The shloka is the workhorse verse form of Sanskrit literature — classically the anushtubh meter of two 16-syllable lines (four padas of eight syllables each). Tradition holds that the sage Valmiki spontaneously uttered the first shloka in grief (shoka) at seeing a hunter kill a krauncha bird, and went on to compose the Ramayana in the same meter; the Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita are likewise composed largely in shlokas. In common usage, "shloka" loosely means any Sanskrit devotional verse recited in prayer, such as the morning Karagre Vasate Lakshmi or the Guru shloka. Memorizing and reciting shlokas remains a foundational element of Hindu religious education.