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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.56.18

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 56: Story of Viśvāmitra: The rājarṣi rank and Triśaṅku’s request. Brahmā grants Viśvāmitra the rank of rājarṣi, he resumes austerity while Triśaṅku seeks bodily ascent to heaven and is refused by Vasiṣṭha

In the sequence: he bows and asks them to officiate, explaining that his family priest has refused → he says that, after the family preceptor, they are his only refuge for accomplishing the bodily ascent.

1.56.18

śirasā praṇato yāce brāhmaṇāṃs tapasi sthitān
te māṃ bhavantaḥ siddhyarthaṃ yājayantu samāhitāḥ
saśarīro yathāhaṃ hi devalokam avāpnuyām

'Bowing with my head, I entreat you, brahmins established in austerity: may you, attentive, officiate at my sacrifice for the sake of success, so that I may reach the world of the gods in my own body.'

Words: śirasā — with the head; praṇato — bowing; yāce — I entreat, beg; brāhmaṇāṃs — the brahmins; tapasi — in austerity; sthitān — established, standing; te — you (emphatic); māṃ — me; bhavantaḥ — you, sirs (honorific); siddhyarthaṃ — for the sake of success; yājayantu — let them officiate at (my) sacrifice; samāhitāḥ — attentive, composed; saśarīro — with (my) body; yathāhaṃ — so that I; hi — indeed; devalokam — the world of the gods; avāpnuyām — I may attain

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.