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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.65.17

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 65: Story of Sītā & Śiva’s bow: Birth, suitors and Janaka’s condition. Janaka recounts Sītā’s birth, Śiva’s bow and the suitors’ failure, offering her hand to Rāma if he can string it

In the sequence: when Kings sought her, he maintained that condition and brought out the bow to test them → none could even lift it, and he rejected their claims

1.65.17

teṣāṃ varayatāṃ kanyāṃ sarveṣāṃ pṛthivīkṣitām
vīryaśulketi bhagavan na dadāmi sutām aham

To all those rulers of the earth wooing the maiden, O venerable one, I did not give my daughter, (declaring) that valor is her bride-price.

Words: teṣāṃ — those; varayatāṃ — wooing; kanyāṃ — the maiden; sarveṣāṃ — all; pṛthivīkṣitām — of the rulers of the earth; vīryaśulketi — 'valor as bride-price'; bhagavan — O venerable one; na dadāmi — I do not give; sutām — the daughter; aham — I

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.