सेयं पन्थानमावृत्य वसत्यध्यर्धयोजने। अत एव न गन्तव्यं ताटकाया वनं यत:।।1.24.29।।
Meaning
"She dwells barring the way, a league and a half from here — for this reason, one must go by way of Tataka's forest."
Word-by-word (pada-artha)
| Word | Devanagari | Meaning | Grammatical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| sā iyam panthānam āvṛtya | सा इयम् पन्थानम् आवृत्य | she, occupying the path | Gerund (having done) |
| vasati adhyardha-yojane | वसति अध्यर्ध-योजने | dwells at a distance of one and a half yojanas | Verb (present) / Locative |
| ata eva na gantavyam | अत एव न गन्तव्यम् | therefore one should not go | Nominative singular (gerundive) |
| tāṭakāyā vanam yataḥ | ताटकाया वनम् यतः | to where the forest of Tataka is | Genitive singular / Nominative |
Scholar commentary
valmikiramayan.net Prose Commentary
Desiraju Hanumanta Rao's prose rendering with embedded explanatory notes
The source notes this verse admits an alternate reading, 'where there is the forest of Tataka, there we have to go' -- read either as simple geography (the road happens to pass through her territory) or as a more pointed statement that confronting her territory specifically is the point of going that way at all.
1 of 16 traditions have commentary on this shloka. Traditions without a verse-specific commentary here are omitted rather than filled in.
Reference: 1.24.29 · Bāla Kāṇḍa