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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.60.7

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 priest blames the King's failure to protect it and demands immediate expiation through a human or substitute victim while the rite continues

1.60.7

paśur adya hṛto rājan pranaṣṭas tava durnayāt
arakṣitāraṃ rājānaṃ ghnanti doṣā nareśvara

'The victim has today been carried off, O king, lost through your negligence; sins slay a king who fails to protect his charge, O lord of men.'

Words: paśur — the victim; adya — today; hṛto — carried off; rājan — O king; pranaṣṭas — lost; tava — your; durnayāt — through negligence, misgovernment; arakṣitāraṃ — not protecting, failing to guard; rājānaṃ — the king; ghnanti — slay; doṣā — sins, faults; nareśvara — O lord of men

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.