बालकांड
दशम सर्गः

सुमंत्रश्चोदितोराज्ञा प्रोवाचेदं वचः तथा ।
यथर्श्यशृंगस्त्वानीतः शृणु मे मंत्रिभिः सह ॥

With the encouragement from the King, Sumantra started to elaborate . " O King , I will tell you how the ministers of Romapada brought Rishyasrumga to their kingdom"

रोमपादमुवाचेदं सहामात्यः पुरोहितः ।
उपायो निरपायो अयम् अस्माभिरभिचिंतितः ॥

The priest of Romapada told Romapada and his ministers , " Oh King there is no danger of mishap with the plan thought about by us"

ऋष्यशृंगो वनचरः तपस्स्वाध्यायने रतः ।
अनभिज्ञः स नारीणां विषयाणां सुखस्य च ॥
इंद्रियार्थैः अभिमतैः नरचित्तप्रमादिभिः ।
पुरं आनायिष्यामः क्षिप्रं च अध्यवसीयताम् ॥
गणीकाः तत्र गच्चंतु रूपवत्यः स्वलंकृताः ।
प्रलोभ्य विविधोपायैः आनेष्यंतीह सत्कृताः ॥

Rishyasrumga lives in the forest . He is immersed in the study of Vedas and penance . He is not aware of pleasing things of life or the women. Through activities that please the senses and mind we will attract him towards the city. We will send pleasingly dressed women to that place. They will entice him with a variety of gifts using their tricks and bring him here.

श्रुत्वा तथेति राजा च प्रत्युवाच पुरोहितम् ।
पुरोहितो मंत्रिणश्च तथा चक्रुश्च ते तदा ॥
वारमुख्याश्च तच्छ्रुत्वा वनं प्रविविशुर्महत् ।
आश्रमस्याविदूरे अस्मिन् यत्नं कुर्वंति दर्शने ॥

Having heard that the king said to the priest "Let it be so "!! Then the ministers and the priest proceeded as described above. Receiving those instructions those beautiful women entered the great forest . Then they approched the hermitage and were trying to get the attention of the ascetic.

ऋषिपुत्त्रस्य धीरस्य नित्यमाश्रमवासिनः ।
पितुस्स नित्यसंतुष्टो नातिचक्राम चाश्रमात् ॥
न तेन जन्मप्रभृति दृष्टपूर्वं तपस्विना ।
स्त्री वा पुमान् वा यच्चान्यत् सर्वं नगर राष्ट्रजम् ॥

That great Rishyasrumga was always staying in the hermitage. Being busy in serving his parents and elders he never left the hermitage. From the time he was born he never saw women or other men from the cities or villages.

ततः कदाचित् तं देशम् आजगाम यदृच्छया ।
विभंडकसुतस्तत्र ताश्चापश्यत् वरांगनाः ॥
ता श्चित्रवेषाः प्रमदा गायंत्योमधुर स्वराः ।
ऋषिपुत्रं उपागम्य सर्वा वचनमब्रवन्॥
क स्त्वं किं वर्तसे ब्रह्मन् ज्ञातुमिच्छामहे वयम् ।
एकस्त्वं विजने घोरे वने चरसि शंस नः ॥

Then one day Rishyasrumga , the son of Vibhandaka, accidentally came to the place where the beautiful women were waiting and saw them wearing variety of attractive clothes . The women approached him and spoke to him ." Oh the best of Brahman's ! Who are you ? Why are you here ?Why are you moving about alone in this deep forests ? We would like to hear from you !

अदृष्टरूपाः ताः तेन काम्यरूपा वनेश्त्रियः ।
हार्दात् तस्य मतिर्जाता ह्याख्यातुं पितरं स्वकम् ॥
पिता विभंडकोsस्माकं तस्याहं सुत औरसः ।
ऋष्यशृंग इति ख्यातं नाम कर्म च मे भुवि ॥
इहाश्रमपदोsस्माकं समीपे शुभदर्शनाः ।
करिष्ये वोsत्र पूजां वै सर्वेषां विधिपूर्वकम् ॥

That ascetic having never seen such beautiful women of forest, he felt an urge to tell them about his father. He said " Vibhandaka is my father and I am his own son. My name is Rishyasrumga. This forest is celebrated for austerities. Oh Lovely ones ! My hermitage is nearby. Please come there. There I shall certainly offer worship to all of you as is due ".

ऋषिपुत्रवचः श्रुत्वा सर्वासां मतिरास वै ।
तदाश्रमपदं द्रष्टुं जग्मुस्सर्वाश्च तेन ताः ॥
अगतानां ततः पूजाम् ऋषिपुत्रश्चकार ह ।
इदमर्घ्यम् इदं पाद्यम् इदं मूलं फलं च नः ॥

Hearing those words of the Reinsuring, all of them had a desire to see the hermitage and followed him to the hermitage. He offered traditional worship and offered them fruits welcoming them saying, " Here is the water to wash your feet. Here are the fruits and roots"etc.

