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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.36.3

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: While Śiva is away at his penance with Umā, the Suras, needing a war commander, approach Brahmā

1.36.3

yo naḥ senāpatir deva datto bhagavatā purā
sa tapaḥ param āsthāya tapyate sma sahomayā

“O god, the commander who was formerly given to us by your holiness — he, having undertaken supreme austerity, is practising penance together with Umā.

Words: yo — who; naḥ — to us, our; senāpatir — commander; deva — O god; datto — given; bhagavatā — by the venerable one; purā — formerly; sa — he; tapaḥ — austerity; param — supreme; āsthāya — having undertaken, resorted to; tapyate sma — is practising penance; sahomayā — together with Umā

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.