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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.14.13

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 14: Putrakāmeṣṭi and Viṣṇu’s promised human birth. Ṛṣyaśṛṅga begins the putrīyā iṣṭi, the Devas ask Viṣṇu to take human birth because Rāvaṇa’s protection excludes humans

In the sequence: Brahmā recalls that Rāvaṇa asked protection from gandharvas, yakṣas, Devas, dānavas, and rākṣasas, but omitted humans out of contempt → a human can therefore kill him, and the assembly rejoices

1.14.13

tena gandharvayakṣāṇāṃ devadānavarakṣasām
avadhyo 'smīti vāg uktā tathety uktaṃ ca tan mayā

By him the words were spoken: ‘I am unslayable by gandharvas and yakṣas, by gods, dānavas, and rākṣasas’; and ‘So be it’ was said by me to that.

Words: tena — by him; gandharvayakṣāṇāṃ — of gandharvas and yakṣas; devadānavarakṣasām — of gods, dānavas, and rākṣasas; avadhyo — unslayable; 'smīti — ‘I am’; vāg — the word, speech; uktā — was spoken; tathety — ‘so be it’; uktaṃ — was said; ca — and; tan — that; mayā — by me

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.