← 1.65.18 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 65: Story of Sītā & Śiva’s bow: Birth, suitors and Janaka’s condition · 1.65.20 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.65.19

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

1.65.19

teṣāṃ jijñāsamānānāṃ vīryaṃ dhanur upāhṛtam
na śekur grahaṇe tasya dhanuṣas tolane 'pi vā

As they sought to test their strength, the bow was brought forth; but they could not even lift that bow, let alone handle it.

Words: teṣāṃ — of them; jijñāsamānānāṃ — as they sought to test, know; vīryaṃ — strength; dhanur — the bow; upāhṛtam — was brought forth; na śekur — they were not able; grahaṇe — in grasping, handling; tasya — that; dhanuṣas — bow; tolane — in lifting, raising; 'pi vā — or even

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.