चतुर्विंशत्सहस्राणि श्लोकानामुक्तवानृषि:। तथा सर्गशतान्पञ्च षट्काण्डानि तथोत्तरम् ।।1.4.2।।
Meaning
The sage composed the epic in twenty-four thousand verses, five hundred cantos, and six kandas, along with the Uttara Kanda besides.
Word-by-word (pada-artha)
| Word | Devanagari | Meaning | Grammatical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| ṛṣi: | ऋषिः | sage Valmiki | Nominative singular (masc.) |
| slokānām | स्लोकानाम् | verses | Accusative singular |
| catur vimsat sahasrāṇi | चतुर् विम्सत् सहस्राणि | twenty-four, thousand | Best-effort: role not confidently classified |
| tathā | तथा | that way | Nominative singular (fem.) or vocative |
| panca sarga śatān | पन्च सर्ग शतान् | five, chapters, hundreds | Best-effort: role not confidently classified |
| ṣaṭ kāṇḍāni ca | षट् काण्डानि च | six, books, also | Indeclinable/particle |
| tatha uttaram | तथ उत्तरम् | that way, an end piece | Accusative singular |
| uktvān | उक्त्वान् | said | Best-effort: role not confidently classified |
Scholar commentary
valmikiramayan.net Prose Commentary
Desiraju Hanumanta Rao's prose rendering with embedded explanatory notes
The source flags a real textual controversy here: some traditions count 24,000 verses in six kandas plus an epilogue, others exclude the Uttara Kanda entirely and count roughly 24,000 verses across 560 chapters, and there is disagreement over whether Bala Kanda itself was authored by Valmiki at all. The source is candid that this isn't settled -- 'it is not clear as of now when the pundits can decide as to which is standard.'
2 of 16 traditions have commentary on this shloka. Traditions without a verse-specific commentary here are omitted rather than filled in.
Reference: 1.4.2 · Bāla Kāṇḍa