THE VALMIKI RAMAYANA

BALA KANDA

p·sçO¢ttm:   sgI:      Canto   75
vWÝNvDn¤raraEpNcaEdna      Challenging   (Rama)   to   string  the   Vaishnava   bow
ram   daSrTE   v£r   v£yI|   tE   ½¥ytE{ì¤tm¯      .
Dn¤xaE   BEdn|   cWv   ¢n¢KlEn   mya   ½¤tm¯   ¡ 1¡

ram

O! Rama!

daSrTE

O! Son of Dasaratha!

v£r

O! Valiant one!

v£yI|

valour

your

½¥ytE

is acclaimed

Aì¤tm¯

astonishing

Dn¤x:

of the bow

BEdn|

breaking

and

also

¢n¢KlEn

in entirety

mya

by me

½¤tm¯

has been heard

`O!   Rama!   O!   Son   of   Dasaratha!   O!   Valiant   one!   Your
astonishing   valour   is   heard   of.   Your   breaking   the   (Siva's) bow   and   all   about   that   have   been   heard   of   by   me,   also   (1).
tdì¤tm¢cÓÏy|   c   BEdn|   Dn¤xÞÏvya      .
tÅC®¤Ïva{hmn¤p#açOaE   Dn¤g¦I/apr|   S¤Bm¯   ¡ 2¡

tt¯

that

Aì¤t|

astonishing

A¢cÓÏy|

unthinkable

and

BEdn|

breaking

Dn¤x:

the bow

Ïvya

by you

tt¯

that

½¤Ïva

upon hearing

Ah|

An¤p#açO:

have come here

Dn¤:

bow

g¦/

taking up

Apr|

another

S¤Bm¯

superior

Having   heard   about   the   breaking   of   that   bow   by   you,   which
was   astonishing   and   unthinkable,   I   took   up   another   great bow   and   have   come   here   with   it   (2).
t¢dd|   GaErsÄðaS|   jamdÂÓy|   mhÑ¯Dn¤:      .
p¥ryÞv   SrENWv   Þvbl|   dSIyÞv   c   ¡ 3¡

tt¯

that

id|

this

GaErsÄðaS|

terrifying in appearance

jamdÂÓy|

of Jamadagni

mht¯

great

Dn¤:

bow

p¥ryÞv

fix the bow

SrEN

with arrow

also

Þvbl|

your might

dSIyÞv

demonstrate

and

That   bow   which   has   come   to   me   from   Jamadagni   and   which   is
terrifying,   this   one,   may   you   string   it   and   fix   an   arrow,
demonstrating   your   strength   and   ability   (3).

tdh|   tE   bl|   è¾¯va   Dn¤xaE{Þy   p#p¥rNE      .
¹n¯¹y¤Ñ¯D|   p#daÞya¢m   v£r   ÜlaÃy¢md|   tv   ¡ 4¡

tt¯

then

Ah|

your

bl|

strength

è¾¯va

seeing

Dn¤x:

bow

AÞy

this

p#p¥rNE

in stringing the bow

¹n¯¹y¤Ñ¯D|

duel

p#daÞya¢m

offer

v£r

O! Valiant one!

ÜlaÃy|

fitting

id|

this

your

Thereafter,   having   seen   your   might   in   stringing   and   fixing   an arrow   to   this   bow,   I   shall   challenge   you   to   a   duel,which   would be   fitting   to   you,   O!   Valiant   one!   (4).
B£taE   y¢d   Dn¤ÞÏyÀÏva   ¢n¢jItaE{Þm£¢t   va   vd    .
ATva   ¹n¯¹y¤Ñ¯D|   mE   data   Ïv|   vW   n   s|Sy:   ¡ 5¡

