← 1.31.13 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 31: Story of Kuśanābha: Vāyu disfigures the hundred daughters · 1.31.15 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.31.14

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 31: Story of Kuśanābha: Vāyu disfigures the hundred daughters. Vāyu proposes marriage, the sisters insist on their father’s consent and Vāyu enters their limbs and leaves them hunchbacked

In the sequence: Vāyu sees them and asks all of them to become his wives, offering to replace their human condition with long life

1.31.14

ahaṃ vaḥ kāmaye sarvā bhāryā mama bhaviṣyatha
mānuṣas tyajyatāṃ bhāvo dīrgham āyur avāpsyatha

“I desire you all; you shall become my wives. Let your human condition be cast off, and you shall gain long life.”

Words: ahaṃ — I; vaḥ — you (pl.); kāmaye — I desire, love; sarvā — all; bhāryā — wives; mama — my; bhaviṣyatha — you shall become; mānuṣas — human; tyajyatāṃ — let it be cast off; bhāvo — state, condition; dīrgham — long; āyur — life, lifespan; avāpsyatha — you shall obtain, gain

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.