← 1.37.2 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 37: Story of Sagara: One heir and sixty thousand sons · 1.37.4 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.37.3
Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 37: Story of Sagara: One heir and sixty thousand sons. Sagara’s wives choose one dynastic heir or sixty thousand sons, the many grow in ghee-filled pots while Asamañja is banished for killing children
In the sequence: Sagara undertakes austerity at Bhṛguprasravaṇa, “Bhṛgu’s cascade,” in the Himālaya with his wives Keśinī, a Vidarbha princess, and Sumati, daughter of Ariṣṭanemi
1.37.3
vaidarbhaduhitā rāma keśinī nāma nāmataḥ
jyeṣṭhā sagarapatnī sā dharmiṣṭhā satyavādinī
O Rāma, a daughter of Vidarbha, Keśinī by name, was the elder wife of Sagara — most righteous and truthful in speech.
Words: vaidarbhaduhitā — daughter of the Vidarbha (king); rāma — O Rāma; keśinī — Keśinī; nāma — named; nāmataḥ — by name; jyeṣṭhā — the elder; sagarapatnī — Sagara's wife; sā — she; dharmiṣṭhā — most righteous; satyavādinī — truthful in speech
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.