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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.71.5
Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 71: Vivāha: Four matches, śrāddha and godāna. Two additional matches unite all four brothers with brides, Janaka affirms shared ownership and the munis’ authority, Daśaratha performs śrāddha and godāna
In the sequence: he proposes that Kuśadhvaja's two daughters marry Bharata and Śatrughna, binding the families still more closely
1.71.5
bhrātā yavīyān dharmajña eṣa rājā kuśadhvajaḥ
asya dharmātmano rājan rūpeṇāpratimaṃ bhuvi
sutā dvayaṃ naraśreṣṭha patnyarthaṃ varayāmahe
Your younger brother, this King Kuśadhvaja, knower of dharma — of this righteous one, O king, we ask, O best of men, for the two daughters, unmatched in beauty on earth, to be wives (for our princes).
Words: bhrātā — brother; yavīyān — younger; dharmajña — knower of dharma; eṣa — this; rājā — king; kuśadhvajaḥ — Kuśadhvaja; asya — of this; dharmātmano — of the righteous-souled; rājan — O king; rūpeṇāpratimaṃ — unmatched in beauty; bhuvi — on earth; sutā — daughters; dvayaṃ — pair, two; naraśreṣṭha — O best of men; patnyarthaṃ — for the purpose of wives; varayāmahe — we ask for, choose
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.