← 1.66.10 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 66: Rāma breaks Śiva’s bow: Janaka confirms the marriage · 1.66.12 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.66.11

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 66: Rāma breaks Śiva’s bow: Janaka confirms the marriage. Rāma lifts, strings and breaks the bow, Janaka declares his marriage condition fulfilled and sends envoys to seek Daśaratha’s consent

In the sequence: Janaka repeats that Suras, asuras, rākṣasas, gandharvas, yakṣas, kiṃnaras and mahoragas could not draw it, much less ordinary men lift or string it

1.66.11

tad etad dhanuṣāṃ śreṣṭham ānītaṃ munipuṃgava
darśayaitan mahābhāga anayo rājaputrayoḥ

This best of bows has been brought, O bull among sages; show it, O illustrious one, to these two princes.”

Words: tad etad — this very; dhanuṣāṃ — of bows; śreṣṭham — the best; ānītaṃ — brought; munipuṃgava — O bull among sages; darśayaitan — show this; mahābhāga — O illustrious one; anayo — to these two; rājaputrayoḥ — the two princes

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.