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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.62.6
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: later he sees Menakā bathing at Puṣkara, beautiful like lightning in a cloud → overcome by desire, he invites her to live with him
1.62.6
dṛṣṭvā kandarpavaśago munis tām idam abravīt
apsaraḥ svāgataṃ te 'stu vasa ceha mamāśrame
anugṛhṇīṣva bhadraṃ te madanena sumohitam
Seeing her and falling under the sway of Kandarpa (the god of love), the sage said this to her: “O apsaras, welcome to you! Dwell here in my hermitage, and favor me — blessings on you — who am utterly bewildered by love.”
Words: dṛṣṭvā — having seen; kandarpavaśago — fallen under the sway of Kandarpa (love); munis — the sage; tām — to her; idam — this; abravīt — said; apsaraḥ — O apsaras; svāgataṃ te 'stu — welcome to you; vasa — dwell, stay; ceha — and here; mamāśrame — in my hermitage; anugṛhṇīṣva — favor (me), be gracious; bhadraṃ te — blessings on you; madanena — by love, by Madana; sumohitam — (me who am) utterly bewildered
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.