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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.13.25

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 13: Aśvamedha yajña: The horse’s return and completion of the rites. The returning horse is sacrificed with prescribed posts, a Garuḍa-shaped altar and continual hospitality, Daśaratha rewards the priests and requests the rite for sons

In the sequence: the priests assign the sacrificial creatures to their respective devatās, including birds, serpents, aquatic creatures, and the horse → three hundred animals are bound to the posts along with Daśaratha's excellent horse. Kausalyā circles the horse and cuts it with three knives, with great joy

1.13.25

ṛtvigbhiḥ sarvam evaitan niyuktaṃ śāstratas tadā
paśūnāṃ triśataṃ tatra yūpeṣu niyataṃ tadā
aśvaratnottamaṃ tasya rājño daśarathasya ha

All this was then assigned by the officiating priests according to scripture; three hundred animals were then bound there to the posts, along with the excellent jewel of a horse of that king Daśaratha.

Words: ṛtvigbhiḥ — by the officiating priests; sarvam — all; evaitan — this very; niyuktaṃ — assigned; śāstratas — according to scripture; tadā — then; paśūnāṃ — of animals; triśataṃ — three hundred; tatra — there; yūpeṣu — to the sacrificial posts; niyataṃ — bound, fastened; tadā — then; aśvaratnottamaṃ — the excellent jewel of a horse; tasya — of that; rājño — king; daśarathasya — Daśaratha; ha — indeed

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.