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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.40.8

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

1.40.8

sa taṃ pradakṣiṇaṃ kṛtvā pṛṣṭvā caiva nirāmayam
pitḥn sa paripapraccha vājihartāram eva ca

Circumambulating him and asking after his well-being, he questioned him about his forefathers and about the stealer of the horse.

Words: sa — he; taṃ — him; pradakṣiṇaṃ — circumambulation; kṛtvā — having made; pṛṣṭvā — having asked; caiva — and also; nirāmayam — (after his) well-being; pitḥn — the forefathers; sa — he; paripapraccha — questioned, inquired; vājihartāram — the horse-stealer; eva — indeed; ca — and

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.