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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.62.18

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 62: Story of Viśvāmitra: Menakā and the unfinished mastery of desire. Menakā interrupts his austerity for ten years, renewed effort wins the rank of maharṣi, but Brahmā withholds brahmarṣi until his senses are mastered

In the sequence: After another thousand years, the alarmed Suras ask Brahmā to recognize him as a maharṣi → Brahmā grants that distinction

1.62.18

maharṣe svāgataṃ vatsa tapasogreṇa toṣitaḥ
mahattvam ṛṣimukhyatvaṃ dadāmi tava kauśika

“Welcome, O maharṣi, my child! I am pleased by your fierce austerity; I grant you greatness and pre-eminence among seers, O Kauśika.”

Words: maharṣe — O maharṣi (great seer); svāgataṃ — welcome; vatsa — my child; tapasogreṇa — by (your) fierce austerity; toṣitaḥ — (I am) pleased, gratified; mahattvam — greatness; ṛṣimukhyatvaṃ — pre-eminence among seers; dadāmi — I grant; tava — to you; kauśika — O Kauśika

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.