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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.52.21

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 again refuses: Śabalā is his wealth, life, and the foundation of all his rites.

1.52.21

evam uktas tu bhagavān viśvāmitreṇa dhīmatā
na dāsyāmīti śabalāṃ prāha rājan kathaṃ cana

Thus addressed by the wise Viśvāmitra, the venerable one said, 'I will not give Śabalā on any account, O king.'

Words: evam uktas — thus addressed; tu — but; bhagavān — the venerable one; viśvāmitreṇa — by Viśvāmitra; dhīmatā — by the wise one; na — not; dāsyāmīti — 'I shall give,' thus; śabalāṃ — Śabalā; prāha — said; rājan — O king; kathaṃ cana — in any way, on any account

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.