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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.22.9

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

1.22.9

tayos tad vacanaṃ śrutvā prahasya munipuṃgavaḥ
abravīc chrūyatāṃ rāma yasyāyaṃ pūrva āśramaḥ

Hearing that word of the two, the bull among sages, smiling, said: “Let it be heard, O Rāma, whose hermitage this formerly was.

Words: tayos — of the two; tad — that; vacanaṃ — word; śrutvā — having heard; prahasya — smiling, laughing gently; munipuṃgavaḥ — the bull among sages; abravīc — said; chrūyatāṃ — let it be heard; rāma — O Rāma; yasyāyaṃ — of whom this; pūrva — formerly; āśramaḥ — hermitage

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.