संनिबद्धं हि श्लोकानां चतुर्विंशत्सहस्रकम्। उपाख्यानशतं चैव भार्गवेण तपस्विना॥
saṃnibaddhaṃ hi ślokānāṃ caturviṃśatsahasrakam| upākhyānaśataṃ caiva bhārgaveṇa tapasvinā||
English Meaning
The great ascetic Vālmīki has composed this poem consisting of a hundred stories and twenty four thousand slokas.
— M.N. Dutt (1891–94, public domain)