← 1.34.3 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 34: Story of Gaṅgā & Umā: Himavat’s two daughters · 1.34.5 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.34.4

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: Rāma asks which route they should use to cross the fordable Śoṇā → Viśvāmitra points out the maharṣis' path

1.34.4

ayaṃ śoṇaḥ śubhajalo gādhaḥ pulinamaṇḍitaḥ
katareṇa pathā brahman saṃtariṣyāmahe vayam

“Here is the Śoṇā, of fair waters, fordable, graced with sandbanks; by which of the two paths, O brahmin, shall we cross over?”

Words: ayaṃ — this, here; śoṇaḥ — the Śoṇā; śubhajalo — of fair waters; gādhaḥ — fordable, shallow; pulinamaṇḍitaḥ — graced with sandbanks; katareṇa — by which (of two); pathā — by the path; brahman — O brahmin; saṃtariṣyāmahe — shall we cross over; vayam — we

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. 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.