घर्मे पञ्चतपा भूत्वा वर्षास्वाकाशसंश्रय:। शिशिरे सलिलस्थायी रात्र्यहानि तपोधन:||1.63.24||
Meaning
Viswamitra whose wealth was his penance carried on his rigid austerities for a thousand years amidst five fires, in summer, under the open sky in monsoon, and immersed in water night and day in winter.
Word-by-word (pada-artha)
| Word | Devanagari | Meaning | Grammatical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| gharme pañca-tapā bhūtvā | घर्मे पञ्च-तपा भूत्वा | in summer, having become one of the five fires | Locative / Nominative / Gerund |
| varṣāsu ākāśa-saṃśrayaḥ | वर्षासु आकाश-संश्रयः | in the rains resorting to the open sky | Locative plural / Nominative |
| śiśire salila-sthāyī | शिशिरे सलिल-स्थायी | in winter standing in water | Locative / Nominative |
| rātri-ahāni tapo-dhanaḥ | रात्रि-अहानि तपो-धनः | day and night, he of ascetic wealth | Accusative plural / Nominative |
Scholar commentary
valmikiramayan.net Prose Commentary
Desiraju Hanumanta Rao's prose rendering with embedded explanatory notes
The source explains the Five-Fire ascesis technically: the 'five fires' are the four cardinal-direction fires plus the scorching sun overhead as the fifth, and an ascetic who stands amid these becomes, in effect, an ascetic-fire himself. It also flags a manuscript variant: the first word of the verse's first foot, dharme, appears as gharme in some manuscripts.
1 of 16 traditions have commentary on this shloka. Traditions without a verse-specific commentary here are omitted rather than filled in.
Reference: 1.63.24 · Bāla Kāṇḍa