← 1.34.20 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 34: Story of Gaṅgā & Umā: Himavat’s two daughters

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.34.21

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 34: Story of Gaṅgā & Umā: Himavat’s two daughters. Himavat gives Gaṅgā to the Devas for the worlds’ welfare, while Umā undertakes austerity and marries Śiva

In the sequence: Umā undertook severe austerities and was given in marriage to Rudra → Viśvāmitra concludes this first account of the sisters and Gaṅgā's heavenly departure.

1.34.21

etat te dharmam ākhyātaṃ yathā tripathagā nadī
khaṃ gatā prathamaṃ tāta gatiṃ gatimatāṃ vara

This sacred account has been told to you: how the three-pathed river first went to the sky, my dear — she who is the recourse of all that moves — O best of men.

Words: etat — this; te — to you; dharmam — sacred account, (in accord with) dharma; ākhyātaṃ — declared, told; yathā — how; tripathagā — going by three paths; nadī — the river; khaṃ — the sky, heaven; gatā — went; prathamaṃ — first; tāta — my dear, my child; gatiṃ — the way, recourse, goal; gatimatāṃ — of those that move, of living things; vara — O best (one)

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.