रामायणम् — बालकाण्डम्

Summary AI A prince of the Ikṣvāku line named Rāma possesses a conch-shaped neck and arms reaching his knees. To fulfill a paternal vow, he enters the Daṇḍaka forest with Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa. When Rāvaṇa abducts Sītā, Rāma forms an alliance with vānaras, bridges the ocean, and kills the rākṣasa king. Returning to his capital, he leads a reign where no mother outlives her child and the people live free from disease for eleven thousand years.

१.२

बालकाण्डे द्वितीयः सर्गः

Vālmīki creates the first śloka.

Summary AI Vālmīki walks to the Tamasā river with his disciple Bharadvāja and observes a pair of krauñca birds. When a niṣāda hunter kills the male, Vālmīki utters a spontaneous curse. This rhythmic expression, born from his śoka, becomes the first śloka. Brahmā arrives to reveal that this poetic form emerged by his will. He commands Vālmīki to use the meter to narrate the history of Rāma, promising that the story will endure as long as mountains remain.

१.३

बालकाण्डे तृतीयः सर्गः

Vālmīki perceives the life of Rāma through meditation.

Summary AI After performing ācamana and sitting on darbha grass, Vālmīki meditates to perceive the life of Rāma. He sees the breaking of the bow, the forest exile, and the death of Daśaratha. The vision follows the alliance with Hanumān, the construction of the ocean bridge, and the defeat of Rāvaṇa. Rāma returns to Ayodhyā for his coronation, but the record also includes future events, such as the banishment of Sītā, contained within the final Uttarakāṇḍa.

१.४

बालकाण्डे चतुर्थः सर्गः

Kuśa and Lava chant the epic for Rāma.

Summary AI After composing the history of Rāma, the sage initiates Kuśa and Lava into the poem. Dressed as ascetics, the twins master the seven jāti melodies and the nine rasas. They chant the verses before an assembly of forest dwellers, receiving water pots and bark garments as rewards. Later, they recite the work on the city roads. Rāma invites them to his palace, where they sing the epic before the throne while the king and his brothers listen.

१.५

बालकाण्डे पञ्चमः सर्गः

A description of the city of Ayodhyā.

Summary AI The kings of the Ikṣvāku line, descending from Manu, govern Kosala along the Sarayū river. Daśaratha resides in Ayodhyā, a city spanning twelve yojanas with wide highways sprinkled with water and strewn with flowers. Fortified by deep moats and śataghnī missiles, the capital houses tiered palaces, mango groves, and markets. Vīṇā and mṛdaṅga music sounds through streets filled with horses, elephants, and Vedic scholars. Merchants and tributary kings gather here, supporting a city stocked with grain.

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बालकाण्डे षष्ठः सर्गः

Daśaratha rules Ayodhyā according to dharma.

Summary AI Daśaratha governs Ayodhyā with the righteousness of Manu. Every resident possesses wealth, cattle, and grain, appearing as pure as maharṣis. Men and women wear golden kuṇḍala earrings and fragrant garlands, living in a city free from hunger or atheism. High-bred horses from Kāmboja and mountain-sized elephants fill the stables. Warriors trained in weaponry guard the fortified gates while the four varṇa groups perform their traditional rituals. No citizen remains unlearned in this secure capital.

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बालकाण्डे सप्तमः सर्गः

Daśaratha governs with his ministers and priests.

Summary AI Daśaratha governs his realm alongside eight ministers, including Sumantra and Siddhārtha, and the royal priests Vasiṣṭha and Vāmadeva. These counselors employ a network of spies to monitor internal and foreign affairs while maintaining the treasury and army. They enforce the law impartially, imposing daṇḍa even upon their own sons. Under their guidance, the city of Ayodhyā remains free of falsehood. The king presides over the earth like the rising sun surrounded by its rays.

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बालकाण्डे अष्टमः सर्गः

Daśaratha hears a prophecy regarding Ṛśyaśṛṅga.

