← 1.17.6 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 17: Birth and upbringing of the princes; Viśvāmitra’s arrival · 1.17.8 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.17.7

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: Kausalyā gives birth to Rāma, Kaikeyī to Bharata, and Sumitrā to Lakṣmaṇa and Śatrughna → all four are described as divine portions, virtuous and radiant

1.17.7

kausalyā śuśubhe tena putreṇāmitatejasā
yathā vareṇa devānām aditir vajrapāṇinā

Kausalyā shone with that son of boundless splendour, as Aditi with the best of the gods, the thunderbolt-wielder (Indra).

Words: kausalyā — Kausalyā; śuśubhe — shone, was radiant; tena — with that; putreṇāmitatejasā — with the son of boundless splendour; yathā — as, like; vareṇa — with the best; devānām — of the gods; aditir — Aditi; vajrapāṇinā — with the thunderbolt-wielder (Indra)

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.