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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.13.15
Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 13: Aśvamedha yajña: The horse’s return and completion of the rites. The returning horse is sacrificed with prescribed posts, a Garuḍa-shaped altar and continual hospitality, Daśaratha rewards the priests and requests the rite for sons
In the sequence: during pauses in the ritual, eloquent scholars debate, seeking to outdo one another → the officiants continue each day's rites, all versed in the six Vedāṅgas, their vows, and learned disputation. The sacrificial posts are prepared from prescribed woods, including six of bilva and six of khadira, further palāśa posts, and posts of śleṣmātaka and devadāru
1.13.15
divase divase tatra saṃstare kuśalā dvijāḥ
sarvakarmāṇi cakrus te yathāśāstraṃ pracoditāḥ
Day after day there the brahmins, skilled in the ritual arrangement, performed all the rites, as directed, according to scripture.
Words: divase divase — day after day; tatra — there; saṃstare — in the (ritual) arrangement; kuśalā — skilled; dvijāḥ — the brahmins; sarvakarmāṇi — all the rites; cakrus — performed; te — they; yathāśāstraṃ — according to scripture; pracoditāḥ — directed, prompted
Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.