← 1.37.10 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 37: Story of Sagara: One heir and sixty thousand sons · 1.37.12 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.37.11
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
1.37.11
tayos tad vacanaṃ śrutvā bhṛguḥ parama dhārmikaḥ
uvāca paramāṃ vāṇīṃ svacchando 'tra vidhīyatām
Hearing that speech of theirs, the supremely righteous Bhṛgu spoke this excellent word: “Let your own free choice be exercised in this matter.
Words: tayos — of the two of them; tad — that; vacanaṃ — speech; śrutvā — having heard; bhṛguḥ — Bhṛgu; parama — supremely; dhārmikaḥ — righteous; uvāca — spoke; paramāṃ — excellent, supreme; vāṇīṃ — word, speech; svacchando — (your) own free will; 'tra — here, in this; vidhīyatām — let it be arranged, exercised
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.