Shloka 1.51.22
शतानन्दोपदेशः — Śatānanda’s Welcome to Rāma and the Prelude to Viśvāmitra’s History
नगराणि सराष्ट्राणि सरितश्च तथा गिरीन्।आश्रमान्क्रमशो राम विचरन्नाजगाम ह।।।।वसिष्ठस्याश्रमपदं नानावृक्षसमाकुलम्।नानामृगगणाकीर्णं सिद्धचारणसेवितम्।।।।देवदानवगन्धर्वै: किन्नरैरुपशोभितम्।प्रशान्तहरिणाकीर्णं द्विजसङ्घनिषेवितम्।।।।ब्रह्मर्षिगणसङ्कीर्णं देवर्षिगणसेवितम्।तपश्चरणसंसिद्धैरग्निकल्पैर्महात्मभि:।।।।अब्भक्षैर्वायुभक्षैश्च शीर्णपर्णाशनैस्तथा।फलमूलाशनैर्दान्तैर्जितरोषैर्जितेन्द्रियै:।।।।ऋषिभिर्वालखिल्यैश्च जपहोमपरायणै:।अन्यैर्वैखानसैश्चैव समन्तादुपशोभितम्।।।।
nagarāṇi sarāṣṭrāṇi saritaś ca tathā girīn |
āśramān kramaśo rāma vicarann ājagāma ha ||
vasiṣṭhasyāśramapadaṃ nānā-vṛkṣa-samākulam |
nānā-mṛga-gaṇākīrṇaṃ siddha-cāraṇa-sevitam ||
deva-dānava-gandharvaiḥ kinnarair upaśobhitam |
praśānta-hariṇākīrṇaṃ dvija-saṅgha-niṣevitam ||
brahmarṣi-gaṇa-saṅkīrṇaṃ devarṣi-gaṇa-sevitam |
tapaś-caraṇa-saṃsiddhair agni-kalpaiḥ mahātmabhiḥ ||
abbhakṣair vāyubhakṣaiś ca śīrṇa-parṇāśanais tathā |
phala-mūlāśanair dāntair jita-roṣair jitendriyaiḥ ||
ṛṣibhir vālakhilyaiś ca japa-homa-parāyaṇaiḥ |
anyair vaikhānasaiś caiva samantād upaśobhitam ||
O Rāma, moving in due course through cities and kingdoms with their provinces, along rivers and over mountains, and visiting hermitages one after another, he at last reached the sacred retreat of Vasiṣṭha. It was dense with many kinds of trees, filled with varied herds of animals, and frequented by Siddhas and Cāraṇas. It shone with the presence of Devas, Dānavas, Gandharvas, and Kinnaras; it was filled with gentle deer and resorted to by flocks of birds. It was crowded with hosts of Brahmarṣis and attended by Devarṣis, and by great souls perfected in tapas, blazing like fire. There were ascetics who lived on water or on air, others who ate fallen leaves, and others who lived on fruits and roots—self-restrained, having conquered anger, and masters of their senses. Sages such as the Vālakhilyas, devoted to japa and homa, and other Vaikhānasas adorned it on every side.
Rama! while Viswamitra was wandering about kingdoms, cities, rivers, mountains and hermitages, he gradually reached the ashram of Vasishta. That hermitage afounded in a variety of trees, species of animals, siddhas, charanas, devatas, danavas, gandharvas and kinnaras, multitudes of birds and resting deer. It was inhabited by brahmarshis and devarishis, by sages who had attained perfection through austerities, by those resembling fire in brightness, by the magnanimous and the self-restrained, by those who had conquered anger and controlled their senses, who was devoted to prayers and offerings of libations. Some of them subsisted on water, some on air. Some lived on fallen leaves, some on fruits and roots. The hermitage looked bedecked with valakhilyas (born from Vala of Brahma ) and vaikhanasas (born from the nails of Brahma).
Āśrama-dharma is celebrated: a community ordered by tapas, restraint, truthfulness in practice, and disciplined ritual (japa-homa) becomes a luminous moral ecosystem.
During his royal circuit of the world, Viśvāmitra reaches Vasiṣṭha’s hermitage, whose sanctity and inhabitants are described in detail.
The collective virtues of the ascetics: self-control (dānta), mastery over anger (jita-roṣa), sense-restraint (jitendriya), and perseverance in austerity (tapas).