← 1.13.1 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 13: Aśvamedha yajña: The horse’s return and completion of the rites · 1.13.3 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.13.2

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: The account resumes the sacrifice with the horse's return after its year abroad → on the northern Sarayū bank, the ṛtvijs led by Ṛṣyaśṛṅga conduct the pravargya and upasad rites, the prātaḥsavana (morning Soma pressing), and the prescribed offerings without omission

1.13.2

ṛṣyaśṛṅgaṃ puraskṛtya karma cakrur dvijarṣabhāḥ
aśvamedhe mahāyajñe rājño 'sya sumahātmanaḥ

Placing Ṛṣyaśṛṅga at the fore, the bulls among brahmins performed the rite in the great aśvamedha of that most great-souled king.

Words: ṛṣyaśṛṅgaṃ — Ṛṣyaśṛṅga; puraskṛtya — having placed at the fore; karma — the rite; cakrur — performed; dvijarṣabhāḥ — the bulls among brahmins; aśvamedhe — in the horse-sacrifice; mahāyajñe — the great sacrifice; rājño — of the king; 'sya — this; sumahātmanaḥ — most great-souled

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. 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.