Summary AI Daśaratha resolves to perform a vājimedha sacrifice to obtain an heir. He summons his ministers and priests to prepare the ritual. His counselor Sumantra recounts a prophecy by Sanatkumāra concerning the ascetic Ṛśyaśṛṅga. This youth, raised in isolation by Vibhāṇḍaka, once ended a drought in Aṅga after being lured there by courtesans and marrying Śāntā. Sumantra identifies this sage as the one destined to grant Daśaratha sons.

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बालकाण्डे नवमः सर्गः

Courtesans lure Ṛṣyaśṛṅga to Aṅga.

Summary AI Sumantra recounts how Romapāda’s ministers lured Ṛṣyaśṛṅga to their kingdom. Unfamiliar with women, the young ascetic meets a group of courtesans who offer him sweetmeats. Mistaking these for forest fruits, he becomes restless after they depart. When they return, he follows them to the city. His arrival triggers immediate rainfall across the parched land. Romapāda welcomes the sage and grants him his daughter, Śāntā, in marriage to ensure his continued presence.

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बालकाण्डे दशमः सर्गः

Daśaratha brings Ṛṣyaśṛṅga to Ayodhyā.

Summary AI Daśaratha travels to Aṅga to seek Ṛṣyaśṛṅga, following a prophecy by Sanatkumāra. He asks Romapāda to allow the sage and Śāntā to return with him to Ayodhyā to conduct a yajña for sons. Romapāda agrees, and Daśaratha escorts them back to his kingdom. Citizens decorate the city and sound conches and drums as the party enters. The king welcomes Ṛṣyaśṛṅga into the inner apartments, where the royal ladies greet Śāntā.

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बालकाण्डे एकादशः सर्गः

Daśaratha prepares an aśvamedha for heirs.

Summary AI Daśaratha, seeking heirs, resolves to perform a horse sacrifice as spring begins. He bows before Ṛṣyaśṛṅga and summons his priests, including Vasiṣṭha and Jābāli. The king orders the release of the ritual horse and the construction of a sacrificial ground on the northern bank of the Sarayū. The brāhmaṇas approve the plan, promising four sons. To prevent interference from brahmarākṣasas, Daśaratha commands his ministers to ensure every rite follows scriptural law.

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बालकाण्डे द्वादशः सर्गः

Daśaratha invites guests to the sacrifice.

Summary AI As spring returns, the king enters the sacrificial pavilion to begin rites for sons. Vasiṣṭha commands architects to build brick structures and residences. Sumantra travels to invite the kings of Mithilā, Kāśī, and Kekaya, who arrive bearing gifts. Vasiṣṭha instructs that all guests receive food and honor without contempt. Once Daśaratha enters the yajñāyatana on an auspicious day, he joins Vasiṣṭha and Ṛśyaśṛṅga to initiate the ceremony according to scriptural tradition.

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बालकाण्डे त्रयोदशः सर्गः

Daśaratha performs the horse sacrifice.

Summary AI Daśaratha commences the aśvamedha on the northern bank of the Sarayū. Priests led by Ṛśyaśṛṅga erect golden yūpa posts and build an altar in the shape of a golden-winged garuḍa. While guests eat, Kausalyā strikes the sacrificial horse with a scimitar. The priests offer the horse's limbs into the flames, and the king inhales the smoke to cleanse his sins. After distributing gold and cows, Ṛśyaśṛṅga promises the king four sons to continue his dynasty.

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बालकाण्डे चतुर्दशः सर्गः

The deities petition Viṣṇu for help.

Summary AI Ṛśyaśṛṅga begins the putrīyeṣṭi sacrifice to secure sons for Daśaratha. As deities gather, they petition Brahmā to stop the rākṣasa Rāvaṇa. Brahmā explains that Rāvaṇa is immune to gods but vulnerable to humans. When Viṣṇu appears, the gods ask him to divide his essence and take birth as the four sons of Daśaratha’s wives. This plan facilitates the destruction of the demon king.

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बालकाण्डे पञ्चदशः सर्गः

Daśaratha receives divine pāyasa for his queens.

