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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.2.14
Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 2: Grief becomes the first śloka. A bird’s death moves Vālmīki to utter the first śloka, Brahmā asks him to compose Rāma’s life in that form
In the sequence: moved by compassion and anger at the cruelty, Vālmīki declares that the hunter will find no lasting rest for killing one of the loving pair. Vālmīki wonders at the words that have burst from his grief
1.2.14
mā niṣāda pratiṣṭhāṃ tvam agamaḥ śāśvatīṃ samāḥ
yat krauñcamithunād ekam avadhīḥ kāmamohitam
“Niṣāda, may you never find rest through the endless years — because you slew one of a pair of krauñcas, blinded by lust.”
Words: mā — do not / never; niṣāda — O Niṣāda; pratiṣṭhāṃ — rest, standing, resting-place; tvam — you; agamaḥ — may (you) attain; śāśvatīḥ — everlasting, endless; samāḥ — years; yat — because, in that; krauñcamithunād — from the pair of krauñcas; ekam — one; avadhīḥ — you slew; kāmamohitam — bewildered by desire/mating
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.