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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.21.15
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
1.21.15
kṣutpipāse na te rāma bhaviṣyete narottama
balām atibalāṃ caiva paṭhataḥ pathi rāghava
vidyādvayam adhīyāne yaśaś cāpy atulaṃ bhuvi
Hunger and thirst will not be yours, O Rāma, best of men, when you recite Balā and Atibalā upon the road, O Rāghava, studying the pair of sciences; and you will have matchless fame on earth as well.
Words: kṣutpipāse — hunger and thirst; na — not; te — to you, yours; rāma — O Rāma; bhaviṣyete — the two will be; narottama — O best of men; balām — Balā; atibalāṃ — Atibalā; caiva — and; paṭhataḥ — of (you) reciting; pathi — on the road; rāghava — O Rāghava; vidyādvayam — the pair of sciences; adhīyāne — (you) studying; yaśaś — fame; cāpy — and also; atulaṃ — matchless; bhuvi — on earth
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.