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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.2.20

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: Vālmīki bathes and returns to the hermitage, still pondering, while Bharadvāja follows with the filled water pot

1.2.20

bharadvājas tataḥ śiṣyo vinītaḥ śrutavān guroḥ
kalaśaṃ pūrṇam ādāya pṛṣṭhato 'nujagāma ha

Then Bharadvāja, his disciple, humble and learned, taking up the full water-pot, followed his teacher behind him.

Words: bharadvājas — Bharadvāja; tataḥ — then; śiṣyo — the disciple; vinītaḥ — humble, well-trained; śrutavān — learned, versed in sacred lore; guroḥ — of the teacher; kalaśaṃ — the water-pot; pūrṇam — full; ādāya — having taken up; pṛṣṭhato — behind; 'nujagāma — followed; 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.