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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.37.10

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 37: Story of Sagara: One heir and sixty thousand sons. Sagara’s wives choose one dynastic heir or sixty thousand sons, the many grow in ghee-filled pots while Asamañja is banished for killing children

In the sequence: when the Queens ask which will receive which, he leaves the choice to them → Keśinī chooses the dynastic heir, while Sumati, Garuḍa's sister, chooses the sixty thousand

1.37.10

ekaḥ kasyāḥ suto brahman kā bahūñ janayiṣyati
śrotum icchāvahe brahman satyam astu vacas tava

“Whose shall be the one son, O brahmin, and which of us will bear the many? We two wish to hear, O brahmin; may your word come true.”

Words: ekaḥ — the one; kasyāḥ — whose (fem.); suto — son; brahman — O brahmin; kā — which (fem.); bahūñ — the many; janayiṣyati — will bear; śrotum — to hear; icchāvahe — we two wish; brahman — O brahmin; satyam — true; astu — let it be; vacas — word; tava — your

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.