Summary AI Viṣṇu agrees to take human form to slay Rāvaṇa, who is protected by a boon against all beings except mortals. As Daśaratha performs a sacrifice, a dark figure emerges from the flames holding a golden vessel of divine pāyasa. This messenger commands the king to distribute the food among his queens. Daśaratha divides the offering among Kausalyā, Sumitrā, and Kaikeyī. The wives consume the gift, ensuring the birth of sons.

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बालकाण्डे षोडशः सर्गः

The gods father vānaras to assist Rāma.

Summary AI Brahmā commands celestial beings to father sons who will assist Viṣṇu. The gods, sages, and spirits produce offspring in the forms of monkeys and bears. These vānaras possess the strength of mountains and change their shapes at will. They fight using trees and boulders, leap across oceans, and seize clouds. Led by Vālī and Sugrīva, thousands of these warriors inhabit the forests and peaks, readying themselves to support Rāma against Rāvaṇa.

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बालकाण्डे सप्तदशः सर्गः

The birth of the princes and Viśvāmitra's arrival.

Summary AI Daśaratha returns to Ayodhyā. Kausalyā gives birth to Rāma, while Kaikeyī and Sumitrā bear Bharata, Lakṣmaṇa, and Śatrughna as portions of Viṣṇu. The brothers master the Veda and weapons. Lakṣmaṇa remains inseparable from Rāma. As the king ponders his sons' marriages, the sage Viśvāmitra reaches the palace. Daśaratha greets the guest with arghya, offering to perform any task the sage requires to ensure his satisfaction.

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बालकाण्डे अष्टादशः सर्गः

Viśvāmitra requests Rāma to protect his sacrifice.

Summary AI Viśvāmitra requests that Daśaratha send Rāma to protect his sacrifice from the rākṣasas Mārīca and Subāhu, who defile the altar with blood. The sage explains that his ritual prevents him from uttering curses, making the young prince's protection necessary. He describes the youth as kākapakṣadhara and promises him fame. Despite the sage's assurances of Rāma’s power, Daśaratha trembles and sinks into his throne, overcome by the prospect of parting with his son.

१.१९

बालकाण्डे एकोनविंशः सर्गः

Daśaratha refuses to part with Rāma.

Summary AI Daśaratha collapses in fear upon hearing the request for his son. He argues that Rāma is under sixteen years old and unskilled in the warfare of rākṣasas. Offering himself and an akṣauhiṇī army instead, the king cites his sixty thousand years of childless longing as reason to keep the boy safe. Even as the sage identifies the threats of Mārīca and Subāhu, the king refuses to part with his eldest son, fearing the prowess of Rāvaṇa.

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बालकाण्डे विंशः सर्गः

Vasiṣṭha advises Daśaratha to fulfill his promise.

Summary AI Viśvāmitra reacts with wrath to the king’s hesitation, causing the earth to shake. Vasiṣṭha intervenes, reminding Daśaratha that breaking a promise destroys accumulated iṣṭāpūrta. He describes the sage’s command over the hundred astra born from the daughters of Dakṣa. These weapons change forms to overcome any rākṣasa. Vasiṣṭha insists that Rāma remains safe under the protection of this sage who holds the ancient knowledge of Kṛśāśva’s sons.

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बालकाण्डे एकविंशः सर्गः

Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa learn the balā mantras.

Summary AI Daśaratha entrusts Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa to Viśvāmitra. As the brothers follow the sage, celestial drums sound and flowers fall. Rāma, wearing kākapakṣa side-locks, carries his bow. After walking half a yojana to the Sarayū’s southern bank, Viśvāmitra initiates Rāma into the balā and atibalā mantras. This knowledge shields him from hunger, thirst, and fatigue. Rāma touches water to purify himself, accepts the chants, and rests on the riverbank.

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बालकाण्डे द्वाविंशः सर्गः

The princes visit the site of Kāma's destruction.

Summary AI At daybreak, Viśvāmitra wakes Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa. After performing morning rites, the princes travel to the confluence of the Sarayū and Gaṅgā. Viśvāmitra explains that the nearby hermitage is where Śiva’s third eye once consumed the god of love, Kāma. This act left the deity anaṅga, or bodiless, giving the region of Aṅga its name. The resident ascetics welcome the travelers to stay the night.

