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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.23.5

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 23: Story of Tāṭakā’s forest: Indra’s cleansing and the ruined country. The Sarayū’s origin and confluence are explained, Indra’s cleansing gives Malada & Karūṣa their names and Tāṭakā’s devastation makes the region impassable

In the sequence: from midstream, Rāma asks about the tumultuous roar of the water breaking against itself

1.23.5

atha rāmaḥ sarinmadhye papraccha munipuṅgavam
vāriṇo bhidyamānasya kim ayaṃ tumulo dhvaniḥ

Then Rāma, in mid-river, asked the bull among sages: “What is this tumultuous sound of the water being cleft?”

Words: atha — then; rāmaḥ — Rāma; sarinmadhye — in the middle of the river; papraccha — asked; munipuṅgavam — the bull among sages; vāriṇo — of the water; bhidyamānasya — being cleft, split; kim — what; ayaṃ — this; tumulo — tumultuous; dhvaniḥ — sound, roar

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.