Jatayu fights Ravana, Aranya Kand
What does Jatayu say to Ravana in the Ramayana?
In both
Both texts have the fight. In Valmiki (Aranya Kanda, sargas 50 and 51), the old vulture king tells Ravana that he is old and Ravana young and armed, yet he will not let him take Sita, and he fights him. Ram cremates him like his own kin (sarga 68). Tulsidas tells it in Aranya Kand, dohas 29 to 32.
Film, Valmiki, Tulsidas
Tap a lamp to see what that version has.
Film. In the film's telling (from trailers and the makers): Jatayu is in the film; press reports in 2024 said the bird would be voiced as a cameo. How the fight plays is not yet known.
Valmiki. Jatayu stands up to Ravana; Ram cremates him as kin.
वृद्धोऽहं त्वं युवा धन्वी सरथः कवची शरी।न चाप्यादाय कुशली वैदेहीं मे गमिष्यसि॥I am old, and you are young, with bow, chariot, armour and arrows. Still you will not carry Vaidehi off past me unharmed.
एवमुक्त्वा चितां दीप्तामारोप्य पतगेश्वरम्।ददाह रामो धर्मात्मा स्वबन्धुमिव दुःखितः॥Saying this, Ram laid the king of birds on the blazing pyre and, grieving, cremated him as he would his own kin.
Tulsidas. Jatayu warns Ravana, fights, and Ram performs his last rites.
सुनत गीध क्रोधातुर धावा।कह सुनु रावन मोर सिखावा॥तजि जानकिहि कुसल गृह जाहू।नाहिं त अस होइहि बहुबाहू॥Hearing her cry, the vulture flew at him in fury. 'Listen to me, Ravana. Leave Janaki and go home safe. If you do not, many-armed one, this is what will happen.'
अबिरल भगति मागि बर गीध गयउ हरिधाम।तेहि की क्रिया जथोचित निज कर कीन्ही राम॥Asking only for unbroken devotion, the vulture went to Hari's home. Ram performed his last rites with his own hands, as they should be done.
The whole episode
- Jatayu, an old friend of Dasharatha, first reasons with Ravana about what a king owes another man’s wife.
- Then he fights, wrecks Ravana’s chariot, and falls when Ravana cuts his wings.
- He lives long enough to tell Ram who took Sita, and in both texts Ram performs his last rites himself.
What it asks of you this week
Jatayu stood up knowing he could lose. This week, speak up for one person who has no voice in the room.
Krishna tells Arjuna that the work is his and the result never was.
Read Bhagavad Gita 2.47Seven mornings, one line each, for what you are going through. Week 1 is free.
Start Week 1 freeOr start with seven mornings: four Ramayana lines, then three from the Gita.
See all 11 scenes, or read Valmiki and Tulsidas, side by side.
Sources and method
Valmiki lines are from the Sanskrit Valmiki Ramayana; references give the kanda and sarga, which match the Gita Press edition. Shloka numbers differ between printed editions, so each line also carries its Wisdom line id. Tulsidas lines are from the Ramcharitmanas in Awadhi; where a doha number is given it follows the Gita Press, Gorakhpur edition, and where we could not yet confirm the number we give only the kand.
The English is Wisdom's own. For Valmiki we checked our wording against M. N. Dutt's public-domain translation (1891 to 1894). Readings follow traditional commentary. Wisdom translation, edited by Ankur Shukla. Commentary AI-drafted, human-reviewed.
What we say about the film comes only from its published trailers and press reports, linked where we use them. We have not seen the film.