← 1.16.19 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 16: The Devas beget Rāma’s future allies

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.16.20

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.

1.16.20

tair meghavṛndācalatulyakāyair mahābalair vānarayūthapālaiḥ
babhūva bhūr bhīmaśarīrarūpaiḥ samāvṛtā rāmasahāyahetoḥ

By these mighty leaders of monkey-troops, of dreadful bodily shape, their bodies like masses of cloud and like mountains, the earth was covered, for the sake of aiding Rāma.

Words: tair — by these; meghavṛndācalatulyakāyair — whose bodies were like cloud-masses and mountains; mahābalair — mighty; vānarayūthapālaiḥ — by the leaders of monkey-troops; babhūva — became, was; bhūr — the earth; bhīmaśarīrarūpaiḥ — of dreadful bodily shape; samāvṛtā — covered, filled; rāmasahāyahetoḥ — for the sake of aiding Rāma

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.