THE VALMIKI RAMAYANA

BALA KANDA

p·dS:   sgI:    Canto 15
p¤æOkamE¢¾:  ravNvDp#¢tMa  c      The   Sacrifice   of   Putrakameshti   and   the   Vow   to   destroy   Ravana
mEDav£   t¤   ttaE   ÒyaÏva   s   ¢k¢·¢ddm¤äOrm¯   .
lÖDs|MÞttÞt|   t¤   vEdMaE   n¦pmbrv£t¯   ¡1¡

mEDav£

the highy intelligent

t¤

now

tt:

then

ÒyaÏva

going into trance

s:	he (Rishyasrunga)

¢k¢·t¯

for a while

id|

this

uäOrm¯

lÖDs|M:

having regained recollection

tt:

thereafter

him

t¤

indeed

vEdM:

knowledgeable in the vedas

n¦p|

the king

Ab#v£t¯

spoke

Thereafter,   that   one   (Rishyasrunga)   of   great   wisdom   and   well-versed   in   the scriptural   lore,   going   into   a   brief   trance   and   recalling   from   memory, spoke these   words   to   the   king   (1).
i¢¾|   tE{h|   k¢rÝya¢m   p¤æO£ya|   p¤æOkarNat¯   .
ATvI¢Sr¢s   p#aE³WmIÓæOW:   ¢sÑGa|   ¢vDant:   ¡2¡

i¢¾|

sacrifice

tE	for your sake

Ah|

k¢rÝya¢m

shall perform

p¤æO£ya|

concerning progeny

p¤æOkarNat¯

for begetting sons

ATvI¢Sr¢s

in the Atharvana Veda

p#aE³W:

as mentioned

mÓæOW:

by the mantras

¢sÑGa|

possible

¢vDant:

as per procedure

`I   propose   to   conduct   that   sacrifice   employing   the   secret   formulae   as   laid down   in   the   Atharvana   Veda,   relating   to   the   infallible   obtainment   of progeny,   in   order   to   beget   sons'   (2).
tt:   p#a@am¢d¢¾|   ta|   p¤æO£ya|   p¤æOkarNat¯   .
j¤hav   cag"aW   tEjÞv£   mÓæO¾En   kmINa   ¡3¡

tt:

upon that

p#a@amt¯

commenced

i¢¾|

the sacrifice

ta|

that

p¤æO£ya|

capable of bestowing progeny

p¤æOkarNat¯

for the sake of progeny

j¤hav

made offerings

and

Ag"aW

into the fire

tEjÞv£

the resplendent

mÓæO¾En

as indicated in the mantras

kmINa

by that act

Then,   that   effulgent   one   commenced   that   sacrifice   meant   for   begetting progeny   for   the   purpose   of   off-spring.   As   laid   down
in   the   manual,   he   made oblations   into   the   (sacrificial)   fire   (3).
ttaE   dEva:   sgÓDvaI:   ¢sÑGaà   prmxIy:   .
Bagp#¢tg#haTI|   vW   smvEta   yTa¢v¢D   ¡4¡

tt:

therefore

dEva:

the devas

sgÓDvaI:

along with the Gandharvas

¢sÑGa:

(and also) the Sidhas

and

prmxIy:

great sages

Bagp#¢tg#haTI|

for rceiving their share of the oblations

verily

smvEta:

came together

yTa¢v¢D

in proper order

Because   of   that,   the   gods   in   the   company   of   the   Gandharvas,   Sidhas   and the   great   sages,   quickly   came   together   to   accept   their   share   of   the oblations   (4).

ta:   smEÏy   yTaÓyay|   t¢Þmn¯   sd¢s   dEvta:   .
Ab#¤v|ÚlaEkktaIr|   b#'aN|   vcn|   mht¯   ¡5¡

ta:

those

smEÏy

assembled

yTaÓyay|

in proper order

t¢Þmn¯

that

sd¢s

in the assembly

dEvta:

the gods

Ab#¤vn¯

addressed

laEkktaIr|

the creator of the world

b#'aN|

to Lord Brahma

vcn|

message

mht¯

important

Those   gods   having   arrived   at   the   scene,   in   proper   order,   spoke   to   the creator of the Universe, Lord Brahma, the following words   (5).

