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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.2.5

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 goes to the Tamasā near the Gaṅgā → he points out a clear, mud-free bathing place to his disciple Bharadvāja, comparing its water to a good person's mind, and asks for his bark garment

1.2.5

akardamam idaṃ tīrthaṃ bharadvāja niśāmaya
ramaṇīyaṃ prasannāmbu sanmanuṣyamano yathā

“Behold, Bharadvāja, this bathing-place free of mud, lovely, its water clear as the mind of a good man.

Words: akardamam — free of mud; idaṃ — this; tīrthaṃ — bathing-place; bharadvāja — O Bharadvāja; niśāmaya — behold, observe; ramaṇīyaṃ — lovely, delightful; prasannāmbu — of clear water; sanmanuṣyamano yathā — like the mind of a good man

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.