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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.4.8

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 4: Kuśa & Lava perform the poem. Kuśa & Lava learn and perform the poem, their singing moves the ṛṣis and brings them before Rāma

In the sequence: the work is called the Rāmāyaṇa, the great story of Sītā, and the slaying of Pulastya's descendant → the brothers master its musical tempos, modes, lute accompaniment, and varied emotions, resembling Rāma himself in appearance. Kuśa and Lava sing before assemblies of ṛṣis and dvijas

1.4.8

hāsyaśṛṅgārakāruṇyaraudravīrabhayānakaiḥ
bībhatsādirasair yuktaṃ kāvyam etad agāyatām

They sang this poem, endowed with the sentiments of the comic, the erotic, the compassionate, the furious, the heroic, the terrible, the loathsome, and the rest.

Words: hāsyaśṛṅgārakāruṇyaraudravīrabhayānakaiḥ — with the comic, erotic, compassionate, furious, heroic and terrible (sentiments); bībhatsādirasair — with the sentiments beginning with the loathsome; yuktaṃ — joined with; kāvyam etad — this poem; agāyatām — the two sang

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.