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बालकाण्डे त्रयोविंशः सर्गः

Rāma crosses the Gaṅgā to Tāṭakā's forest.

Summary AI Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa cross the Gaṅgā by boat. A tumultuous roar marks where the Sarayū meets the Gaṅgā. Reaching the southern bank, they enter a forest of dhava and bilva trees. Viśvāmitra explains that these grounds, once the realms of Malada and Karūṣa, were blessed by Indra. The sage identifies the source of the wasteland’s decay as the yakṣiṇī Tāṭakā and orders Rāma to strike her down with his own strength.

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बालकाण्डे चतुर्विंशः सर्गः

Viśvāmitra explains the origins of Tāṭakā.

Summary AI Viśvāmitra explains that the yakṣa Suketu received his daughter Taṭakā as a gift from Brahmā. After her husband dies, Taṭakā and her son Mārīca attack Agastya, who curses them into man-eating rākṣasas. Viśvāmitra commands Rāma to kill her to protect cows and brāhmaṇas. He cites Indra slaying Mantharā and Viṣṇu killing Bhṛgu’s wife as historical precedents for a prince’s duty to eliminate those who abandon dharma.

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बालकाण्डे पञ्चविंशः सर्गः

Rāma slays the yakṣiṇī Tāṭakā.

Summary AI Rāma vows to follow the instructions of Viśvāmitra, honoring the command of Daśaratha. To protect cows and brāhmaṇas, he twangs his bow, drawing Tāṭakā from the forest. Though initially reluctant to kill a woman, Rāma responds to her charging attack by piercing her chest with an arrow. After the yakṣiṇī falls, Indra and the gods urge Viśvāmitra to bestow divine weapons upon the prince. The group then rests at the riverbank.

१.२६

बालकाण्डे षड्विंशः सर्गः

Viśvāmitra bestows celestial astra upon Rāma.

Summary AI After daybreak, Viśvāmitra grants Rāma an array of celestial astra. He bestows the dharmacakra, kālacakra, the trident of Śiva, and the brahmāstra. Rāma receives the modakī and śikharī maces, along with various pāśa and thunderbolts. Facing east, the sage recites mantra sequences to transfer the weapons. The presiding deities of these arms appear to offer their service. Rāma touches the weapons and bids them reside in his mind before resuming his journey.

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बालकाण्डे सप्तविंशः सर्गः

Rāma learns the saṃhāra mantras.

Summary AI Rāma undergoes purification to receive the saṃhāra mantras, allowing him to withdraw the divine weapons. These weapons appear in personified forms to pledge their service. Rāma commands them to depart and return only when summoned. Resuming their walk, the travelers leave the forest for a region of lush trees. Rāma notices a mountain grove teeming with deer and asks Viśvāmitra to explain the origins of the hermitage appearing on the horizon.

१.२८

बालकाण्डे अष्टाविंशः सर्गः

The history of Siddhāśrama and the Vāmana avatāra.

Summary AI Viśvāmitra identifies the forest as Siddhāśrama, where Viṣṇu performed penance as the dwarf Vāmana. When Bali seized the three worlds, Viṣṇu was born to Aditi and approached Bali’s sacrifice. He requested three paces of land and reclaimed the universe for Mahendra. The sage returns to this site and asks Rāma to protect his upcoming sacrifice from rākṣasa interference. After receiving hospitality from ascetics, Viśvāmitra enters a state of dīkṣā.

१.२९

बालकाण्डे एकोनत्रिंशः सर्गः

Rāma protects the sacrifice and defeats Subāhu.

Summary AI Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa guard the sacrificial ground for six nights. As the ritual concludes, the rākṣasas Mārīca and Subāhu appear like dark clouds to rain blood upon the altar. Rāma strikes Mārīca with the mānavāstra, hurling him into the ocean, and kills Subāhu using the āgneyāstra. He clears the remaining attackers with the vāyavyāstra. With the forest secured, Viśvāmitra completes the sacrifice and commends the princes for fulfilling their duty.

