Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Pūrva 4.23
॥
Devanāgarī
जगामागर्जदनुजो वालिनो वेगतो गृहात् । तदा वाली निर्जगाम तं वालिनमथाहवे
Transliteration (IAST)
jagāmāgarjadanujo vālino vegato gṛhāt | tadā vālī nirjagāma taṃ vālinamathāhave
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
जगाम अगर्जत् अनुजःjagāma agarjat anujaḥthe younger brother went and roared; the younger one appeared and bellowed
वालिनः वेगतः गृहात्vālinaḥ vegataḥ gṛhātswiftly, at Vālin's house; in haste, before Vālin's dwelling
तदा वाली निर्जगामtadā vālī nirjagāmathen Vālin came out; and Vālin issued forth
तम् वालिनम् अथ आहवेtam vālinam atha āhaveand him, Vālin, then in battle; and that Vālin in the fray
Translation
The younger brother came and roared at Vālin's house; then Vālin came out, and him, Vālin, in battle…
Version
c87705dc0ca1 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse leads to the most disputed place in the whole tradition: how Rāma slew Vālin.
Sugrīva challenges his brother with a roar at the gates. Vālin comes out. Then, as is known, Rāma shoots from behind a tree.
The book does not describe this detail — it nowhere retells the Rāmāyaṇa for the tale's own sake. But neither does it avoid Vālin's name, spoken here twice.
The sense the whole book gives this deserves recalling. The second verse of the first Upaniṣad said that the perishing perish “from their own exaltation”; the seventeenth verse of this Upaniṣad said that Rāvaṇa bore Sītā away “for his own cessation”. Vālin took from his brother both wife and kingdom — and came out to fight sure that he was invulnerable.
The tradition has always pointed also to what the story tells further: Vālin, dying, does not curse Rāma but acknowledges Him. Death received from Him proves, for the receiver, not an end.
Of this speaks the word nivṛtti, set by the book beside Rāvaṇa.