01The king who became a brahmarshi
He was born King Kaushika, son of Gadhi of the Kushika line. Beaten by Vasishtha’s tapas over the cow Shabala, he gave up his kingdom and began austerities that ran for thousands of years. Bala Kanda tells them in order: he raised King Trishanku bodily toward heaven and built him a heaven of his own in the southern sky; he saved the boy Shunahshepa from the sacrificial post; he lost ten years to the apsara Menaka and turned Rambha to stone for a thousand. At last Brahma called him brahmarshi, and Vasishtha himself greeted him by that name.
The third mandala of the Rigveda is his, and he is the rishi of the Gayatri mantra.
02Waking Rama at dawn
He came to Ayodhya asking for Rama to guard his yajna from Maricha and Subahu. On the bank of the Sarayu he taught the boys the mantras Bala and Atibala, which keep away hunger, thirst and fatigue. The next morning he woke Rama with the line that opens the Venkatesha Suprabhatam sung at Tirumala before dawn every day: Kausalya’s blessed son, Rama, the eastern twilight has begun. On the way he had Rama kill the yakshi Tataka, gave him the divine astras, and brought him to Siddhashrama, where Vishnu had once done tapas as Vamana.
03Kathas on the road to Mithila
After the yajna was guarded and Subahu killed, Vishvamitra walked the brothers north toward Janaka’s yajna, and Bala Kanda becomes a book of kathas told on the road. At each river and ruined ashrama he told them what had happened there: the descent of the Ganga through Bhagiratha’s tapas, the birth of Kartikeya, the churning of the ocean, Diti’s grief. At Gautama’s empty ashrama he brought Rama to Ahalya. In Mithila he asked Janaka to show the boys the bow. When the four weddings were done he took leave and went away to the northern mountains, and Valmiki does not bring him back.
Famous verses
कौसल्या सुप्रजा राम पूर्वा सन्ध्या प्रवर्तते। उत्तिष्ठ नरशार्दूल कर्तव्यं दैवमाह्निकम्॥
Rama, blessed son of Kausalya, the eastern twilight is beginning. Rise, tiger among men; the daily rites to the devas must be done.Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda 23.2