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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.38.17

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: the sons begin breaking open the earth with their arms, spears, and ploughs

1.38.17

ity uktvā hṛṣṭamanaso rājaputrā mahābalāḥ
jagmur mahītalaṃ rāma pitur vacanayantritāḥ

Having spoken thus, the mighty princes, joyful of heart and bound by their father's word, set out over the surface of the earth, O Rāma.

Words: ity — thus; uktvā — having spoken; hṛṣṭamanaso — joyful of heart; rājaputrā — the princes; mahābalāḥ — mighty; jagmur — went; mahītalaṃ — the surface of the earth; rāma — O Rāma; pitur — of the father; vacanayantritāḥ — bound by (his) word/command

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.