← 1.18.3 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 18: Viśvāmitra’s request: Rāma’s protection of the sacrifice · 1.18.5 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.18.4

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 18: Viśvāmitra’s request: Rāma’s protection of the sacrifice. Viśvāmitra asks for Rāma to protect his sacrifice from Mārīca & Subāhu, promising the prince’s safety and advancement

In the sequence: he explains that Mārīca and Subāhu repeatedly ruin his observance at its completion by raining flesh and blood on the altar → the observance forbids him from answering with a curse

1.18.4

ahaṃ niyamam ātiṣṭha siddhyarthaṃ puruṣarṣabha
tasya vighnakarau dvau tu rākṣasau kāmarūpiṇau

I am engaged in an observance for the sake of accomplishment, O bull among men; but there are two rākṣasas, able to change form at will, who obstruct it.

Words: ahaṃ — I; niyamam — an observance, vow; ātiṣṭha — undertake, am engaged in; siddhyarthaṃ — for the sake of accomplishment; puruṣarṣabha — O bull among men; tasya — of it; vighnakarau — the two obstructors; dvau — two; tu — but; rākṣasau — two rākṣasas; kāmarūpiṇau — able to take any form

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.