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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.40.10

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 40: Story of Sagara: Aṃśumat retrieves the horse. Aṃśumat recovers the horse and finds his uncles’ ashes, Garuḍa says only Gaṅgā can redeem them, Sagara completes the sacrifice but cannot bring her down

In the sequence: Aṃśumat follows the excavated passage → he respectfully questions the elephants of the quarters, who encourage him and predict success

1.40.10

tasya tad vacanaṃ śrutvā sarvān eva diśāgajān
yathākramaṃ yathānyāyaṃ praṣṭuṃ samupacakrame

Hearing that speech of his, he set about questioning all the quarter-elephants, in due order and proper manner.

Words: tasya — his; tad — that; vacanaṃ — speech; śrutvā — having heard; sarvān — all; eva — indeed; diśāgajān — the quarter-elephants; yathākramaṃ — in due order; yathānyāyaṃ — in proper manner; praṣṭuṃ — to question, ask; samupacakrame — set about, began

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.