← 1.30.11 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 30: Departure for Mithilā and the camp beside the Śoṇā · 1.30.13 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.30.12

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

1.30.12

tad dhi yajñaphalaṃ tena maithilenottamaṃ dhanuḥ
yācitaṃ naraśārdūla sunābhaṃ sarvadaivataiḥ

For that excellent, fair-naveled bow was, as the reward of a sacrifice, obtained by that Maithila upon request from all the gods, O tiger among men.

Words: tad — that; dhi — for, indeed; yajñaphalaṃ — the fruit of the sacrifice; tena — by that; maithilenottamaṃ — by the Maithila; excellent; dhanuḥ — bow; yācitaṃ — requested, begged for; naraśārdūla — O tiger among men; sunābhaṃ — fair-naveled; sarvadaivataiḥ — from all the gods

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.