प्रतिगृह्य च तां पूजां सर्वा एव समुत्सुकाः ।
ऋषेर्भीताश्च शीघ्रं ता गमनाय मतिं दधुः ॥
अस्माकमपि मुख्यानि फलानीमानि वै द्विज ।
गृहेण प्रति भद्रं ते भक्षयस्व च माचिरम् ॥
ततस्ताः तं समालिंग्य सर्वा हर्षसमन्विताः ।
मोदकान् प्रददुस्तस्मै भक्ष्यांश्च विविधान् बहून् ॥

Having accepted his welcome, though very much excited , they wanted to leave immediately being afraid of the arrival of Sage Vibhandaka .They said " Oh the best of Brahmins ! Please accept these excellent fruits , they will be good for you . Please eat them immediately". Saying so they embraced him and offered him various kinds sweetmeats.

तानि चास्वाद्य तेजस्वी फलानीति स्म मन्यते ।
अनास्वादितपूर्वाणि वने नित्य निवासिनाम् ॥
अपृच्छ्य च तदा विप्रं व्रतचर्यां निवेद्यच ।
गच्छंति स्मापदेशात् ताः भीताः तस्य पितुः स्त्रियः ॥

That ascetic having partaken in those sweetmeats realized that that kind of sweetmeats were never partaken in the forest before. Those women too afraid of his father left on the pretext of the sacred observance they are involved with.

गतासु तासु सर्वासु काश्यपस्यात्मजो द्विजः ।
अस्वस्थ हृदयश्चासीत् दुःखं स्म परिवर्तते ॥
ततो परेद्युः तं देशं आजगाम स वीर्यवान् ।
मनोज्ञा यत्र ता दृष्टा वारमुख्यास्स्वलंकृताः ॥
दृष्त्वैव ता स्तदा विप्रं आयांतं हृष्टमानसाः ।
उपसृत्य तत स्सर्वाः ता स्तमूचुरिदं वचः ॥

When they had all left Rishyasrumga felt uneasy at heart and was restless through agony. Thinking of them in his mind the hermit came to the same place where he saw those beautiful women previously. The moment they saw the Brahmin arriving at that place, delighted the women went forth and spoke to him.

एह्याश्रमपदं सौम्य ह्यास्माकमितिचाब्रुवन् ।
तत्राप्येषविधि श्श्रीमान् विशेषेण भविष्यति ॥
श्रुत्वा तु वचनं तासां सर्वासां हृदयं गमम् ।
गमनाय मतिं चक्रे तं च निन्युस्तदा स्त्रियः ॥

"O Great One! Please please pay a visit to our hermitage . There you will be received with even more special welcome ". Hearing those touching words of welcome he went along with them. The women took him to the kingdom of Romapada.

तत्र चानीयमानेतु तु विप्रे तस्मिन् महात्मनि ।
ववर्ष सहसा देवो जगत् प्रह्लादयंस्तदा ॥
वर्षेणैवागतं विप्रं विषयं स्वं नराधिपः ।
प्रत्युद्गम्य मुनिं प्रह्वः शिरसा च महीम् गतः ॥
अर्घ्यं च प्रददौ तस्मै न्यायतस्सुसमाहितः ।
वव्रे प्रसादं विप्रेंद्रात् माविप्रं मन्युराविशत् ॥

As soon as the great one arrived in that kingdom the Lord Varuna showered rain at that time, bringing joy to the whole world. Going forth to meet the ascetic the ruler of the land bowed low to the ascetic and prostrated before him on the ground. The king then offered the Ascetic due worship and begged the ascetic not to be angry for bringing him to his kingdom through the ruse of the women.

अंतः पुरं प्रविश्यास्मै कन्यां दत्वा यथाविधि ।
शांतां शांतेन मनसा राजा हर्षमवाप सः ॥
एवं स न्यवसत् तत्र सर्वकामैः सुपूजितः ।
ऋष्यशृंगो महातेजा शांतया सह भार्यया ॥

Then the king entered the harem and gave away his daughter Shanta in marriage in delight. The illustrious Rishyasrumga having been entertained thus lived with wife Santa happily there after.

इत्यार्षे श्रीमद्रामायणे वाल्मीकीये आदिकाव्ये बालकांडे दशमसर्गः ॥
समाप्तं ॥

So ends the chapter 10 of Balakanda in Ramayana composed by Sage Valmiki

|| om tat sat ||