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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.15.27

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 15: Daśaratha receives and divides the divine pāyasa. Viṣṇu chooses Daśaratha as his father, a being emerges from the fire with divine pāyasa and the King distributes it among his wives

In the sequence: he halves the remaining quarter, giving Kaikeyī one eighth (1/8) → after reflection, he gives the last eighth to Sumitrā, bringing her total to three eighths (1/4 + 1/8 = 3/8) → the three Queens receive their shares with joy and a sense of being honored.

1.15.27

anucintya sumitrāyai punar eva mahīpatiḥ
evaṃ tāsāṃ dadau rājā bhāryāṇāṃ pāyasaṃ pṛthak

having reflected, the lord of the earth gave once again to Sumitrā; thus the king gave the pāyasa to his wives, portion by portion.

Words: anucintya — having reflected, considered; sumitrāyai — to Sumitrā; punar — again; eva — indeed; mahīpatiḥ — the lord of the earth; evaṃ — thus; tāsāṃ — to those; dadau — gave; rājā — the king; bhāryāṇāṃ — of/to the wives; pāyasaṃ — the pāyasa; pṛthak — separately, each apart

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. 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.