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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.72.17
Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 72: Vivāha: Taking hands and circling the fire. The four princes take their brides’ hands under Vasiṣṭha’s direction, circle the fire and depart together for the guest quarters as puṣpavṛṣṭi falls, divya-dundubhis sound, apsarases dance and gandharvas sing
In the sequence: Janaka asks whose permission they are waiting for: they should have no hesitation in their own house, for this Kingdom is as their own → his daughters, their kautuka wedding preliminaries fully completed, stand at the altar (vedī), radiant like flames, and he himself is ready there, awaiting them → he urges the King to proceed without delay → Daśaratha brings his sons and the ṛṣis inside. Janaka presents Sītā to Rāma as his partner in dharma and asks him to take her hand
1.72.17
abravīj janako rājā kausalyānandavardhanam
iyaṃ sītā mama sutā sahadharmacarī tava
pratīccha caināṃ bhadraṃ te pāṇiṃ gṛhṇīṣva pāṇinā
King Janaka spoke to (Rāma) the augmenter of Kausalyā's joy: “This is Sītā, my daughter, to be your partner in dharma; accept her — blessings on you — take her hand with your hand.”
Words: abravīj — spoke; janako — Janaka; rājā — king; kausalyānandavardhanam — the augmenter of Kausalyā's joy (Rāma); iyaṃ — this; sītā — Sītā; mama — my; sutā — daughter; sahadharmacarī — partner in dharma; tava — your; pratīccha — accept, receive; caināṃ — and her; bhadraṃ te — blessings on you; pāṇiṃ — the hand; gṛhṇīṣva — take, grasp; pāṇinā — with (your) hand
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.