← 1.69.31 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 69: Vivāha: Kuśadhvaja’s arrival and the Ikṣvāku lineage

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.69.32

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 69: Vivāha: Kuśadhvaja’s arrival and the Ikṣvāku lineage. Kuśadhvaja joins the assembly, Vasiṣṭha recounts the Ikṣvāku lineage and asks for Janaka’s two daughters for Rāma & Lakṣmaṇa

In the sequence: Vasiṣṭha describes their royal ancestry as pure from its beginnings, righteous, heroic, and truthful → he asks for Janaka’s two daughters for Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, saying the daughters and princes are fitting equals.

1.69.32

rāmalakṣmaṇayor arthe tvatsute varaye nṛpa
sadṛśābhyāṃ naraśreṣṭha sadṛśe dātum arhasi

For the sake of Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa I ask for your two daughters, O king; O best of men, you ought to give the two (girls), their equals, to the two (princes) who are worthy of them.

Words: rāmalakṣmaṇayor — of Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa; arthe — for the sake; tvatsute — your two daughters; varaye — I ask for, choose; nṛpa — O king; sadṛśābhyāṃ — for the two matching (princes); naraśreṣṭha — O best of men; sadṛśe — the two matching (daughters); dātum — to give; arhasi — you ought

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.