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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.21.8

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: Viśvāmitra leads, Rāma follows, and Lakṣmaṇa walks behind → the princes carry bows, quivers, swords, arm guards, and finger protectors

1.21.8

baddhagodhāṅgulitrāṇau khaḍgavantau mahādyutī
sthāṇuṃ devam ivācintyaṃ kumārāv iva pāvakī

The two, with leather arm-guards and finger-stalls bound on, girt with swords and of great splendour, (attended Viśvāmitra) unfathomable as the god Sthāṇu (Śiva), like the two young sons of the Fire-god.

Words: baddhagodhāṅgulitrāṇau — with leather arm-guards and finger-stalls bound on (the two); khaḍgavantau — girt with swords (the two); mahādyutī — of great splendour (the two); sthāṇuṃ — Sthāṇu (Śiva); devam — the god; ivācintyaṃ — like the inconceivable; kumārāv — the two Kumāras (youths); iva — like; pāvakī — of the Fire-god (Agni)

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.