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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.61.8

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

1.61.8

yatkṛte pitaraḥ putrāñ janayanti śubhārthinaḥ
paralokahitārthāya tasya kālo 'yam āgataḥ

“That for the sake of which fathers, desiring good, beget sons — for the sake of welfare in the other world — that time has now come.

Words: yatkṛte — for the sake of which; pitaraḥ — fathers; putrāñ — sons; janayanti — beget; śubhārthinaḥ — desiring good; paralokahitārthāya — for the sake of welfare in the other world; tasya — of that; kālo — time; 'yam — this; āgataḥ — has come

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.