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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.36.28

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 36: Story of Gaṅgā & Umā: Kārttikeya’s birth and six nurses. Gaṅgā releases Agni’s unbearable embryo onto the mountain, its radiance produces minerals and six Kṛttikās nurse the child who becomes the Devas’ commander

In the sequence: he becomes six-faced and drinks from the six Kṛttikās' breasts

1.36.28

prādurbhūtaṃ tataḥ kṣīraṃ kṛttikānām anuttamam
ṣaṇṇāṃ ṣaḍānano bhūtvā jagrāha stanajaṃ payaḥ

Then the surpassing milk of the Kṛttikās appeared; and becoming six-faced, he drank the milk flowing from the breasts of the six.

Words: prādurbhūtaṃ — appeared, manifested; tataḥ — then; kṣīraṃ — milk; kṛttikānām — of the Kṛttikās; anuttamam — surpassing, unsurpassed; ṣaṇṇāṃ — of the six; ṣaḍānano — six-faced; bhūtvā — having become; jagrāha — seized, took; stanajaṃ — breast-born, from the breast; payaḥ — milk

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.