← 1.23.20 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 23: Story of Tāṭakā’s forest: Indra’s cleansing and the ruined country · 1.23.22 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.23.21

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 23: Story of Tāṭakā’s forest: Indra’s cleansing and the ruined country. The Sarayū’s origin and confluence are explained, Indra’s cleansing gives Malada & Karūṣa their names and Tāṭakā’s devastation makes the region impassable

In the sequence: Viśvāmitra recounts how Indra incurred the guilt of brāhmaṇa-killing after slaying Vṛtra and was afflicted with impurity and hunger → the Devas and ṛṣis bathed him with pitchers, depositing his bodily impurities, mala and karūṣa, on this land → relieved and grateful, Indra granted the lands a boon: they would become renowned as Malada and Karūṣa for having borne his bodily impurity → the Devas acclaim Indra’s honoring of the land → the regions flourish for many years, prosperous in wealth and grain

1.23.21

imau janapadau sthītau khyātiṃ loke gamiṣyataḥ
maladāś ca karūṣāś ca mamāṅgamaladhāriṇau

“These two territories, established, shall attain fame in the world — Malada and Karūṣa — as bearers of the impurity from my body.”

Words: imau — these two; janapadau — two territories; sthītau — established (the two); khyātiṃ — fame, renown; loke — in the world; gamiṣyataḥ — the two will attain; maladāś — Malada; ca — and; karūṣāś — Karūṣa; ca — and; mamāṅgamaladhāriṇau — bearers of the impurity of my body (the two)

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.