स च ज्येष्ठो नरश्रेष्ठ सगरस्यात्मसम्भव:। बालान् गृहीत्वा तु जले सरय्वा रघुनन्दन।।1.38.20।। प्रक्षिप्य प्रहसन्नित्यं मज्जतस्तान् समीक्ष्य वै।
Meaning
Best of men, delight of Raghu, that eldest son of Sagara used to seize children and cast them into the waters of the Sarayu, laughing as he watched them drown.
Word-by-word (pada-artha)
| Word | Devanagari | Meaning | Grammatical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| saḥ ca jyeṣṭhaḥ nara-śreṣṭha | सः च ज्येष्ठः नर-श्रेष्ठ | and that eldest one, O best of men | Nominative / Vocative |
| sagarasya ātma-sambhavaḥ | सगरस्य आत्म-सम्भवः | born of Sagara's own [body] | Genitive / Nominative |
| bālān gṛhītvā tu jale | बालान् गृहीत्वा तु जले | having seized children, into the water | Accusative / Gerund / Locative |
| sarayvā raghu-nandana | सरय्वा रघु-नन्दन | of the Sarayu, O delight of the Raghus | Genitive / Vocative |
| prakṣipya prahasan nityam | प्रक्षिप्य प्रहसन् नित्यम् | having thrown, laughing always | Gerund / Nominative participle |
| majjataḥ tān samīkṣya vai | मज्जतः तान् समीक्ष्य वै | observing them sinking indeed | Accusative participle / Gerund |
Scholar commentary
valmikiramayan.net Prose Commentary
Desiraju Hanumanta Rao's prose rendering with embedded explanatory notes
The source notes that Asamanja, seizing children and casting them into the Sarayu's waters to watch them drown, appears to be an early instance in the epic tradition of this kind of sadistic figure -- comparable to Kamsa in the later Bhagavata tradition.
1 of 16 traditions have commentary on this shloka. Traditions without a verse-specific commentary here are omitted rather than filled in.
Reference: 1.38.20 · Bāla Kāṇḍa