← 1.24.12 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 24: Story of Tāṭakā: Birth, marriage and Agastya’s curse · 1.24.14 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.24.13
Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 24: Story of Tāṭakā: Birth, marriage and Agastya’s curse. Brahmā grants Suketu a powerful daughter, Tāṭakā marries Sunda and bears Mārīca, their attack on Agastya brings his transforming curses
In the sequence: Viśvāmitra tells Rāma that protecting the population requires killing her despite her being a woman
1.24.13
enāṃ rāghava durvṛttāṃ yakṣīṃ paramadāruṇām
gobrāhmaṇahitārthāya jahi duṣṭaparākramām
This ill-conducted yakṣī, exceedingly dreadful and of wicked prowess, slay, O Rāghava, for the good of cows and brahmins.
Words: enāṃ — this; rāghava — O Rāghava; durvṛttāṃ — ill-conducted; yakṣīṃ — the yakṣī; paramadāruṇām — exceedingly dreadful; gobrāhmaṇahitārthāya — for the good of cows and brahmins; jahi — slay; duṣṭaparākramām — of wicked prowess
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.