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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.7.3

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 7: The ministers who sustain the Kingdom. Ministers and priests advise Daśaratha, gather intelligence, maintain the treasury and army, and administer justice without favour

In the sequence: Daśaratha has eight trusted ministers: Dhṛṣṭi, Jayanta, Vijaya, Siddhārtha, Arthasādhaka, Aśoka, Mantrapāla, and Sumantra → Vasiṣṭha and Vāmadeva serve as his purohitas (royal priests), alongside other advisers

1.7.3

ṛtvijau dvāv abhimatau tasyāstām ṛṣisattamau
vasiṣṭho vāmadevaś ca mantriṇaś ca tathāpare

He had two esteemed officiating priests, the best of seers — Vasiṣṭha and Vāmadeva — and other counsellors as well.

Words: ṛtvijau — two officiating priests; dvāv — two; abhimatau — esteemed, favoured (both); tasyāstām — were his (two); ṛṣisattamau — the two best of seers; vasiṣṭho — Vasiṣṭha; vāmadevaś — Vāmadeva; ca — and; mantriṇaś — counsellors; ca — and; tathāpare — and others too

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.