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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.54.7
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: Viśvāmitra's hundred sons rush at Vasiṣṭha → the ṛṣi burns them and their forces to ashes with a single “huṃ”
1.54.7
te sāśvarathapādātā vasiṣṭhena mahātmanā
bhasmīkṛtā muhūrtena viśvāmitrasutās tadā
Those sons of Viśvāmitra, with their horses, chariots, and foot-soldiers, were reduced to ashes in an instant by the great-souled Vasiṣṭha.
Words: te — those; sāśvarathapādātā — together with horses, chariots and foot-soldiers; vasiṣṭhena — by Vasiṣṭha; mahātmanā — the great-souled; bhasmīkṛtā — reduced to ashes; muhūrtena — in a moment; viśvāmitrasutās — the sons of Viśvāmitra; tadā — then
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.