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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.50.20

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 50: Story of Viśvāmitra: Śatānanda introduces the former King. Śatānanda confirms Ahalyā’s release, then recounts how King Viśvāmitra’s travels with his army brought him to Vasiṣṭha’s hermitage

In the sequence: Śatānanda welcomes Rāma and tells him how fortunate he is to have Viśvāmitra as protector → he offers to explain Viśvāmitra's power and the austerities by which he attained it. Śatānanda now begins a long account of Viśvāmitra's past: descended through Kuśa, Kuśanābha, and Gādhi, Viśvāmitra was once a learned, righteous King who ruled for thousands of years

1.50.20

viśvamitro mahātejāḥ pālayām āsa medinīm
bahuvarṣasahasrāṇi rājā rājyam akārayat

The mighty Viśvāmitra ruled the earth; for many thousands of years the king exercised sovereignty.

Words: viśvamitro — Viśvāmitra; mahātejāḥ — of great splendour; pālayām āsa — protected, ruled; medinīm — the earth; bahuvarṣasahasrāṇi — for many thousands of years; rājā — the king; rājyam — sovereignty, kingdom; akārayat — exercised, carried on

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.