← 1.53.6 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 53: Story of Viśvāmitra: Śabalā resists seizure · 1.53.8 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.53.7

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: she shakes off the King's servants, races back to Vasiṣṭha, and asks him why he has let her be taken

1.53.7

śabalā sā rudantī ca krośantī cedam abravīt
vasiṣṭhasyāgrataḥ sthitvā meghadundubhirāviṇī

That Śabalā, weeping and crying out, standing before Vasiṣṭha and bellowing like a thunder-cloud and a war-drum, said this:

Words: śabalā — Śabalā; sā — she; rudantī ca — and weeping; krośantī — crying out; cedam — and this; abravīt — said; vasiṣṭhasyāgrataḥ — before Vasiṣṭha; sthitvā — having stood; meghadundubhirāviṇī — bellowing like a thunder-cloud and a drum

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.