← 1.45.1 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 45: Story of Indra & Diti: Service, broken observance and division · 1.45.3 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.45.2

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 45: Story of Indra & Diti: Service, broken observance and division. Diti seeks a son to kill Indra, he serves her during her observance and exploits her sleeping posture to enter her body and divide the fetus into seven

In the sequence: Grieving for her sons, Diti asks Kaśyapa for another son, won through austerity, who can kill Indra

1.45.2

hataputrāsmi bhagavaṃs tava putrair mahābalaiḥ
śakrahantāram icchāmi putraṃ dīrghatapo'rjitam

“I am bereft of my sons, O blessed one, by your mighty sons; I desire a son who will slay Śakra (Indra), one won through long austerity.

Words: hataputrāsmi — I am one whose sons are slain; bhagavaṃs — O blessed one; tava — your; putrair — by the sons; mahābalaiḥ — mighty; śakrahantāram — a slayer of Śakra; icchāmi — I desire; putraṃ — a son; dīrghatapo'rjitam — won through long austerity

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.