← 1.9.5 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 9: Story of Ṛṣyaśṛṅga: Courtesans, rain and marriage · 1.9.7 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.9.6
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
1.9.6
śrutvā tatheti rājā ca pratyuvāca purohitam
purohito mantriṇaś ca tathā cakruś ca te tadā
Hearing this, the king said “So be it” and replied to the priest; and the priest and the ministers then acted accordingly.
Words: śrutvā — having heard; tatheti — ‘so be it’; rājā — the king; ca — and; pratyuvāca — replied; purohitam — to the priest; purohito — the priest; mantriṇaś — the ministers; ca — and; tathā — accordingly, so; cakruś — did, acted; ca — and; te — they; tadā — then
Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.