Ramayana — Yuddha Kanda, Sarga 28, Shloka 12
शुकवाक्यं (Śuka’s Report on the Vānara Host) / Śuka Describes the Allied Forces to Rāvaṇa
उद्यन्तभास्करंदृष्टवाबालःकिलपिपासितः ।त्रियोजनसहस्रंतुअध्वानमवतीर्यहि ।।6.28.12।।आदित्यमाहरिष्यामिनमेक्षुत्प्रतियास्यति ।इतिसञ्चिन्त्यमनसापुरैषबलदर्पितः ।।6.28.13।।
udyantabhāskaraṃ dṛṣṭvā bālaḥ kila pipāsitaḥ |
triyojanasahasraṃ tu adhvānam avatīrya hi ||6.28.12||
ādityam āhariṣyāmi na me kṣut pratiyāsyati |
iti sañcintya manasā puraiṣa baladarpitaḥ ||6.28.13||
As a child, it is said, when hunger seized him and he saw the rising sun, he set out and traversed three thousand yojanas, thinking, “I will seize the Sun—only then will my hunger be satisfied,” and he sprang forth, proud of his strength.
When he was a child, on seeing the rising Sun, he travelled three thousand yojanas and said, "I will eat up the Sun otherwise I will not be appeased', being proud of his strength."
FAQs
Power without discernment becomes pride; the episode warns that strength must be guided by wisdom and right understanding (dharma), not mere impulse.
Śuka recounts a famous childhood feat of Hanumān to demonstrate the scale of his energy and fearlessness.
Extraordinary vigor and daring—later refined into disciplined service to Rāma, showing how raw power can be redirected toward righteous ends.