← 1.8.22 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 8: Daśaratha seeks sons: Sumantra’s prophecy

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.8.23

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 8: Daśaratha seeks sons: Sumantra’s prophecy. Daśaratha proposes a sacrifice for sons, Sumantra recalls Sanatkumāra’s prophecy and the story of Ṛṣyaśṛṅga’s arrival in drought-stricken Aṅga

In the sequence: Sumantra says that this same Ṛṣyaśṛṅga will obtain sons for Daśaratha → delighted, Daśaratha asks to hear exactly how the young tapasvin was brought.

1.8.23

atha hṛṣṭo daśarathaḥ sumantraṃ pratyabhāṣata
yatharṣyaśṛṅgas tv ānīto vistareṇa tvayocyatām

Then, delighted, Daśaratha replied to Sumantra: “Let it be told by you in detail how Ṛṣyaśṛṅga was brought.”

Words: atha — then; hṛṣṭo — delighted; daśarathaḥ — Daśaratha; sumantraṃ — to Sumantra; pratyabhāṣata — replied; yatharṣyaśṛṅgas — how Ṛṣyaśṛṅga; tv — indeed; ānīto — was brought; vistareṇa — in detail; tvayocyatām — let it be told by you

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.