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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.2.39

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: Brahmā vanishes → the amazed disciples repeat the verse, recognizing how grief has taken the form of a śloka → Vālmīki resolves to use that form for the whole poem and begins composing.

1.2.39

samākṣaraiś caturbhir yaḥ pādair gīto maharṣiṇā
so 'nuvyāharaṇād bhūyaḥ śokaḥ ślokatvam āgataḥ

That which was sung by the great sage in four feet of equal syllables — that grief, through its repeated utterance, attained the state of a śloka.

Words: samākṣaraiś — with equal syllables; caturbhir — with four; yaḥ — which; pādair — by (metrical) feet; gīto — sung; maharṣiṇā — by the great sage; so 'nuvyāharaṇād — that, from its utterance; bhūyaḥ — again, further; śokaḥ — the grief; ślokatvam — the state of being a śloka; āgataḥ — attained, came to

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.