← 1.23.2 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 23: Story of Tāṭakā’s forest: Indra’s cleansing and the ruined country · 1.23.4 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.23.3

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: After the morning rites, the munis provide a boat and urge them to depart without missing the proper time → Viśvāmitra and the princes begin crossing

1.23.3

ārohatu bhavān nāvaṃ rājaputrapuraskṛtaḥ
ariṣṭaṃ gaccha panthānaṃ mā bhūt kālasya paryayaḥ

“Let your honour board the boat, with the princes at the fore; go your way unharmed; let there be no lapse of the (proper) time.”

Words: ārohatu — let (him) board; bhavān — your honour; nāvaṃ — the boat; rājaputrapuraskṛtaḥ — with the princes at the fore; ariṣṭaṃ — unharmed, free of mishap; gaccha — go; panthānaṃ — the path, way; mā — let not; bhūt — there be; kālasya — of the time; paryayaḥ — lapse, passing

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.