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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.52.12
Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 52: Story of Viśvāmitra: Śabalā’s feast and the rejected purchase. Śabalā feeds the entire company, Viśvāmitra offers escalating wealth to purchase her and Vasiṣṭha refuses to surrender the source of his ritual sustenance
In the sequence: Vasiṣṭha refuses any price, explaining that she sustains his life, havya (offerings to Devas), kavya (offerings to pitṛs), agnihotra, bali, homa and sacred learning
1.52.12
na parityāgam arheyaṃ matsakāśād ariṃdama
śāśvatī śabalā mahyaṃ kīrtir ātmavato yathā
'I ought not to let her be parted from my side, O tamer of foes; Śabalā is everlasting to me, as fame is to a self-possessed man.'
Words: na — not; parityāgam — a parting, giving up; arheyaṃ — I ought (to make); matsakāśād — from my presence, side; ariṃdama — O tamer of foes; śāśvatī — everlasting; śabalā — Śabalā; mahyaṃ — to me; kīrtir — fame; ātmavato — of a self-possessed man; yathā — as
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.