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बालकाण्डे त्रिंशः सर्गः

The sages travel toward Mithilā.

Summary AI Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa complete their morning rites and request new instructions from Viśvāmitra. The sages invite the brothers to King Janaka’s sacrifice in Mithilā to see a divine bow. After circling the Siddhāśrama, Viśvāmitra leads a caravan north toward the mountains. They halt at the banks of the Śoṇā river for evening prayers. Seeing the dense woods, Rāma asks the sage to explain the history of the land.

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बालकाण्डे एकत्रिंशः सर्गः

Vāyu disfigures the daughters of Kuśanābha.

Summary AI Kuśa's four sons build the cities of Kauśāmbī, Mahodaya, Dharmāraṇya, and Girivraja. The river Sumāgadhī winds through the mountains of Vasumatī. Kuśanābha's one hundred daughters play in a garden. When the wind-god Vāyu demands they become his wives, the sisters refuse, deferring to their father’s authority. Angered by their rejection, Vāyu enters their bodies and bends their limbs, turning them into hunchbacks. The maidens return to the palace, where their father finds them disfigured.

१.३२

बालकाण्डे द्वात्रिंशः सर्गः

The daughters of Kuśanābha marry Brahmadatta.

Summary AI Kuśanābha praises his daughters for their kṣamā after they resist Vāyu. To resolve their plight, the king marries them to Brahmadatta, the mind-born son of the ascetic Cūli and the gandharvī Somadā. During the wedding ceremony, Brahmadatta takes their hands in marriage according to tradition. Upon this physical contact, the maidens lose their hunched backs and regain their natural forms. Kuśanābha sends the brides to Kāmpilya with their husband and his mother.

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बालकाण्डे त्रयस्त्रिंशः सर्गः

Viśvāmitra describes his lineage and the Kauśikī river.

Summary AI Kuśanābha performs a sacrifice to beget a son, Gādhi. Gādhi’s son, Viśvāmitra, recounts how his sister Satyavatī followed her husband in death and transformed into the Kauśikī river flowing from the Himavat. After explaining his lineage and his residence near her waters, Viśvāmitra describes the arrival of midnight. He points to the moon and the nocturnal creatures. Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa listen to his words before settling into sleep under the starlit sky.

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बालकाण्डे चतुस्त्रिंशः सर्गः

Viśvāmitra relates the origins of the Gaṅgā.

Summary AI After morning rituals by the Śoṇā, Viśvāmitra leads Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa toward the Gaṅgā. They bathe in the water and offer oblations to ancestors before lighting sacrificial fires. Rāma asks about the river’s origin. Viśvāmitra explains how the mountain king Himavān and Menā fathered two daughters, Gaṅgā and Umā. While the gods took the elder daughter to the heavens to benefit the three worlds, Umā performed penance and became the wife of Rudra.

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बालकाण्डे पञ्चत्रिंशः सर्गः

The gods receive Umā’s curse.

Summary AI Śiva and Umā remain in union for a century until the gods, fearing the power of a divine son, intervene. Śiva agrees to retain his tejas, but his spilled energy pervades the earth, transforming into a white mountain and the reed forest where Kārtikeya is born. Angered by this interruption, Umā curses the gods with childlessness and the earth with many masters. Afterward, Śiva and Umā retreat to the peaks of the Himavat to perform penance.

१.३६

बालकाण्डे षट्त्रिंशः सर्गः

The birth of the celestial commander Kārttikeya.

Summary AI The gods seek a commander and approach Brahmā, who directs Agni to beget a son through Gaṅgā. Agni pervades the river with the energy of Śiva, but Gaṅgā deposits the burning embryo upon the slopes of Himavān. This discharge transforms the landscape into a golden forest, producing copper, iron, and lead. Six kṛttikā nymphs nurse the newborn, who develops six faces to drink their milk. Named Kārttikeya and Skanda, the child receives anointment as the general of the celestial army.

