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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.65.20

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

1.65.20

teṣāṃ vīryavatāṃ vīryam alpaṃ jñātvā mahāmune
pratyākhyātā nṛpatayas tan nibodha tapodhana

Knowing the strength of those strong ones to be slight, O great sage, I rejected the kings. Understand that, O treasury of austerity.

Words: teṣāṃ — of those; vīryavatāṃ — strong ones; vīryam — strength; alpaṃ — slight, little; jñātvā — having known; mahāmune — O great sage; pratyākhyātā — (were) rejected; nṛpatayas — the kings; tan — that; nibodha — understand, learn; tapodhana — O treasury of austerity

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.