King Janak to the strangers cried:

“This gem of bows, O Bráhman Sage,

Our race has prized from age to age,

Too strong for those who yet have reigned,

Though great in might each nerve they strained.

Titan and fiend its strength defies,

God, spirit, minstrel of the skies.

And bard above and snake below

Are baffled by this glorious bow.

Then how may human prowess hope