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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.44.14

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 44: Story of Indra: Ocean churning and the struggle for nectar. The Devas and asuras churn the ocean for freedom from death, contend over its gifts and fight for the nectar, Indra’s side gains sovereignty

In the sequence: they decide to churn the ocean of milk for the elixir, using Mandara as the churning rod and Vāsuki as the rope

1.44.14

pūrvaṃ kṛtayuge rāma diteḥ putrā mahābalāḥ
aditeś ca mahābhāgā vīryavantaḥ sudhārmikāḥ

In olden times, in the Kṛta age, O Rāma, the sons of Diti were mighty, and (those) of Aditi illustrious, valorous, and most righteous.

Words: pūrvaṃ — formerly, of old; kṛtayuge — in the Kṛta age; rāma — O Rāma; diteḥ — of Diti; putrā — sons; mahābalāḥ — of great strength, mighty; aditeś ca — and of Aditi; mahābhāgā — illustrious, greatly fortunate; vīryavantaḥ — valorous, heroic; sudhārmikāḥ — most righteous

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.