Shloka 9
वालिवधः — Vālī’s Fall and Dharma-Accusation
Kiṣkindhā Sarga 17
तं तदा पतितं सङ्ख्ये गतार्चिषमिवानलम्।बहुमान्य च तं वीर वीक्षमाणं शनैरिव।।।ययातिमिव पुण्यान्ते देवलोकादिहच्युतम्।आदित्यमिव कालेन युगान्ते भुवि पातितम्।।।महेन्द्रमिव दुर्धर्षंमुपेन्द्रमिव दुस्सहम्।महेन्द्रपुत्रं पतितं वालिनं हेममालिनम्।।।।सिंहोरस्कं महाबाहुं दीप्तास्यं हरिलोचनम्।लक्ष्मणानुगतो रामो ददर्शोपससर्प च।।।।
taṃ tadā patitaṃ saṅkhye gatārciṣam ivānalam | bahumānya ca taṃ vīraṃ vīkṣamāṇaṃ śanair iva ||
yayātim iva puṇyānte devalokād iha cyutam | ādityam iva kālena yugānte bhuvi pātitam ||
mahendram iva durdharṣam upendram iva duḥsaham | mahendraputraṃ patitaṃ vālinaṃ hemamālinam ||
siṃhoraskaṃ mahābāhuṃ dīptāsyaṃ harilocanam | lakṣmaṇānugato rāmo dadarśopasasarpa ca ||
当时，罗摩在罗什曼那随行之下，缓缓走近，望见战场上倒下的婆林——如同火焰已熄的烈火；如同功德耗尽而从天界坠落人间的耶耶提王；又如同在劫末之时被时间之力抛落大地的太阳。他是摩诃因陀罗（因陀罗）之子，佩金鬘——如因陀罗般不可攻破，如优本陀罗般难以承受；胸若雄狮，臂力雄伟，面容炽亮，眼色如金褐。
Rama followed by Lakshmana slowly approached the long-armed, lion-chested, bright-faced, tawny-eyed Vali, and admiringly observed this unchallengeable son of Indra, unassailable like Indra himself. Adorned with a golden necklace, he had fallen on the ground like fire without flame, like king Yayati descended on the earth from the celestial realm on the exhaustion of his merits, or like the Sun cast down on the earth at the end of the aeon.
FAQs
The verse frames the fallen hero within a cosmic moral universe: greatness is impermanent, and Time levels all. This backdrop intensifies the dharma-question of how power should be used and how a warrior should be brought down.
After Vālin is struck down, Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa approach and observe him closely; the narrator uses layered similes to portray Vālin’s stature and the tragedy of his fall.
Reverent recognition of valor—Rāma’s slow approach and the narrator’s exalted comparisons stress respect for a formidable opponent.