← 1.44.20 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 44: Story of Indra: Ocean churning and the struggle for nectar · 1.44.22 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.44.21

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: Vāruṇī, Varuṇa's daughter, arises seeking acceptance → Diti's sons reject her and Aditi's accept her, a distinction connected here with the names Asura and Sura and with surā, liquor

1.44.21

varuṇasya tataḥ kanyā vāruṇī raghunandana
utpapāta mahābhāgā mārgamāṇā parigraham

Then Vāruṇī, the illustrious daughter of Varuṇa, O delight of the Raghus, arose, seeking someone to accept her.

Words: varuṇasya — of Varuṇa; tataḥ — then; kanyā — daughter, maiden; vāruṇī — Vāruṇī (also: spirituous liquor); raghunandana — O delight of the Raghus; utpapāta — sprang up, arose; mahābhāgā — illustrious, greatly blessed; mārgamāṇā — seeking, searching for; parigraham — one to accept (her), a taker

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.