← 1.70.1 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 70: Vivāha: The Videha lineage and the wedding date · 1.70.3 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.70.2

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: Janaka says that the bride's family must likewise declare its ancestry

1.70.2

pradāne hi muniśreṣṭha kulaṃ niravaśeṣataḥ
vaktavyaṃ kulajātena tan nibodha mahāmune

For in giving (a daughter), O best of sages, one born of a family must declare his lineage in full; learn it, great sage.

Words: pradāne — in the giving (of a bride); hi — for, indeed; muniśreṣṭha — O best of sages; kulaṃ — lineage; niravaśeṣataḥ — in full, without remainder; vaktavyaṃ — must be declared; kulajātena — by one born of a (noble) family; tan — that; nibodha — learn, understand; mahāmune — O great sage

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.