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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.65.4

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: Viśvāmitra requests the bow

1.65.4

evam uktaḥ sa dharmātmā janakena mahātmanā
pratyuvāca munir vīraṃ vākyaṃ vākyaviśāradaḥ

Thus addressed by the great-souled Janaka, that righteous sage, skilled in speech, replied to the hero:

Words: evam uktaḥ — thus addressed; sa — he; dharmātmā — the righteous one; janakena — by Janaka; mahātmanā — the great-souled; pratyuvāca — replied; munir — the sage; vīraṃ — to the hero; vākyaṃ — word; vākyaviśāradaḥ — skilled in speech

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.