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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.40.18

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 40: Story of Sagara: Aṃśumat retrieves the horse. Aṃśumat recovers the horse and finds his uncles’ ashes, Garuḍa says only Gaṅgā can redeem them, Sagara completes the sacrifice but cannot bring her down

In the sequence: he explains that Kapila burned them and that ordinary water will not suffice → only Gaṅgā can purify their ashes and lead the sixty thousand to heaven

1.40.18

kapilenāprameyena dagdhā hīme mahābalāḥ
salilaṃ nārhasi prājña dātum eṣāṃ hi laukikam

These mighty ones were burnt by the immeasurable Kapila; you ought not, O wise one, to offer them ordinary, worldly water.

Words: kapilenāprameyena — by the immeasurable Kapila; dagdhā — burnt; hīme — for these (were); mahābalāḥ — the mighty ones; salilaṃ — water; nārhasi — you ought not; prājña — O wise one; dātum — to give, offer; eṣāṃ — to these; hi — for, indeed; laukikam — ordinary, worldly

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.