← 1.13.4 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 13: Aśvamedha yajña: The horse’s return and completion of the rites · 1.13.6 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.13.5
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
1.13.5
abhipūjya tato hṛṣṭāḥ sarve cakrur yathāvidhi
prātaḥsavanapūrvāṇi karmāṇi munipuṃgavāḥ
Then, having done worship, all those bulls among sages, delighted, performed according to rule the rites beginning with the morning pressing of soma.
Words: abhipūjya — having worshipped; tato — then; hṛṣṭāḥ — delighted; sarve — all; cakrur — performed; yathāvidhi — according to rule; prātaḥsavanapūrvāṇi — beginning with the morning pressing; karmāṇi — the rites; munipuṃgavāḥ — the bulls among sages
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.