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बालकाण्डे सप्तत्रिंशः सर्गः

The sixty thousand sons of Sagara.

Summary AI King Sagara and his wives, Keśinī and Sumati, perform austerities on Himavat to obtain heirs. The sage Bhṛgu grants a choice: one son to continue the lineage or sixty thousand offspring. Keśinī bears Asamañja, a cruel youth who drowns children in the Sarayū and faces banishment. Sumati produces a gourd yielding sixty thousand infants, nurtured in jars of ghṛta. Asamañja’s virtuous son Aṃśumān remains in the capital while Sagara begins a Vedic sacrifice with his priests.

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बालकाण्डे अष्टात्रिंशः सर्गः

Sagara's sons excavate the earth for the horse.

Summary AI King Sagara initiates a sacrifice between the Himavān and Vindhya. During the ritual, Indra assumes a demonic form and steals the consecrated horse. At Sagara’s command, his sixty thousand sons scour the earth. They use their diamond-hard arms, lances, and ploughs to excavate the ground, digging sixty thousand yojanas deep into the netherworld. Their violent search slaughters subterranean creatures, prompting terrified gods and serpents to seek refuge with the creator, Brahmā.

१.३९

बालकाण्डे एकोनचत्वारिंशः सर्गः

Kapila consumes the sons of Sagara.

Summary AI Brahmā reassures the gods that the sons of Sagara are destined for destruction. Following their father’s command, the brothers dig into the rasātala. They encounter the cosmic elephants Virūpākṣa, Mahāpadma, Saumanasa, and Bhadra supporting the earth on their heads. In the northeast, they find the horse grazing near the sage Kapila. As the brothers rush toward him with weapons, Kapila utters a wrathful sound, and the entire host is instantly reduced to piles of ash.

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बालकाण्डे चत्वारिंशः सर्गः

Aṃśumān retrieves the horse and finds the ashes.

Summary AI Aṃśumān descends into the earth to retrieve the sacrificial horse and find his uncles. He receives encouragement from the diggaja elephants before discovering his uncles reduced to heaps of ashes. The eagle Suparṇa explains that only the celestial Gaṅgā can sanctify the remains. Aṃśumān returns the horse to King Sagara, who completes his sacrifice. The king reigns for thirty thousand years but dies without finding a way to bring the river down to earth.

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बालकाण्डे एकचत्वारिंशः सर्गः

Bhagīratha performs penance for the Gaṅgā.

Summary AI Anśumān and his son Dilīpa rule the Ikṣvāku kingdom but die without liberating their ancestors. Dilīpa’s son, Bhagīratha, performs rigorous penance at Gokarṇa. Standing with upraised arms amidst the heat of four fires and the sun, he pleases Brahmā. The deity grants his request for the river Gaṅgā to descend and purify his ancestors' ashes. Brahmā warns that only Śiva can sustain the force of the falling waters and advises the king to secure his support.

१.४२

बालकाण्डे द्विचत्वारिंशः सर्गः

Śiva cushions the descent of the Gaṅgā.

Summary AI Bhagīratha balances on his big toe for a year until Śiva agrees to cushion the river's descent. Gaṅgā falls from the sky, wandering through Śiva’s jaṭā before flowing toward the earth. Deities gather in chariots to witness the white foam and churning currents. The water purifies those it touches, allowing cursed souls to return to the heavens. Bhagīratha then mounts his chariot and leads the river across the land, followed by gods, spirits, and aquatic life.

१.४३

बालकाण्डे त्रिचत्वारिंशः सर्गः

Bhagīratha purifies the sons of Sagara.

Summary AI Bhagīratha leads the Gaṅgā into the lower regions of the earth. The river flows over the ashes of the sixty thousand sons of Sagara, sending them to heaven. Brahmā appears to the king, naming the river Bhāgīrathī and Tripathagā for her path through three worlds. Bhagīratha offers the salila rites to his ancestors and bathes in the sacred stream. Having fulfilled the vow his predecessors failed to achieve, the king returns to rule his city while the gods return to their realms.

