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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.60.20

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: the middle son, Śunaḥśepa, concludes that he has effectively been selected and tells the King to take him

1.60.20

pitā jyeṣṭham avikreyaṃ mātā cāha kanīyasaṃ
vikrītaṃ madhyamaṃ manye rājan putraṃ nayasva mām

'The father has declared the eldest not-to-be-sold, and the mother the youngest; I consider the middle son as good as sold. O king, take me away.'

Words: pitā — the father; jyeṣṭham — the eldest; avikreyaṃ — not to be sold; mātā — the mother; cāha — and has said; kanīyasaṃ — the youngest; vikrītaṃ — sold; madhyamaṃ — the middle one; manye — I consider; rājan — O king; putraṃ — son; nayasva — take (me) away; mām — me

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.