At   dawn,   the   great   sage   Viswamitra   addressed   the   scion   of
Kakutstha   race,   lying   on   the   grass   mat   (1).
kaWsÚyas¤p#ja   ram   p¥vaI   sÓÒya   p#vtItE   .
u¢äO¿   nrSaÑ¥Il   ktIÛy|   dWvma¢þkm¯   ¡2¡ 

kaWsÚyas¤p#j:

The darling of Kausalya!

ram

Rama!

p¥vaI

morning

sÓÒya

twilight

p#vtItE

is drawing near

u¢äO¿

rise

nrSaѥIl

Oh! Tiger among men!

ktIÛy|

performance of obligatory rituals

dWvma¢þkm¯

those dedicated to the gods and the other daily rituals

 
`Rama!   The   darling   son   of   Kausalya!   The   twilight   marking   the
start   of   the   former   part   of   day   is   drawing   near. Rise, Oh!   Tiger
among   men!   time   is   ripe   now   for   the   performance of   rituals   that
are   pleasing   to   the   gods   and   those   which   are injuncted   to   be
done   everyday'   (2).
mhxI:   prmaEdar|   vc:   ½¤Ïva   nraEäOmaW   .
s"aÏva   k]taEdkaW   v£raW   jEpt¤:   prm|   jpm¯   ¡3¡ 

mhxI:

of the great sage

prmaEdar|

dignified words

vc:

words

½¤Ïva

having heard

nraEäOmaW

the two best among men

s"aÏva

having had their ablutory bath

k]taEdkaW

made offerings with water

v£raW

valiant

jEpt¤:

chanted

prm|

supreme

jpm¯	secret formulae

 
The   two   best   among   men,on   hearing   those   dignified   words   of  the
great   sage,having   had   their   ablutory   bath   and   made   offerings
with   water,   engaged   in   chanting   the   supreme   (Gayatri   )
secret   formulae   (3).
k]ta¢þkaW   mhav£yaI   ¢váa¢mæO|   tpaEDnm¯   .
A¢Bvaïa¢Bs|¶¾aW   gmnayaEptÞTt¤:   ¡4¡

k]ta¢þkaW

having completed the daily rituals

mhav£yaI

of great prowess

¢váa¢mæO|

Viswamitra

tpaEDnm¯

whose wealth consisted of penance

A¢Bvaï

having paid respects

A¢Bs|¶¾aW

extremely pleased

gmnay

to set out

uptÞTt¤:

held themselves in readiness

Those   two   of   great   prowess,   having   completed   the   rituals connected
with   daily   observances,   with   an   overwhelmingly happy   heart,   after
paying   respects   to   Viswamitra,whose   wealth consisted   of   his   penance,
held   themselves   in   readiness   to   set   out   (4).
taW   p#yataW   mhav£yaI   p¤Îya|   ¢æOpTga|   nd£m¯   .
dSatE   ttÞtæO   srÙva:   sÄñmE   S¤BE   ¡5¡

taW

those two

p#yataW

while going

mhav£yaI

of great valour

p¤Îya|

holy

¢æOpTga|

flowing in three paths

nd£m¯

river

dSatE

saw

tt:

then

tæO

there

srÙva:

of Sarayu river

sÄñmE

in the confluence

S¤BE	auspicious

 
tæOa½mpd|   p¤Îym¦x£Nam¤g#tEjsam¯   .
bh^vxIsh*a¢N   tÔyta|   prm|   tp:   ¡6¡

tæO

there

Aa½mpd|

penance-grove

p¤Îy|

sacred

§x£Na|

of the sages

ug#tEjsam¯

of scintillating brilliance

bh^

many

vxI

years

sh*a¢N

thousands of

tÔyta|

performing

prm|

severe

tp:

penance

 
Those   greatly   valorous   (brothers)   having   set   out   then, saw   there
the   holy   Ganges,   at   its   auspicious   confluence   with   the   river   
Sarayu,   as   also   the   peanace-grove   sanctified   by   the   intense
penance of   the   sages   engaged   in   such   severe   austerties   for
several thousands   of   years   (5-6).
t|   ¾va   prmp#£taW   raGvaW   p¤Îyma½mm¯   .
Uct¤Þt|   mhaÏman|   ¢váa¢mæO¢md|   vc:   ¡7¡

t|

that

¾va

seeing

prmp#£taW

highly elated

raGvaW

the Raghus (born of the Raghu race)

p¤Îy|

holy

Aa½mm¯

hermitage

Uct¤:

said

t|

that

mhaÏman|

highsouled

¢váa¢mæO|

to Viswamitra

id|	the following

vc:

words

 
Seeing   that   holy   hermitage,   and   highly   elated,   the   Raghus   spoke
these   words   to   the   high-souled   Viswamitra   (7).  
kÞyayma½m:   p¤Îy:   kaE   Óv¢Þmn¯   vstE   p¤man¯   .
Bgvn¯ÅC®aEt¤¢mÅCav:   pr|   kaWt¥hl|   ¢h   naW   ¡8¡ 

kÞy

whose

Ay|

this

Aa½m:

hermitage

p¤Îy:

pure

k:

which

A¢Þmn¯

in this

vstE

is living

p¤man¯

great one

Bgvn¯

O! Lord!

½aEt¤|

to hear

iÅCav:

are desirous

pr|

greatly

kaWt¥hl|

desire to know

¢h

indeed

naW	both of us

 
`O!   Lord!   Whose   holy   penance-grove   is   this   ?   Who   is   that great
one   resident   here   ?   We   are   eager   to   hear   about   these,   as we
are   consumed   with   curiosity'   (8).
tyaEÞt¹cn|   ½¤Ïva   p#hÞy   m¤¢np¤Äñv:   .
Ab#v£ÅC®¥yta|   ram   yÞyay|   p¥vI   Aa½m:   ¡9¡ 

tyaE:

their

tt¯

those

vcn|

words

½¤Ïva

on hearing

p#hÞy

smilingly

m¤¢np¤Äñv:

the foremost among seers

Ab#v£t¯

said

½¥yta|

may hear

ram

O! Rama!

yÞy

whose

Ay|

this

p¥vI:

earlier

Aa½m:

penance-grove

 
The   foremost   among   the   seers,   on   hearing   these   words   of   theirs,
smilingly   replied,   `O!   Rama!   May   you   hear   whose   penance-grove   this
was   in   the   past   (9).
kÓdpaI   m¥¢tImanas£t¯   kam   iÏy¤ÅytE   b¤DW:   ¡10¡ 

kÓdpI:

the god of love

m¥¢tIman¯

embodied

Aas£t¯

was (here)

kam:	the god of love

i¢t

thus

uÅytE

is said

b¤DW:

by the wise

 
Whom   the   learned   call   Kama,   that   Kandarpa   (cupid)   was   in
bodily   form   here,   once   upon   a   time   (10).