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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.45.21

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 45: Story of Indra & Diti: Service, broken observance and division. Diti seeks a son to kill Indra, he serves her during her observance and exploits her sleeping posture to enter her body and divide the fetus into seven

In the sequence: with joined palms and thunderbolt still in hand, he explains that he acted during her lapse to divide the future slayer of Indra, and asks forgiveness.

1.45.21

prāñjalir vajrasahito ditiṃ śakro 'bhyabhāṣata
aśucir devi suptāsi pādayoḥ kṛtamūrdhajā

With palms joined, still holding the thunderbolt, Śakra spoke to Diti: ‘You slept impure, O lady, with your hair (turned) toward your feet;

Words: prāñjalir — with palms joined; vajrasahito — holding the thunderbolt; ditiṃ — to Diti; śakro — Śakra; 'bhyabhāṣata — spoke, said; aśucir — impure; devi — O lady, goddess; suptāsi — you slept; pādayoḥ — at your feet; kṛtamūrdhajā — with your hair (turned) toward

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.