← 1.56.1 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 56: Story of Viśvāmitra: The rājarṣi rank and Triśaṅku’s request · 1.56.3 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.56.2
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: Still distressed by defeat, Viśvāmitra goes south with his Queen and lives on roots and fruit during severe austerities
1.56.2
sa dakṣiṇāṃ diśaṃ gatvā mahiṣyā saha rāghava
tatāpa paramaṃ ghoraṃ viśvāmitro mahātapāḥ
phalamūlāśano dāntaś cacāra paramaṃ tapaḥ
he went to the southern quarter with his queen, O Rāghava; Viśvāmitra, the great ascetic, performed a most terrible austerity—eating only fruit and roots, self-controlled, he practised the highest penance.
Words: sa — he; dakṣiṇāṃ diśaṃ — the southern direction; gatvā — having gone; mahiṣyā saha — together with his queen; rāghava — O Rāghava; tatāpa — performed (austerity), heated; paramaṃ — most, supreme; ghoraṃ — terrible; viśvāmitro — Viśvāmitra; mahātapāḥ — the great ascetic; phalamūlāśano — eating fruit and roots; dāntaś — self-controlled; cacāra — practised, performed; paramaṃ — highest; tapaḥ — austerity
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.