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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.61.11
Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 61: Story of Viśvāmitra: Two verses save Śunaḥśepa. Śunaḥśepa seeks protection, Viśvāmitra curses his sons for refusing substitution and teaches two verses that preserve the boy’s life and fulfil the sacrifice
In the sequence: Viśvāmitra comforts him, then asks his own sons to substitute for the boy as the victim
1.61.11
nāthavāṃś ca śunaḥśepo yajñaś cāvighnato bhavet
devatās tarpitāś ca syur mama cāpi kṛtaṃ vacaḥ
Thus Śunaḥśepa will have a protector, the sacrifice will proceed without obstruction, the gods will be gratified, and my word too will be fulfilled.”
Words: nāthavāṃś ca — and possessed of a protector; śunaḥśepo — Śunaḥśepa; yajñaś — the sacrifice; cāvighnato — and without obstruction; bhavet — would be; devatās — the deities; tarpitāś ca — and gratified; syur — would be; mama — my; cāpi — and also; kṛtaṃ — fulfilled, done; vacaḥ — word
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.