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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.9.4

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 9: Story of Ṛṣyaśṛṅga: Courtesans, rain and marriage. Courtesans lure Ṛṣyaśṛṅga from his father’s forest hermitage, rain ends Aṅga’s drought and Romapāda gives him Śāntā in marriage

In the sequence: Sumantra now tells the episode in detail: Romapāda's advisers explain that Ṛṣyaśṛṅga knows nothing of women or sensual pleasures → they propose sending richly adorned courtesans to attract him through experiences unfamiliar to him → the King approves, and the women go into the forest near his hermitage

1.9.4

indriyārthair abhimatair naracitta pramāthibhiḥ
puram ānāyayiṣyāmaḥ kṣipraṃ cādhyavasīyatām

By means of desirable sense-objects that stir the minds of men, we shall have him brought to the city; and let this be decided upon at once.

Words: indriyārthair — by objects of the senses; abhimatair — desirable, agreeable; naracitta — the minds of men; pramāthibhiḥ — that stir, agitate; puram — to the city; ānāyayiṣyāmaḥ — we shall have (him) brought; kṣipraṃ — quickly, at once; cādhyavasīyatām — and let it be resolved upon

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.