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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.54.23

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 54: Story of Viśvāmitra: Defeat, Śiva’s weapons and retaliation. His army and sons are destroyed, Viśvāmitra wins Śiva’s weapons through austerity and returns to burn Vasiṣṭha’s hermitage

In the sequence: he returns and burns the hermitage with his missiles → munis, pupils, animals, and birds flee, leaving it deserted

1.54.23

vasiṣṭhasya ca ye śiṣyās tathaiva mṛgapakṣiṇaḥ
vidravanti bhayād bhītā nānādigbhyaḥ sahasraśaḥ

And Vasiṣṭha's pupils, and likewise the beasts and birds, terrified, fled in fear by the thousands in all directions.

Words: vasiṣṭhasya ca — and of Vasiṣṭha; ye — who; śiṣyās — the pupils; tathaiva — likewise; mṛgapakṣiṇaḥ — beasts and birds; vidravanti — flee, run away; bhayād — out of fear; bhītā — terrified; nānādigbhyaḥ — from various directions; sahasraśaḥ — by the thousands

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.