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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.21.14

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 21: Departure with Viśvāmitra: Rāma receives Balā & Atibalā. Daśaratha releases Rāma with Lakṣmaṇa, they follow Viśvāmitra along the Sarayū and Rāma receives the protective Balā & Atibalā teachings

In the sequence: they strengthen understanding, readiness of reply, and other excellences, and prevent hunger and thirst when recited on the road

1.21.14

etadvidyādvaye labdhe bhavitā nāsti te samaḥ
balā cātibalā caiva sarvajñānasya mātarau

When this pair of sciences has been obtained, there will be no equal to you; for Balā and Atibalā are the mothers of all knowledge.

Words: etadvidyādvaye — when this pair of sciences (loc. abs.); labdhe — obtained (loc. abs.); bhavitā — there will be; nāsti — there is not; te — to you; samaḥ — an equal; balā — Balā; cātibalā — and Atibalā; caiva — and; sarvajñānasya — of all knowledge; mātarau — the two mothers

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.