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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.10.17
Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 10: Ten years among the hermitages. Māṇḍakarṇi’s lake music is explained, years of visits lead toward Agastya, Rāma recounts his digestion of Vātāpi
In the sequence: Māṇḍakarṇi fell in love with them, and they became his wives → they live in a hidden dwelling within the lake, where his tapas has restored his youth → the sounds come from their music, play, and ornaments
3.10.17
tatraivāpsarasaḥ pañcanivasantyo yathāsukham
ramayanti tapoyogān muniṃ yauvanam āsthitam
Right there the five apsarases, dwelling at their ease, delight the sage — who by his yoga of austerity has assumed youth.
Words: tatraivāpsarasaḥ — right there the apsarases; pañcanivasantyo — five, dwelling; yathāsukham — at their ease, comfortably; ramayanti — delight, please; tapoyogān — by the power of austerity; muniṃ — the sage; yauvanam — youth; āsthitam — having assumed, abiding in
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.