← 1.54.27 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 54: Story of Viśvāmitra: Defeat, Śiva’s weapons and retaliation

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.54.28

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.

1.54.28

ity uktvā paramakruddho daṇḍam udyamya satvaraḥ
vidhūma iva kālāgnir yamadaṇḍam ivāparam

Having said this, exceedingly enraged, he swiftly raised his staff, like a smokeless doomsday fire, like a second staff of Yama.

Words: ity uktvā — having said thus; paramakruddho — exceedingly enraged; daṇḍam — the staff; udyamya — having raised; satvaraḥ — swiftly, in haste; vidhūma — smokeless; iva — like; kālāgnir — the fire of Time (doomsday fire); yamadaṇḍam — the staff of Yama; ivāparam — like a second, like another

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.