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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.56.8
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: disappointed that he has not attained the higher status he seeks, Viśvāmitra renews his austerity. Śatānanda introduces a concurrent event: King Triśaṅku of the Ikṣvāku line wishes to enter heaven in his physical body through a sacrifice
1.56.8
tapaś ca sumahat taptaṃ rājarṣir iti māṃ viduḥ
devāḥ sarṣigaṇāḥ sarve nāsti manye tapaḥphalam
'A very great austerity has been performed, (yet) all the gods, with the hosts of seers, know me (only) as a royal seer; I think there is no fruit of my austerity.'
Words: tapaś ca — and austerity; sumahat — very great; taptaṃ — performed, heated; rājarṣir — a royal seer; iti — thus; māṃ — me; viduḥ — they know; devāḥ — the gods; sarṣigaṇāḥ — with the hosts of seers; sarve — all; nāsti — there is not; manye — I think; tapaḥphalam — the fruit of 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.