← 1.16.3 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 16: The Devas beget Rāma’s future allies · 1.16.5 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.16.4
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: With Viṣṇu's human birth arranged, Brahmā orders the devatās to create powerful helpers: shape-changing, swift, intelligent warriors skilled in strategy and weapons
1.16.4
asaṃhāryān upāyajñān divyasaṃhananānvitān
sarvāstraguṇasaṃpannān amṛtaprāśanān iva
irresistible, knowing every expedient, endowed with divine bodily frames, furnished with all the excellences of weaponry, like the nectar-eating (gods) themselves.
Words: asaṃhāryān — irresistible, not to be swept away; upāyajñān — knowing expedients; divyasaṃhananānvitān — endowed with divine frames; sarvāstraguṇasaṃpannān — furnished with all excellences of weapons; amṛtaprāśanān — the nectar-eaters (the gods); iva — like, as
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.