Ramayana — Bala Kanda, Sarga 51, Shloka 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, habang siya’y dumaraan sa mga lungsod at mga kahariang may mga lalawigan, sa mga ilog at gayundin sa mga bundok, at sunod-sunod na dinadalaw ang mga āśrama, sa wakas ay narating niya ang banal na pook-āśrama ni Vasiṣṭha. Hitik iyon sa sari-saring punò, punô ng iba’t ibang pangkat ng mga hayop, at dinadalaw ng mga Siddha at Cāraṇa. Pinagniningning ng pagdalo ng mga Deva, Dānava, Gandharva at Kinnara; napupuno ng maaamong usa at pinupuntahan ng mga kawan ng ibon. Siksik sa mga pangkat ng Brahmarṣi at pinaglilingkuran ng mga Devarṣi, at ng mga dakilang kaluluwang ganap sa tapas—nagniningas na wari’y apoy. Naroon ang mga ascetic na nabubuhay sa tubig o sa hangin; ang iba’y kumakain ng nalaglag na dahon; ang iba nama’y sa prutas at ugat—mapagpigil, nagtagumpay sa galit, at naghari sa mga pandama. Ang mga ṛṣi gaya ng Vālakhilya, nakatuon sa japa at homa, at ang iba pang Vaikhānasa, ay nagpaganda rito sa lahat ng panig.
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).
FAQs
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).