१.४४

बालकाण्डे चतुश्चत्वारिंशः सर्गः

Viśvāmitra relates the churning of the ocean.

Summary AI Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa board a boat to reach the northern bank, arriving at the city of Viśālā. Viśvāmitra describes how the sons of Diti and Aditi once churned the kṣīroda for the nectar of immortality. They used the mountain Mandara as a rod and the serpent Vāsuki as a rope. From the waters emerged apsaras, the horse Uccaiḥśravas, and amṛta. After a war over the nectar, Indra defeats the sons of Diti to rule the worlds.

१.४५

बालकाण्डे पञ्चचत्वारिंशः सर्गः

Indra divides the embryo of Diti.

Summary AI Grieving her sons, Diti asks Kaśyapa for a child capable of slaying Indra. Kaśyapa grants her request on the condition that she maintains physical purity for a millennium. Indra arrives at Kuśaplavana to serve Diti, waiting for a lapse in her discipline. When Diti falls asleep in an improper posture, she becomes aśuci. Indra enters her womb and uses his vajra to divide the embryo into seven crying parts.

१.४६

बालकाण्डे षट्चत्वारिंशः सर्गः

Indra creates the Maruts and Rāma visits Viśālā.

Summary AI Diti requests that Indra transform her severed embryo into seven wind deities. Indra grants her wish, naming the children Maruts and assigning them to celestial realms and the four directions. After they depart, Viśvāmitra recounts the lineage of the city Viśālā. He traces its kings from the founder Viśāla to the current ruler, Sumati. Upon hearing of the group's arrival, Sumati greets Viśvāmitra and Rāma with traditional honors, offering hospitality before their journey to see Janaka.

१.४७

बालकाण्डे सप्तचत्वारिंशः सर्गः

The curse and invisibility of Ahalyā.

Summary AI King Sumati greets Viśvāmitra and the princes before they journey toward Mithilā. Upon encountering a deserted āśrama, Rāma inquires about its history. Viśvāmitra recounts how the sage Gautama practiced austerities there with his wife Ahalyā. When Indra assumed the sage’s form to seduce her, Gautama returned and cursed the deity. He further condemned Ahalyā to remain invisible within the grove until Rāma’s arrival purifies her. Gautama then retired to the Himavat peaks.

१.४८

बालकाण्डे अष्टचत्वारिंशः सर्गः

Rāma purifies Ahalyā in Gautama's hermitage.

Summary AI Indra, deprived of his virility by Gautama’s wrath, appeals to the gods for restoration. The pitṛs graft the testicles of a meṣa onto the sky-god, establishing a sacrificial custom. Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa then enter the hermitage where Ahalyā has remained hidden. At Rāma’s arrival, her visibility returns. The brothers touch her feet, and she offers them formal hospitality. Gautama reunites with his wife, and the princes set out for Mithilā.

१.४९

बालकाण्डे एकोनपञ्चाशः सर्गः

King Janaka welcomes the princes to Mithilā.

Summary AI Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa, and Viśvāmitra arrive at King Janaka’s sacrificial enclosure, finding the grounds crowded with brāhmaṇas. Janaka and the priest Śatānanda welcome the sage with arghya offerings. Observing the two brothers, who carry bows and resemble the twin Aśvins, Janaka inquires about their lineage. Viśvāmitra identifies them as the sons of Daśaratha and explains their journey from the Siddhāśrama to Mithilā to view the king’s famous bow.

१.५०

बालकाण्डे पञ्चाशः सर्गः

Śatānanda relates the history of Viśvāmitra.

Summary AI Śatānanda, the son of Gautama, greets Rāma and asks if Ahalyā has been reunited with his father. Viśvāmitra confirms the restoration of the family. Śatānanda then describes Viśvāmitra’s origins as a powerful monarch born to Gādhi in the line of Kuśa. He recounts how the king traveled with a vast akṣauhiṇī army until he reached the hermitage of Vasiṣṭha, an assembly of forest-dwelling ascetics that resembled brahmaloka.

Other texts to read

किरातार्जुनीयम् भारविः

कुमारसंभवम् कालिदासः

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