← 1.54.24 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 54: Story of Viśvāmitra: Defeat, Śiva’s weapons and retaliation · 1.54.26 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.54.25

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 54: Story of Viśvāmitra: Defeat, Śiva’s weapons and retaliation. His army and sons are destroyed, Viśvāmitra wins Śiva’s weapons through austerity and returns to burn Vasiṣṭha’s hermitage

In the sequence: Vasiṣṭha calls on them not to fear, condemns the destruction, and raises his staff, blazing like the staff of Death.

1.54.25

vadato vai vasiṣṭhasya mā bhaiṣṭeti muhur muhuḥ
nāśayāmy adya gādheyaṃ nīhāram iva bhāskaraḥ

Even as Vasiṣṭha said again and again, 'Do not fear; today I shall destroy this son of Gādhi as the sun destroys the mist'—

Words: vadato vai — even as (he) spoke; vasiṣṭhasya — of Vasiṣṭha; mā bhaiṣṭeti — 'do not fear!' thus; muhur muhuḥ — again and again; nāśayāmy — I destroy; adya — today; gādheyaṃ — the son of Gādhi (Viśvāmitra); nīhāram — the mist, fog; iva — like; bhāskaraḥ — the sun

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.