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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.2.21

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

1.2.21

sa praviśyāśramapadaṃ śiṣyeṇa saha dharmavit
upaviṣṭaḥ kathāś cānyāś cakāra dhyānam āsthitaḥ

That knower of dharma, entering the hermitage with his disciple, sat down and, though engaged in other talk, remained absorbed in thought.

Words: sa — he; praviśyāśramapadaṃ — having entered the hermitage; śiṣyeṇa saha — together with his disciple; dharmavit — the knower of dharma; upaviṣṭaḥ — seated; kathāś cānyāś — and other talk; cakāra — made, carried on; dhyānam — meditation, thought; āsthitaḥ — abiding in, settled in

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.