Explore "The Ramayan" by Valmiki on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Then with his heart consumed with woe, Still brooding on his overthrow By the great saint he had defied, At every breath the monarch sighed. Forth from his home his queen he led, And to a land far southward fled. There, fruit and roots his only food, He practised penance, sense-subdued, And in that solitary spot Four virtuous sons the king begot: Havishyand, from the offering named, And Madhushyand, for sweetness famed, Maharath, chariot-borne in fight, And Dridhanetra strong of sight.
A thousand years had passed away, When Brahma, Sire whom all obey, Addressed in pleasant words like these Him rich in long austerities: "Thou by the penance, Kusik's son, A place 'mid royal saints hast won. Pleased with thy constant penance, we This lofty rank assign to thee."