← 3.15.8 · Araṇya Kāṇḍa 15: Rāma’s winter bath in the Godāvarī · 3.15.10 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 3.15.9
Araṇya Kāṇḍa, sarga 15: Rāma’s winter bath in the Godāvarī. Lakṣmaṇa describes cold water and imagines Bharata’s Sarayū bath, Rāma bathes with Sītā & Lakṣmaṇa and offers water
In the sequence: Lakṣmaṇa describes the sun’s southward course and the snowy Himālaya
3.15.9
prakṛtyā himakośāḍhyo dūrasūryaś ca sāmpratam
yathārthanāmā suvyaktaṃ himavān himavān giriḥ
By nature rich in stores of snow, and now with the sun far off, the Himavat mountain — 'snow-possessing' — is very plainly true to its name.
Words: prakṛtyā — by nature; himakośāḍhyo — rich in stores of snow; dūrasūryaś — with the sun far away; ca — and; sāmpratam — now, at present; yathārthanāmā — true to its name; suvyaktaṃ — very clearly, plainly; himavān — 'possessing snow'; himavān — Himavat; giriḥ — the mountain
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.