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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.44.16

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

1.44.16

teṣāṃ cintayatāṃ rāma buddhir āsīd vipaścitām
kṣīrodamathanaṃ kṛtvā rasaṃ prāpsyāma tatra vai

As those wise ones pondered, O Rāma, this thought arose: 'Having churned the ocean of milk, we shall obtain from it the elixir.'

Words: teṣāṃ — of those; cintayatāṃ — pondering, reflecting; rāma — O Rāma; buddhir — thought; āsīd — arose, there was; vipaścitām — of the wise ones; kṣīrodamathanaṃ — the churning of the ocean of milk; kṛtvā — having done, performed; rasaṃ — the elixir, essence; prāpsyāma — we shall obtain; tatra — there, from it; vai — indeed

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.