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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.19.12
Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 19: Daśaratha’s resistance: The army offered in Rāma’s place. Daśaratha resists sending the young Rāma, offers himself and his army instead and renews his refusal on hearing of Rāvaṇa’s power
In the sequence: he asks who the enemies are, how strong they are, and who supports them
1.19.12
kiṃ vīryā rākṣasās te ca kasya putrāś ca ke ca te
kathaṃ pramāṇāḥ ke caitān rakṣanti munipuṃgava
What might have those rākṣasas, and whose sons are they, and who are they? Of what stature are they, and who protects them, O bull among sages?
Words: kiṃ — what; vīryā — of might (what valour); rākṣasās — the rākṣasas; te — those; ca — and; kasya — whose; putrāś — sons; ca — and; ke — who; ca — and; te — they; kathaṃ — of what kind, how; pramāṇāḥ — in stature, measure; ke — who; caitān — and them; rakṣanti — protect; munipuṃgava — O bull among sages
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.