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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.52.9
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
1.52.9
gavāṃ śatasahasreṇa dīyatāṃ śabalā mama
ratnaṃ hi bhagavann etad ratnahārī ca pārthivaḥ
tasmān me śabalāṃ dehi mamaiṣā dharmato dvija
'Let Śabalā be given to me for a hundred thousand cows; for this is a jewel, O venerable one, and a king is a taker of jewels; therefore give me Śabalā—by right she is mine, O brahmin.'
Words: gavāṃ — of cows; śatasahasreṇa — for a hundred thousand; dīyatāṃ — let (her) be given; śabalā — Śabalā; mama — to me; ratnaṃ — a jewel; hi — for, indeed; bhagavann — O venerable one; etad — this; ratnahārī — a taker of jewels; ca — and; pārthivaḥ — a king; tasmān — therefore; me — to me; śabalāṃ — Śabalā; dehi — give; mamaiṣā — she is mine; dharmato — by right, according to dharma; dvija — O brahmin (twice-born)
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.