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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.9.7
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
1.9.7
vāramukhyās tu tac chrutvā vanaṃ praviviśur mahat
āśramasyāvidūre 'smin yatnaṃ kurvanti darśane
The chief courtesans, hearing this, entered the great forest, and not far from that hermitage they set about contriving to see him,
Words: vāramukhyās — the chief courtesans; tu — and; tac — this; chrutvā — having heard; vanaṃ — the forest; praviviśur — entered; mahat — great; āśramasyāvidūre — not far from the hermitage; 'smin — in this; yatnaṃ — effort; kurvanti — they make; darśane — for seeing (him)
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.