the deer suddenly takes fright and runs out of sight again.
34. 3.44.6Rama leaves the shade and follows the deer once more. Now he is more determined to kill it. Growing impatient, he pulls out a shining, deadly arrow.
35. 3.44.7Rama carefully aims and shoots an arrow made by the god Brahma. It flies like a fiery snake or a lightning bolt of Indra, the king of the gods, and strikes the false deer in the heart.
36. 3.44.8Maricha leaps once and falls, dying, with a terrible roar. As he dies he drops the deer form. Still loyal to his master Ravana, he plans how to make Sita send her protector Lakshmana away so Ravana can capture her.
37. 3.44.9Knowing the moment has come, Maricha shouts "Ho, Sita! Lakshmana!" in a voice that sounds exactly like Rama's.
38. 3.44.10Struck by the arrow, Maricha leaves the deer shape, returns to his giant demon form and dies. Seeing him bleeding, Rama thinks of Sita at once. He remembers Lakshmana's warning that the deer was Maricha's trick.
39. 3.44.11Rama realizes the creature was Maricha. He worries that if Sita heard the demon's cry in his own voice, she must be terribly frightened.
40. 3.44.12Rama wonders what Lakshmana must think after hearing the cry. His hair stands on end, and dread fills his heart as he thinks of the dead demon and that cry.
41. 3.44.13Rama hunts and kills another deer, carries it with him, and hurries back toward his home in the Janasthan forest.