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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.22.11

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 22: Story of Kāma: The loss of his body. At the Sarayū–Gaṅgā confluence, Viśvāmitra recounts how Śiva’s fiery gaze destroyed Kāma’s body, the travellers stay at the hermitage

In the sequence: Viśvāmitra tells an earlier story: Kāma once possessed a body → here he assailed Śiva during his disciplined austerities → Śiva's fierce gaze burned his limbs and destroyed his body

1.22.11

tapasyantam iha sthāṇuṃ niyamena samāhitam
kṛtodvāhaṃ tu deveśaṃ gacchantaṃ samarudgaṇam
dharṣayām āsa durmedhā huṃkṛtaś ca mahātmanā

Here Sthāṇu (Śiva), composed in his observance, was practising austerity; but the fool (Kāma) assailed that lord of gods — newly wed and going forth with the host of Maruts — and was met with a scornful cry by the great one.

Words: tapasyantam — practising austerity; iha — here; sthāṇuṃ — Sthāṇu (Śiva); niyamena — by observance, discipline; samāhitam — composed, collected; kṛtodvāhaṃ — newly wed, having performed marriage; tu — but; deveśaṃ — the lord of gods; gacchantaṃ — going, proceeding; samarudgaṇam — with the host of Maruts; dharṣayām āsa — assailed, attacked; durmedhā — the fool, dull-witted one; huṃkṛtaś — (and was) scorned with a 'hum'; ca — and; mahātmanā — by the great one

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.