← 1.65.26 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 65: Story of Sītā & Śiva’s bow: Birth, suitors and Janaka’s condition

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.65.27

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: he agrees to show the bow and promises Sītā to Rāma if he can string it.

1.65.27

yady asya dhanuṣo rāmaḥ kuryād āropaṇaṃ mune
sutām ayonijāṃ sītāṃ dadyāṃ dāśarather aham

If Rāma should accomplish the stringing of this bow, O sage, I will give my daughter Sītā, not womb-born, to the son of Daśaratha.”

Words: yady — if; asya dhanuṣo — of this bow; rāmaḥ — Rāma; kuryād — should make, accomplish; āropaṇaṃ — the stringing, bending on of the string; mune — O sage; sutām — daughter; ayonijāṃ — not womb-born; sītāṃ — Sītā; dadyāṃ — I would give; dāśarather — to the son of Daśaratha; 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.