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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.44.23

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

1.44.23

asurās tena daiteyāḥ surās tenāditeḥ sutāḥ
hṛṣṭāḥ pramuditāś cāsan vāruṇī grahaṇāt surāḥ

By reason of that the sons of Diti became Asuras and the sons of Aditi Suras; and the Suras were glad and delighted at accepting Vāruṇī (the liquor surā).

Words: asurās — Asuras; tena — by that, for that reason; daiteyāḥ — the Daiteyas (sons of Diti); surās — Suras (gods); tenāditeḥ — by that, of Aditi; sutāḥ — the sons; hṛṣṭāḥ — glad, thrilled; pramuditāś cāsan — and were delighted; vāruṇī — Vāruṇī (the liquor surā); grahaṇāt — from the acceptance, taking; surāḥ — the Suras (gods)

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.