Individual verses with meanings
Hari Om.
Let us begin the fifty first sarga of the bAlakAnDam with offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
After the visit to the ASram of gautama, rAma and lakshmaNa along with sage viSwAmitra reach mithila where king janaka welcomes them. He inquires the welfare of the entourage and is particularly keen to know about the princes. Sage viSwAmitra factually presents the princes. Onwards…
The eldest son of sage gautama, effulgent and ascetic SatAnanda was thrilled on hearing about the heroics of the princes from sage viSwAmitra and beheld them with utter amazement. He cast an admiring glance at the two and asked a series of questions to the supreme sage viSwAmitra – O sage, did my mother who was in intense penance see rAma, did she offer him hospitality by procuring the forest produce, was rAma told of her suffering due to the misdeed of indra, did my mother reunite with my father up on serving rAma, did my illustrious father duly revere rAma and did rAma welcome my father calmly?! Having heard the barrage of questions from SatAnanda, the highly articulate viSwAmitra replied, O sage, yes, all that was divined has happened as such with no omissions. Following which ahalya was reunited with sage gautama just like reNuka was reunited with sage jamadagni.
SatAnanda was thrilled to learn this and turned to rAma and said. O rAghava, the best among men, welcome! You’re fortunate to have come here along with this invincible sage viSwAmitra. This sage of peerless radiance has performed unbelievable acts through his penance. Know him as the knower of the ultimate path! You are supremely fortunate to have this highly austere and powerful viSwAmitra as your protector. I shall narrate to you his stupendous achievements and might. Listen.
The son of lord brahma was the king kuSa, whose son was kuSanAbha. [Detailed story here] gAdhi was the son of kuSAnAbha and this supreme sage viSwAmitra was born of king gAdhi. This son of kuSika (a name for gAdhi) was a king and ruled over his subjects for thousands of years, showering welfare and suppressing the enemies. (Hence viSwAmitra is known as kauSIka)
Once king kauSika went around the earth with a large army. As he navigated through cities, towns, hills, forests, rivers in his sojourn and arrived at the hermitage of sage vaSisTha. He was struck by what he saw there – the ASram was in sylvan surroundings where he beheld a variety of trees, animals, gods and demi gods (gandhvas, kinnaras et. al.). He saw brahmarshis and devarshis (sages with radiance of brahma and other gods) performing austerities there. They were the very picture of dignity and radiated peace having controlled their senses, conquered anger devoted to the performance of austerities and offering libations. Some of them sustained themselves on water, some on air, yet others subsisted on leaves that were fallen on the ground! There were types of Rshis known as vaikhAnasas and vAlakhilyas. They were fiery in their radiance. The best among the conquerors, mighty viSwAmitra beheld such a wonderful, other worldly hermitage of sage vaSisTha.
Here we conclude the fifty first sarga of the bAla kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
[From here on, almost for ten sarga, SatAnanda recounts the trials and tribulations that sage viSwAmitra faced on his path to becoming the brahmarshi. The sage viSwAmitra who was narrating all this while is now a listener, of his own story!!]
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rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 