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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.70.17

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 70: Vivāha: The Videha lineage and the wedding date. Janaka recounts the Videha lineage and Kuśadhvaja’s accession, offers Sītā & Ūrmilā and appoints the wedding day and preparatory rites

In the sequence: later Sudhanvan of Sāṃkāśyā besieged Mithilā and demanded both Śiva's bow and Sītā → Janaka refused, fought and killed him, and installed Kuśadhvaja in Sāṃkāśyā

1.70.17

sa ca me preṣayām āsa śaivaṃ dhanur anuttamam
sītā kanyā ca padmākṣī mahyaṃ vai dīyatām iti

And he sent word to me: “Let Śiva's peerless bow and the lotus-eyed maiden Sītā be given to me.”

Words: sa — he; ca — and; me — to me; preṣayām āsa — sent (word); śaivaṃ — Śiva's, belonging to Śiva; dhanur — bow; anuttamam — peerless, unsurpassed; sītā — Sītā; kanyā — maiden; ca — and; padmākṣī — the lotus-eyed; mahyaṃ — to me; vai — indeed; dīyatām — let (them) be given; iti — thus (he said)

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.