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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.2.26

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: still absorbed in the birds' suffering, he repeats the verse. Brahmā confirms that it is a śloka and says that speech arose through his will

1.2.26

upaviṣṭe tadā tasmin sākṣāl lokapitāmahe
tad gatenaiva manasā vālmīkir dhyānam āsthitaḥ

When the Grandsire of the worlds himself had thus been seated, Vālmīki, his mind wholly fixed on that (event), sank into thought.

Words: upaviṣṭe tadā tasmin — when he had then been seated; sākṣāl — in person, before his eyes; lokapitāmahe — the Grandsire of the worlds (Brahmā); tad gatenaiva — fixed on that very (thing); manasā — with his mind; vālmīkir — Vālmīki; dhyānam — meditation, thought; āsthitaḥ — settled into, abiding 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.