Individual verses with meanings
Hari Om.
Let us begin the fifty fourth sarga of the bAlakAnDam with offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
Having tasted the hospitality enabled by vaSisTha’s wish-fulfilling cow sabala, viSwAmitra becomes greedy and offers to pay anything in return for sabala. vaSisTha flatly yet politely refuses. Onwards…
viSwAmitra felt slighted at vaSisTha’s refusal. AT his instance, his soldiers at once caught hold of sabala and tried to take it by use of force. She was distressed at this turn of events, and cried piteously and reflected why the compassionate and pious sage vaSisTha is abandoning her in spite of her devotion to him! She could not stomach this! And so, she at once shook off the hundreds of soldiers that were trying to force her away and ran towards the sage vasisTha. Having reached the sage moaning and groaning and mooing thunderously she asked of the sage, “Lord, why are you allowing me to be forced away by the soldiers, why are you abandoning me?”
The sage looked at her with brotherly affection and said “O Sabala, you have done no harm to me, I am not abandoning you. The mighty king drunk with power is forcing you. I cannot match his might comprising of an entire army with infantry, cavalry and elephants. He rules over the earth. Hence he is stronger than I am and therefore I cannot stop him.
The articulate Sabala, at these words of the sage humbly replied – “Lord, even though he is mighty, the power of a brAhmin (knower of brahman, the absolute) is far superior to that of a kshatriya (a warrior who fights with arms). Your splendorous valour will pale his might. I am in possession of your brAhminic valour. Command me O lord and I shall destroy the army and defeat the wicked king so drunk with power. vasisTha immediately affirmed, – “create an army capable of defeating the army of the king”.
Armed with the command of the sage, the divine cow let out a moo and from that hundreds of warriors called paplavas arose and annihilated the army of viSwAmitra while he looked on. Angered by the bashing of his army, kauSika fought valiantly and crushed the paplavas. Seeing the paplavas biting the dust, Sabala created armies of golden hue, clad in yellows called yavanas and SAkas, These warriors went and routed the army of viSwAmitra. Seeing them so routed, viSwAmitra also responded valiantly and scattered the army arising from the bovine by use of his weaponry.
Here we conclude the fifty fourth sarga of the bAla kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
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rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 