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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.60.15

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 60: Story of Viśvāmitra: Śunaḥśepa is bought for sacrifice. Indra steals Ambarīṣa’s sacrificial victim, the King purchases Śunaḥśepa after the boy’s parents reserve their eldest and youngest sons

In the sequence: Ṛcīka refuses to sell the eldest, and the mother insists on keeping the youngest, Śunaka

1.60.15

evam ukto mahātejā ṛcīkas tv abravīd vacaḥ
nāhaṃ jyeṣṭhaṃ naraśreṣṭhaṃ vikrīṇīyāṃ kathaṃ cana

Thus addressed, Ṛcīka of great splendour spoke these words: 'I would not on any account sell the eldest, O best of men.'

Words: evam ukto — thus addressed; mahātejā — of great splendour; ṛcīkas — Ṛcīka; tv — but; abravīd — said; vacaḥ — words; nāhaṃ — not I; jyeṣṭhaṃ — the eldest; naraśreṣṭhaṃ — O best of men; vikrīṇīyāṃ — I would sell; kathaṃ cana — 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.