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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.65.8

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: Janaka explains its history: Rudra raised it during the destruction of Dakṣa's sacrifice, threatening the Suras for withholding his share → when they appeased him, he gave it to them → it was later entrusted to Janaka's ancestor Devarāta, sixth from Nimi. Janaka recounts finding Sītā while ploughing a field

1.65.8

devarāta iti khyāto nimeḥ ṣaṣṭho mahīpatiḥ
nyāso 'yaṃ tasya bhagavan haste datto mahātmanā

There was a king renowned as Devarāta, the sixth from Nimi; into his hand, venerable one, this (bow) was given as a trust by the great one (Śiva).

Words: devarāta — Devarāta; iti khyāto — so renowned; nimeḥ — from Nimi; ṣaṣṭho — the sixth; mahīpatiḥ — king; nyāso — a trust, deposit; 'yaṃ — this; tasya — into his; bhagavan — O venerable one; haste — hand; datto — given; mahātmanā — by the great one

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.