← 1.16.16 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 16: The Devas beget Rāma’s future allies · 1.16.18 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.16.17
Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 16: The Devas beget Rāma’s future allies. Brahmā directs the Devas to beget powerful helpers, their monkey-shaped sons inherit divine qualities and gather around Vālin & Sugrīva
In the sequence: their leaders multiply, settle on Ṛkṣavat and other mountains and in forests, and gather around Sugrīva, son of the Sun, and Vālin, son of Indra → the earth fills with these future allies of Rāma.
1.16.17
īdṛśānāṃ prasūtāni harīṇāṃ kāmarūpimām
śataṃ śatasahasrāṇi yūthapānāṃ mahātmanām
babhūvur yūthapaśreṣṭhā vīrāṃś cājanayan harīn
Of such great-souled troop-leaders among monkeys, able to change form at will, there were born a hundred hundred-thousands; and the best of the troop-leaders in turn begot heroic monkeys.
Words: īdṛśānāṃ — of such; prasūtāni — born, brought forth; harīṇāṃ — of the monkeys; kāmarūpimām — able to take any form at will; śataṃ — a hundred; śatasahasrāṇi — hundred-thousands; yūthapānāṃ — of the troop-leaders; mahātmanām — great-souled; babhūvur — there were, came to be; yūthapaśreṣṭhā — the best of troop-leaders; vīrāṃś — heroic; cājanayan — and begot; harīn — monkeys
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.