Canto 1 - Boyhood
Bāla-kāṇḍa
Chapter 15: The Demigods Appeal to the Lord for Protection
Text 1.15.20-21

राज्ञो दशरथस्य त्वमयोध्याधिपतेर्विभोः।
धर्मज्ञस्य वदान्यस्य महर्षिसमतेजसः॥

तस्य भार्यासु तिसृषु ह्रीश्रीकीर्त्युपमासु च।
विष्णो पुत्रत्वमागच्छ कृत्वात्मानं चतुर्विधम्॥

rājño daśarathasya tvam ayodhyādhipater vibhoḥ
dharma-jñasya
vadānyasya maha-rṣi-sama-tejasaḥ

tasya bhāryāsu tisṛṣu hrī-śrī-kīrty-upamāsu ca
viṣṇo
putratvam āgaccha kṛtvātmānaṁ caturvidham

rājñaḥ = of king; daśarathasya = Daśaratha’s; tvam = Your Lordship; ayodhyā-adhipateḥ = King Daśaratha is sovereign of Ayodhyā; vibhoḥ = the mighty; dharmajñasya = a knower of Vedic dharma; vadānyasya = magnanimous and; mahā-rṣi-sama-tejasaḥ = equal in prowess to a Maharṣi; tasya = the; bhāryāsu = wives; tisṛṣu = three; hrī-śrī-kīrti-upamāsu ca = who are comparable to Hrī, Śrī and Kīrti; viṣṇo = O Lord Viṣṇu; putratvam āgaccha = and become the sons of; kṛtvā = may make; atmānam = Yourself; caturvidham = into four.

O Lord Viṣṇu, may Your Lordship make Yourself into four and become the sons of King Daśaratha’s three wives who are comparable to Hrī, Śrī and Kīrti. King Daśaratha is the mighty sovereign of Ayodhyā, a knower of Vedic dharma, magnanimous and equal in prowess to a Maharṣi.

These verses detail what the demigods were praying for. King Daśaratha has been described here in four adjectives to point out that he was fit to become the father of the Lord. The demigods pointed out to him by hand. Hrī, Śrī and Kīrti are daughters of Dakṣa. The demigods wanted the Lord to destroy Rāvaṇa, Indrajit, Lavaṇa and the evil gandharvas.1

1 We learn from the Uttara-kāṇḍa or Canto 7 that these evil gandharvas were the sons of Śailūṣa.