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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.60.8

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

1.60.8

prāyaścittaṃ mahad dhy etan naraṃ vā puruṣarṣabha
ānayasva paśuṃ śīghraṃ yāvat karma pravartate

'A great expiation is required for this, O bull among men: bring quickly either a man or a (substitute) victim, while the rite is still in progress.'

Words: prāyaścittaṃ — expiation, atonement; mahad — great; dhy — indeed; etan — this; naraṃ vā — or a man; puruṣarṣabha — O bull among men; ānayasva — bring, fetch; paśuṃ — a victim; śīghraṃ — quickly; yāvat — while, as long as; karma — the rite, act; pravartate — proceeds, is in progress

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.