← 1.30.22 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 30: Departure for Mithilā and the camp beside the Śoṇā

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.30.23

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 30: Departure for Mithilā and the camp beside the Śoṇā. The ṛṣis invite the princes to Janaka’s sacrifice and the bow no suitor has strung, a camp beside the Śoṇā prompts the region’s history

In the sequence: Rāma asks about the flourishing country around them → Viśvāmitra begins its history.

1.30.23

codito rāmavākyena kathayām āsa suvrataḥ
tasya deśasya nikhilam ṛṣimadhye mahātapāḥ

Urged by Rāma's words, the sage of firm vows, the great ascetic, related in the midst of the seers the whole story of that region.

Words: codito — urged, prompted; rāmavākyena — by Rāma's words; kathayām āsa — related, told; suvrataḥ — of firm vows; tasya — of that; deśasya — region; nikhilam — the whole, entire; ṛṣimadhye — in the midst of the seers; mahātapāḥ — the great ascetic

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.