Valmiki Ramayana · Bala Kanda · Sarga 2
तस्मात्तु मिथुनादेकं पुमांसं पापनिश्चय: । जघान वैरनिलयो निषादस्तस्य पश्यत:
tasmāttu mithunādekaṃ pumāṃsaṃ pāpaniścaya: | jaghāna vairanilayo niṣādastasya paśyata:
A sinful and cruelhearted hunter struck down the male bird of the pair in his very presence.
— M.N. Dutt (1891)
Commentary
A hunter kills the male krauncha bird. Out of Valmiki's grief and anger, the first verse (śloka) of the Ramayana is born — a curse that is also a poem. The metre, the emotion, and the moment combine to create the epic's first verse. The Ramayana begins not in a palace but in spontaneous compassion.
श्लोकशोकनिषाद