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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.2.28

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

1.2.28

śocann eva muhuḥ krauñcīm upaślokam imaṃ punaḥ
jagāv antargatamanā bhūtvā śokaparāyaṇaḥ

Grieving again and again for the female krauñca, he chanted this very verse once more, his mind turned inward, wholly given over to sorrow.

Words: śocann eva — grieving indeed; muhuḥ — again and again; krauñcīm — for the female krauñca; upaślokam imaṃ — this verse; punaḥ — again; jagāv — chanted, sang; antargatamanā — his mind turned inward; bhūtvā — having become; śokaparāyaṇaḥ — wholly given over to grief

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.