← 1.17.38 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 17: Birth and upbringing of the princes; Viśvāmitra’s arrival
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.17.39
Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 17: Birth and upbringing of the princes; Viśvāmitra’s arrival. Daśaratha’s four sons are born and grow devoted in pairs, Viśvāmitra arrives and receives the King’s promise to fulfil his request
In the sequence: he honors Viśvāmitra's rise from rājarṣi to brahmarṣi → he asks what wish he can fulfill and promises to carry out the purpose of the visit completely and without hesitation → Viśvāmitra is delighted by the welcome.
1.17.39
iti hṛdayasukhaṃ niśamya vākyaṃ śrutisukham ātmavatā vinītam uktam
prathitaguṇayaśā guṇair viśiṣṭaḥ parama ṛṣiḥ paramaṃ jagāma harṣam
Hearing that speech, delightful to the heart and pleasant to the ear, spoken with humility by the self-possessed king, the supreme seer, of far-famed virtue and fame, pre-eminent in his qualities, attained the highest joy.
Words: iti — thus; hṛdayasukhaṃ — delightful to the heart; niśamya — having heard; vākyaṃ — the speech; śrutisukham — pleasant to the ear; ātmavatā — by the self-possessed one; vinītam — spoken with humility, modest; uktam — spoken; prathitaguṇayaśā — of far-famed virtue and fame; guṇair — in qualities; viśiṣṭaḥ — pre-eminent, distinguished; parama — supreme; ṛṣiḥ — the seer; paramaṃ — the highest; jagāma — attained, went to; harṣam — joy
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.