Bgv|ÞÏvt¯p#sadEn   ravNaE   nam   raXs:   .
vaI°aE   baDtE   v£yaIÅCa¢st¤|   t|   n   S;m:   ¡6¡

Bgvn¯

O! Lord!

Ïvt¯p#sadEn

through your blessings

ravN:

Ravana

nam

named

raXs:

demon

svaIn¯

all (of)

baDtE

harassing

v£yaIt¯

due to his prowess

Sa¢st¤|

to control, subjugate

him

not

S;m:

(we have) the capacity

`O!   Lord!   The   demon   called   Ravana,   empowered   by   your   boons   torments all   of   us   with   his   might.   We   are   not   able   to   contain   him.(6).

Ïvya   tÞmW   vraE   däO:   p#£tEn   Bgvn¯   p¤ra   .
manyÓtà   t|   ¢nÏy|   svI|   tÞy   XmamhE   ¡7¡

Ïvya

by you

tÞmW

to him

vr:

boon

däO:

granted

p#£tEn

pleased

Bgvn¯

O! Lord!

p¤ra

in the earlier days

manyÓt:

honouring

and

that

¢nÏy|

always

svI|

all (the troubles)

tÞy

his

XmamhE

(we are) enduring

`O! Lord! Once upon a time, when you were pleased with him (due to his penance), the boons were gifted to him. Respecting those, we have been putting up with all his (mis)deeds at
all times (7).

u¹Ejy¢t   laEka|ÞæO£n¤ÅC¢®tan¯   ¹E¢¾   Ñ¤mI¢t:   .
S@|   ¢æOdSrajan|   p#DxI¢yt¤¢mÅC¢t   ¡8¡
u¹Ejy¢t      intimidating

laEkan¯      worlds

æO£n¯      three

uÅC¢®tan¯      elders

¹E¢¾      abuses

Ñ¤mI¢t:      evil-minded

S@|      Lord Indra

¢æOdSrajan|      the king of all the gods

p#DxI¢yt¤|      conquer

iÅC¢t      wants to

This   wicked   person   is   tormenting   all   the   three   worlds,abuses   venerable ones and longs to conquer Indra, the chief of the   gods   (8).

§x£n¯   yXan¯   sgÓDvaIns¤ran¯   b#a'Na|ÞtTa   .
A¢t@am¢t   Ñ¤DIxaI   vrdanEn   maE¢ht:   ¡9¡
§x£n¯      the sages

yXan¯      Yakshas

sgÓDvaIn¯      along with the Gandharvas

As¤ran¯      the demons

b#a'Nan¯      the Brahmins

tTa      similarly

A¢t@am¢t      exceeds his limits (inflicts suffering)

Ñ¤DIxI:      invincible

vrdanEn      due to your bestowing boons on him

maE¢ht:      drunk deep with pride

Invincible   through   the   acquisition   of   boons,   totally   deluded,   he   harasses sages,   Gandharvas,   Yakshas,   demons   and   also   learned   Brahmins   (9).

nWn|   s¥yI:   p#tp¢t   paáI   va¢t   n   maât:   .
claE¢mImal£   t|   ¾va   sm¤d#aE{¢p   n   kØptE   ¡10¡
n      not

en|      him

s¥yI:      The Sun

p#tp¢t      burns

paáI      to come near

va¢t      to blow

n      not

maât:      The wind god

cl      turbulent

U¢mImal£      rising in waves (ocean)

t|      him

¾va      on seeing

sm¤d#:      the ocean

A¢p      also

n      not

kØptE      heaves

He   is   not   afflicted   by   the   scorching   heat   of   the   Sun;   the   Wind   does   not blow   near   him   and   the   ocean,   with   the   churning   waves,   moves   not   on seeing   him   (10).

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