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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.53.8
Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 53: Story of Viśvāmitra: Śabalā resists seizure. The King seizes Śabalā, she returns to Vasiṣṭha and, with his permission, produces armies to resist the royal forces
In the sequence: she shakes off the King's servants, races back to Vasiṣṭha, and asks him why he has let her be taken
1.53.8
bhagavan kiṃ parityaktā tvayāhaṃ brahmaṇaḥ suta
yasmād rājabhṛtā māṃ hi nayante tvatsakāśataḥ
'O venerable one, O son of Brahmā, why have I been abandoned by you, that the king's servants are leading me away from your presence?'
Words: bhagavan — O venerable one; kiṃ — why; parityaktā — abandoned; tvayāhaṃ — I by you; brahmaṇaḥ — of Brahmā; suta — O son; yasmād — since, that; rājabhṛtā — the king's servants; māṃ — me; hi — indeed; nayante — they lead away; tvatsakāśataḥ — from your presence
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.