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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.52.8
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: Viśvāmitra praises the hospitality and offers a hundred thousand cows for Śabalā → he argues that such a treasure properly belongs to a King
1.52.8
pūjito 'haṃ tvayā brahman pūjārheṇa susatkṛtaḥ
śrūyatām abhidhāsyāmi vākyaṃ vākyaviśārada
'I have been honoured by you, O brahmin, worthy of honour as you are, and well entertained; let it be heard—I shall speak a word, O you skilled in speech.'
Words: pūjito 'haṃ — I have been honoured; tvayā — by you; brahman — O brahmin; pūjārheṇa — by (you who are) worthy of honour; susatkṛtaḥ — well entertained; śrūyatām — let it be heard; abhidhāsyāmi — I shall declare, speak; vākyaṃ — a word, statement; vākyaviśārada — O you skilled in speech
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.