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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.65.18

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

1.65.18

tataḥ sarve nṛpatayaḥ sametya munipuṃgava
mithilām abhyupāgamya vīryaṃ jijñāsavas tadā

Then all the kings, gathering together, O bull among sages, came to Mithilā, wishing then to test their strength.

Words: tataḥ — then; sarve — all; nṛpatayaḥ — the kings; sametya — having gathered; munipuṃgava — O bull among sages; mithilām — to Mithilā; abhyupāgamya — having come to; vīryaṃ — strength, valor; jijñāsavas — wishing to test, know; tadā — then

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.