← 1.73.15 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 73: Paraśurāma: Omens and the encounter on the road home · 1.73.17 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.73.16

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 73: Paraśurāma: Omens and the encounter on the road home. Janaka gives bridal wealth and the company leaves Mithilā, mixed omens and a dust-darkened sky precede Paraśurāma’s armed appearance

In the sequence: through the darkness appears a fearsome, matted-haired figure, blazing like the fire of destruction, an axe on his shoulder and a bow and great arrow in his hand

1.73.16

tasmiṃs tamasi ghore tu bhasmacchanneva sā camūḥ
dadarśa bhīmasaṃkāśaṃ jaṭāmaṇḍaladhāriṇam

In that terrible darkness, as the army lay covered in dust, it beheld one of fearsome aspect, bearing a mass of matted locks —

Words: tasmiṃs — in that; tamasi — darkness; ghore — terrible; tu — and; bhasmacchanneva — as if covered with dust; sā — that; camūḥ — army; dadarśa — beheld, saw; bhīmasaṃkāśaṃ — of fearsome aspect; jaṭāmaṇḍaladhāriṇam — bearing a mass of matted locks

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.