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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.38.18

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

1.38.18

yojanāyām avistāram ekaiko dharaṇītalam
bibhiduḥ puruṣavyāghra vajrasparśasamair bhujaiḥ

Each one, O tiger among men, broke up the surface of the earth, a yojana in length and breadth, with arms whose touch was like the thunderbolt's.

Words: yojanāyām — a yojana in length; avistāram — and in breadth; ekaiko — each one; dharaṇītalam — the surface of the earth; bibhiduḥ — broke up, split open; puruṣavyāghra — O tiger among men; vajrasparśasamair — whose touch equalled the thunderbolt; bhujaiḥ — with (their) arms

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.