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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.110.36

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 110: Anasūyā’s gifts and Sītā’s story. Sītā receives clothing, ornaments and unfading cosmetic, then recounts her earth-birth, the bow and marriage

In the sequence: when she reached marriageable age, Janaka worried about finding a suitable husband for a daughter with such an unusual origin → he decided to hold a contest

2.110.36

ayonijāṃ hi māṃ jñātvā nādhyagacchat sa cintayan
sadṛśaṃ cānurūpaṃ ca mahīpālaḥ patiṃ mama

For knowing me to be not born of a womb, that guardian of the earth, though he pondered, could not find for me a husband equal and suited to me.

Words: ayonijāṃ — not born of a womb; hi — for; māṃ — me; jñātvā — having known; nādhyagacchat — did not find; sa — he; cintayan — pondering; sadṛśaṃ — equal, matching; cānurūpaṃ — and suitable; ca — and; mahīpālaḥ — the guardian of the earth (king); patiṃ — husband; mama — for me

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.