← 1.30.10 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 30: Departure for Mithilā and the camp beside the Śoṇā · 1.30.12 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.30.11

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 30: Departure for Mithilā and the camp beside the Śoṇā. The ṛṣis invite the princes to Janaka’s sacrifice and the bow no suitor has strung, a camp beside the Śoṇā prompts the region’s history

In the sequence: they explain that neither Devas, gandharvas, asuras and rākṣasas nor the Kings who tested it could string it → the maharṣis say Janaka obtained it from the Devas as a sacrificial reward

1.30.11

tad dhanur naraśārdūla maithilasya mahātmanaḥ
tatra drakṣyasi kākutstha yajñaṃ cādbhutadarśanam

That bow of the great-souled Maithila (Janaka), O tiger among men, you shall see there, O Kākutstha, and the sacrifice, a marvel to behold.

Words: tad — that; dhanur — bow; naraśārdūla — O tiger among men; maithilasya — of the Maithila; mahātmanaḥ — the great-souled; tatra — there; drakṣyasi — you shall see; kākutstha — O Kākutstha; yajñaṃ — the sacrifice; cādbhutadarśanam — and a marvel to behold

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.