Upon  seeing   that   city   Mithila  of   king   Janaka,   which   was  auspicious,
all   the   sages   praised   the   city   of   Mithila  as   `Excellent, excellent'   (11).  
¢m¢TlaEpvnE   tæO   Aa½m|   èÜy   raGv:   .
 p¤raN|   ¢njIn|   rØy|   pp#ÅC   m¤¢np¤Äñvm¯   ¡ 12¡

¢m¢TlaEpvnE

in the woodlands adjoining Mithila

tæO

there

Aa½m|

hermitage

èÜy

seeing

raGv:

Raghava

p¤raN|

of ancient nature

¢njIn|

uninhabited

rØy|

beautiful

pp#ÅC

asked

m¤¢np¤Äñvm¯

the foremost among sages

In   the   woodlands   adjoining   Mithila,   there   noticing   an   old,   uninhabited but  beautiful penance-grove, Raghava addressed  the  best  among  sages  (12).  
½£mda½msÄðaS|   ¢k|   ¢Óvd|   m¤¢nv¢jItm¯   .
½aEt¤¢mÅCa¢m   Bgvn¯   kÞyay|   p¥vI   Aa½m:   ¡ 13¡

½£mt¯

illustrious

Aa½msÄðaS|

this hermitagelike place

¢k|

what

is

id|

this

m¤¢nv¢jItm¯

without sages

½aEt¤|

to hear

iÅCa¢m

(I) wish

Bgvn¯

O! Lord!

kÞy

whose

Ay|

this

p¥vI:

earlier

Aa½m:

hermitage

 
`O!   Lord!   I   desire   to   know   about   this   penance-grove   which   is
illustrious,   looking   like   a   hermitage   but   sans   hermits.   And   whose
was   this   previously?'   (13).  
tÅC®¤Ïva   raGvENaE³|   vaÀy|   vaÀy¢vSard:   .
p#Ïy¤vac   mhatEja   ¢váa¢mæOaE   mham¤¢n:   ¡ 14¡

tt¯

those

½¤Ïva

on hearing

raGvEN

by Raghava

u³|

said

vaÀy|

words

vaÀy¢vSard:

adept in speech

p#Ïy¤vac

replied

mhatEja:

of great resplendence

¢váa¢mæO:

Viswamitra

mham¤¢n:

noble sage

 
That   great   sage   of   illimitable   radiance   Viswamitra,   who   was   an   adept in   conversation,   hearing   those   words   uttered   by   Raghava,   replied in   the   following   words   (`14).  
hÓt   tE   kT¢yÝya¢m   ½¦N¤   tÏvEn   raGv   .
yÞyWtda½mpd|   SçO|   kaEpaÓmhaÏmna   ¡15¡

hÓt

How sad!

tE

to you

kT¢yÝya¢m

(I) will tell

½¦N¤	may you listen

tÏvEn

as it happened

raGv	O! Raghava!

yÞy

whose

ett¯

this

Aa½mpd|

hermitage

SçO|

accursed

kaEpat¯

born of anger

mhaÏmna

by the highsouled personage

`O!   Raghava!   May   you   listen.   I   shall   tell   you   all   about   this:   whose hermitage   it   was   and   by   the   wrath   of   which   high-souled   one   it became   accursed;   what   a   pity!   (15).  
gaWtmÞy   nr½E¿   p¥vImas£ÓmhaÏmn:   .
Aa½maE   ¢dÛysÄðaS:   s¤rWr¢p   s¤p¥¢jt:   ¡ 16¡

gaWtmÞy

of Gautama

nr½E¿

O! The best among men !

p¥vI|

earlier

Aas£t¯

was

mhaÏmn:

of the eminent sage

Aa½m:

hermitage

¢dÛysÄðaS:

like the world of the gods

s¤rW:

by the gods

A¢p

also

s¤p¥¢jt:

revered

O!   Best   among   men!   This   was   previously   the   penance-grove   of
the   high-souled   Gautama,   which   glowed   like   the   world   of   the   gods
and   highly   revered   even   by   the   celestials   (16).  
s   cEh   tp   Aa¢t¿dhÚyas¢ht:   p¤ra   .
vxIp¥gannEka|à   rajp¤æO   mhaySa:   ¡ 17¡

s:

he

c

and

ih

here

tp:

penance

Aa¢t¿t¯

performed

AhÚyas¢ht:

with Ahalya

p¤ra	in the olden days

vxIp¥gan¯

years

AnEkan¯

many

c

and

rajp¤æO:

O! Prince!

mhaySa:

O! One of great renown!

O!   Prince   of   great   repute!   Staying   with   Ahalya,   he   performed
austerities   and   penance   for   many   long   years,   in   this   very   place,
in   the   days   goneby   (17).  
kda¢c¢êvsE   ram   ttaE   Ñ¥r|   gtE   m¤naW   .
tÞyaÓtr|   ¢v¢dÏva   t¤   sh*aX:   Sc£p¢t:   ¡
m¤¢nvExDraE{hÚya¢md|   vcnmb#v£t¯   ¡ 18¡

kda¢ct¯

a particular

¢dvsE

day

ram

O! Rama!

tt:	from there

Ñ¥r|

distance

gtE	having gone

m¤naW

sage

tÞy

that

AÓtr|

opportunity

¢v¢dÏva

knowing

t¤

well

sh*aX:

the thousand-eyed (Indra)

Sc£p¢t:

the husband of Sachi (Indra)

m¤¢nvExDr:

in the garb of sage Gautama

AhÚya|

Ahalya

id|

like this

vcn|

words

Ab#v£t¯

addressed

 
O!   Rama!   One   day,   when   the   sage   had   gone   a   little   far,   taking
advantage of  that  opportunity,  the  husband   of   Sachi, the  thousand-eyed   (Indra),   having   put   on   the   garb   of   a   sage,   approached Ahalya   and   told   her   thus   (18).  
§t¤kal|   p#t£XÓtE   na¢TIn:   s¤sma¢htE   .
sÄñm|   Ïvh¢mÅCa¢m   Ïvya   sh   s¤mÒymE   ¡19¡

§t¤kal|

the appropriate time

p#t£XÓtE

look forward to

n

not

A¢TIn:

desiring sexual pleasures

s¤sma¢htE

O! One of beautiful form!

sÄñm|

union

t¤

verily

Ah|

I

iÅCa¢m

desire

Ïvya

you

sh

with

s¤mÒymE

O! One of slender waist!

 
`O!   One   of   immaculate   limbs!   Those   desirous   of   sexual   congress
will   not   await   the   season   to   set   in.   I   desire   to   have   union   with
you,   O!   One   of   beautiful   waist!   (19)  
m¤¢nvEx|   sh*aX|   ¢våOay   rG¤nÓdn   .
m¢t|   ckar   ѤmIDa   dEvrajkt¥hlat¯   ¡20¡

m¤¢nvEx|

in the garb of sage Gautama

sh*aX|

the thousand-eyed

¢våOay

knowing

rG¤nÓdn

O! Delight of the Raghu race!

m¢t|

mind

ckar

consented

ѤmIDa

of wickd ways

dEvrajkt¥hlat¯

born of the excitement that he was the king of the gods

O!   Delight   of   the   Raghu   race!   Having   known   that   the   one   in   the
garb   of   the   sage   (Gautama)   was   the   thousand-eyed   (Indra),   she of   evil   mind   relented,   since   he   was   the   king   of   the   gods   (20).