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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.38.16

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 38: Story of Sagara: The stolen horse and the earth’s excavation. Indra steals the sacrificial horse, Sagara sends his sixty thousand sons to dig for it and the devastation drives the earth’s inhabitants to Brahmā

In the sequence: Sagara orders his sixty thousand sons to search the entire earth, each covering a yojana-wide tract and digging until the horse and thief are found → he remains consecrated at the sacrifice with Aṃśumat and the priests

1.38.16

dīkṣitaḥ pautrasahitaḥ sopādhyāyagaṇo hy aham
iha sthāsyāmi bhadraṃ vo yāvat turagadarśanam

Consecrated for the rite, together with my grandson and the company of teachers, I shall remain here — blessings on you — until the horse is found.”

Words: dīkṣitaḥ — consecrated (for the sacrifice); pautrasahitaḥ — together with (my) grandson; sopādhyāyagaṇo — with the company of teachers; hy — indeed; aham — I; iha — here; sthāsyāmi — I shall stay; bhadraṃ — welfare, blessing; vo — to you (pl.); yāvat — until; turagadarśanam — the sighting of the horse

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.