← 1.23.23 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 23: Story of Tāṭakā’s forest: Indra’s cleansing and the ruined country · 1.23.25 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.23.24

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: Tāṭakā, a yakṣiṇī and the shape-changing wife of Sunda and mother of Mārīca, later devastated them → with the strength of a thousand elephants, she now blocks the way ahead

1.23.24

kasya cit tv atha kālasya yakṣī vai kāmarūpiṇī
balaṃ nāgasahasrasya dhārayantī tadā hy abhūt

But after some time there arose a yakṣī who could take any form at will, wielding the strength of a thousand elephants.

Words: kasya — of some; cit — some (indef.); tv — but; atha — then; kālasya — of time; yakṣī — a yakṣī (female yakṣa); vai — indeed; kāmarūpiṇī — able to take any form; balaṃ — the strength; nāgasahasrasya — of a thousand elephants; dhārayantī — holding, wielding; tadā — then; hy — indeed; abhūt — arose, came to be

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.