← 1.53.11 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 53: Story of Viśvāmitra: Śabalā resists seizure · 1.53.13 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.53.12

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 53: Story of Viśvāmitra: Śabalā resists seizure. The King seizes Śabalā, she returns to Vasiṣṭha and, with his permission, produces armies to resist the royal forces

In the sequence: Vasiṣṭha assures her that she is innocent and that he has not given her up, but points to the King's overwhelming military force

1.53.12

iyam akṣauhiṇīpūrṇā savājirathasaṃkulā
hastidhvajasamākīrṇā tenāsau balavattaraḥ

'This host is a full akṣauhiṇī, crowded with horses and chariots, thronged with elephants and banners; therefore he is the stronger.'

Words: iyam — this (host); akṣauhiṇīpūrṇā — full (the strength) of an akṣauhiṇī; savājirathasaṃkulā — crowded with horses and chariots; hastidhvajasamākīrṇā — thronged with elephants and banners; tenāsau — therefore he; balavattaraḥ — the stronger

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.