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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.38.2

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 38: Story of Sagara: The stolen horse and the earth’s excavation. Indra steals the sacrificial horse, Sagara sends his sixty thousand sons to dig for it and the devastation drives the earth’s inhabitants to Brahmā

In the sequence: Rāma asks to hear how his ancestor's sacrifice proceeded

1.38.2

śrotum ichāmi bhadraṃ te vistareṇa kathām imām
pūrvako me kathaṃ brahman yajñaṃ vai samupāharat

“I wish to hear this tale in full — blessings on you — O brahmin: how did my forefather offer up that sacrifice?”

Words: śrotum — to hear; ichāmi — I wish; bhadraṃ — welfare, blessing; te — to you; vistareṇa — in detail, fully; kathām — tale; imām — this; pūrvako — forefather, ancestor; me — my; kathaṃ — how; brahman — O brahmin; yajñaṃ — sacrifice; vai — indeed; samupāharat — offered up, performed

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.