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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.31.19

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

1.31.19

pitā hi prabhur asmākaṃ daivataṃ paramaṃ hi saḥ
yasya no dāsyati pitā sa no bhartā bhaviṣyati

For our father is our lord, and he is our highest deity; to whomever our father gives us, he shall become our husband.”

Words: pitā — father; hi — for, indeed; prabhur — lord, master; asmākaṃ — our; daivataṃ — deity, divinity; paramaṃ — highest, supreme; hi — indeed; saḥ — he; yasya — to whom; no — us; dāsyati — will give; pitā — father; sa — he; no — our; bhartā — husband, supporter; bhaviṣyati — will become

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.