← 1.5.2 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 5: Ayodhyā’s layout and defences · 1.5.4 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.5.3

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 5: Ayodhyā’s layout and defences. The narrative introduces Kosala on the Sarayū and its capital, describing Ayodhyā’s roads, defences, markets and abundant provisions

In the sequence: The narrative now turns back to the beginning of Rāma's story, placing it in the Ikṣvāku dynasty, whose ancestors include Sagara and his sixty thousand sons

1.5.3

ikṣvākūṇām idaṃ teṣāṃ rājñāṃ vaṃśe mahātmanām
mahad utpannam ākhyānaṃ rāmāyaṇam iti śrutam

In the lineage of those great-souled Ikṣvāku kings arose this great tale, known as the Rāmāyaṇa.

Words: ikṣvākūṇām — of the Ikṣvākus; idaṃ — this; teṣāṃ — of those; rājñāṃ — kings; vaṃśe — in the lineage, dynasty; mahātmanām — great-souled; mahad — great; utpannam — arisen, sprung up; ākhyānaṃ — tale, narrative; rāmāyaṇam — the Rāmāyaṇa; iti — thus (called); śrutam — is heard, known

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.