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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.110.38

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: in this account, Varuṇa had given Janaka a mighty bow and two inexhaustible quivers at a sacrifice → Janaka set the lifting and stringing of the bow as the condition for marrying her → the assembled Kings could not lift it and withdrew

2.110.38

mahāyajñe tadā tasya varuṇena mahātmanā
dattaṃ dhanurvaraṃ prītyā tūṇī cākṣayya sāyakau

At a great sacrifice long ago, the exalted Varuṇa had given him, out of affection, an excellent bow and two quivers with inexhaustible arrows.

Words: mahāyajñe — at a great sacrifice; tadā — then, long ago; tasya — to him; varuṇena — by Varuṇa; mahātmanā — the great-souled; dattaṃ — was given; dhanurvaraṃ — an excellent bow; prītyā — out of affection; tūṇī — two quivers; cākṣayya — and inexhaustible; sāyakau — (with) two sets of arrows

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.