B£t:

frightened

y¢d

Dn¤:

bow

ÏyÀÏva

throwing away

¢n¢jIt:

defeated

A¢Þm

am I

i¢t

thus

speak out

ATva

otherwise

¹n¯¹y¤Ñ¯D|

the duel

to me

data

give to me

Ïv|

you

verily

not

s|Sy:

doubt

If   not,   you   may   cast   (your   bow)   away   and   declare:   `I   am   frightened and   admit   defeat'.   Otherwise,   without   doubt,   you   are   to   engage me   in   a   duel'   (5).
tÞy   t¹cn|   ½¤Ïva   raja   dSrTÞtda   .
¢vxÎNvdnaE   d£n:   p#a¸¢lvaIÀymb#v£t¯   ¡ 6¡

tÞy

his

tt¯

those

vcn|

words

½¤Ïva

on hearing

raja

king

dSrT:

Dasaratha

tda

then

¢vxÎNvdn:

face downcast

d£n:

with a heavy heart

p#a¸¢l:

with folded hands

vaÀy|

words

Ab#v£t¯

entreated

Having   heard   those   words   of   his,   king   Dasaratha,   then   in   a
helpless   state   and   face   drooping   with   sorrow,   folding   his   palms,
made   the   following   appeal   (6).
XæOraExat¯p#SaÓtÞÏv|   b#a'Nana|   c   s¢°DaW   .
balana|   mm   p¤æOaNamBy|   dat¤mhI¢s      ¡ 7¡

XæOraExat¯

the revengeful attitude towards the warrior class

p#SaÓt:

calmed down

Ïv|

your good self

b#a'Nana|

in the presence of Brahmins

and

s¢°DaW

in the presence of

balana|

of the tender

p¤æOaNa|

sons

ABy|

refuge

dat¤|

to give

AhI¢s

may you be gracious

`Your   goodselves   have   become   calm   as   regards   your   revengeful
attitude   towards   the   ruling   class.   You   now   deserve   to   bestow
refuge   on   my   tender-aged   sons   in   the   presence   of   the   learned
and   resurgent   ones   (7).
BagIvaNa|   klE   jat:   ÞvaÒyayv#tSa¢lnam¯   .
sh*aXE   p#¢tåOay   SÞæO|   ¢n¢XçOvan¢s       ¡ 8¡

BagIvaNa|

of the Bhrigu clan

klE

lineage

jat:

born of

ÞvaÒyayv#tSa¢lnam¯

with the study of scriptures firmly ingrained in them

sh*aXE

the thousandeyed (Indra)

p#¢tåOay

given a vow

SÞæO|

weapons

¢n¢XçOvan¯

rid of

A¢s

are

You   are   a   descendant   of   the   Bhrigus,   who   have   the   study   and
the   teaching   of   the   scriptures   as   their   second   nature,   and   on
a   promise   (you   have   made)   to   Indra,   you   have   abandoned   all
weapons   (8).
s   Ïv|   DmIpraE   B¥Ïva   kÜypay   vs¤ÓDram¯   .
dt¯Ïva   vnm¤pagØy   mhEÓd#k]tkEtn:            ¡ 9¡

that

Ïv|

your goodselves

DmIpr:

rooted in righteous conduct

B¥Ïva

being

kÜypay

to Kasyapa

vs¤ÓDram¯

the earth

dt¯Ïva

gifting away

vn|

the forest

upagØy

going to

mhEÓd#k]tkEtn:

have made the Mahendra mountain your abode

Of   that   description,   you   have   become   devoted   to   righteousness,
having   gifted   the   entire   earth   to   Kasyapa,   gone   to   the   dense
forests   and   made   Mahendra   mountains   your   abode   (9).
mm   svI¢vnaSay   s|p#açOÞÏv|   mham¤nE             .
n   cWk¢ÞmÓhtE   ramE   svEI   j£vamhE   vym¯   ¡ 10¡

svI¢vnaSay

totally rout

s|p#açO:

arrived

Ïv|

you

mham¤nE

O! Eminent sage !

not

and

ek¢Þmn¯

one person

htE

being killed

ramE

Rama

svEI

all

j£vamhE

remain alive

vym¯

O! Great sage! You seem to have come to effect a total destruction of me and mine. Should Rama, one person be killed, none of us will remain alive' (10). PROCEED TO NEXT SLOKAS RETURN TO PREVIOUS SLOKAS RETURN TO INDEX OF BALA KANDA