← 3.10.53 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 10: Ten years among the hermitages · 3.10.55 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.10.54
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: in his account, the mahāsura Ilvala used to disguise himself as a brāhmaṇa and invite brāhmaṇas to a funeral feast → his brother Vātāpi, also a mahāsura, would take a ram's form, be cooked, and be served to the guests
3.10.54
dhārayan brāhmaṇaṃ rūpam ilvalaḥ saṃskṛtaṃ vadan
āmantrayati viprān sa śrāddham uddiśya nirghṛṇaḥ
Assuming the form of a brahmin and speaking refined Sanskrit, the pitiless Ilvala would invite brahmins on the pretext of a śrāddha rite.
Words: dhārayan — assuming, bearing; brāhmaṇaṃ — brahmin; rūpam — form; ilvalaḥ — Ilvala; saṃskṛtaṃ — refined Sanskrit; vadan — speaking; āmantrayati — invites; viprān — the brahmins; sa — he; śrāddham — a śrāddha (funeral rite); uddiśya — on the pretext of, aiming at; nirghṛṇaḥ — the pitiless one
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.