← 1.52.23 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 52: Story of Viśvāmitra: Śabalā’s feast and the rejected purchase

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.52.24

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 52: Story of Viśvāmitra: Śabalā’s feast and the rejected purchase. Śabalā feeds the entire company, Viśvāmitra offers escalating wealth to purchase her and Vasiṣṭha refuses to surrender the source of his ritual sustenance

In the sequence: Vasiṣṭha again refuses: Śabalā is his wealth, life, and the foundation of all his rites.

1.52.24

adomūlāḥ kriyāḥ sarvā mama rājan na saṃśayaḥ
bahūnāṃ kiṃ pralāpena na dāsye kāmadohinīm

'All my rites have her as their root, O king, without doubt. What use is much prattle? I will not give up the wish-yielding cow.'

Words: adomūlāḥ — having her (lit. that) as their root; kriyāḥ — rites; sarvā — all; mama — my; rājan — O king; na saṃśayaḥ — (there is) no doubt; bahūnāṃ — of many (words); kiṃ — what (use); pralāpena — with prattle, idle talk; na — not; dāsye — I shall give; kāmadohinīm — the wish-yielding (cow)

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.