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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.31.16
Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 31: Story of Kuśanābha: Vāyu disfigures the hundred daughters. Vāyu proposes marriage, the sisters insist on their father’s consent and Vāyu enters their limbs and leaves them hunchbacked
In the sequence: they acknowledge his power but reject his approach → they say they could curse him but will preserve their austerity, and insist that he respect their father → they say they await a svayaṃvara and will accept the husband their father gives them
1.31.16
antaś carasi bhūtānāṃ sarveṣāṃ tvaṃ surottama
prabhāvajñāś ca te sarvāḥ kim asmān avamanyase
“You move within all beings, O best of gods; and we all know your power. Why do you slight us?
Words: antaś — within; carasi — you move, range; bhūtānāṃ — of beings; sarveṣāṃ — of all; tvaṃ — you; surottama — O best of gods; prabhāvajñāś — knowing (your) power; ca — and; te — your; sarvāḥ — all (we); kim — why; asmān — us; avamanyase — you slight, despise
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.