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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.4.9

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

1.4.9

tau tu gāndharvatattvajñau sthāna mūrcchana kovidau
bhrātarau svarasaṃpannau gandharvāv iva rūpiṇau

And those two, knowers of the science of music, skilled in vocal registers and melodic modulation, brothers gifted with fine voices, were like gandharvas made visible.

Words: tau tu — and those two; gāndharvatattvajñau — knowers of the truth of music; sthānamūrcchanakovidau — skilled in registers and melodic scales; bhrātarau — the two brothers; svarasaṃpannau — endowed with fine voice; gandharvāv iva — like two gandharvas; rūpiṇau — embodied, having form

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.