← 1.40.18 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 40: Story of Sagara: Aṃśumat retrieves the horse · 1.40.20 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.40.19

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

1.40.19

gaṅgā himavato jyeṣṭhā duhitā puruṣarṣabha
bhasmarāśīkṛtān etān pāvayel lokapāvanī

Gaṅgā, the eldest daughter of Himavat, O bull among men — she, the purifier of the worlds, would purify these who have been reduced to ashes.

Words: gaṅgā — Gaṅgā; himavato — of Himavat; jyeṣṭhā — the eldest; duhitā — daughter; puruṣarṣabha — O bull among men; bhasmarāśīkṛtān — those reduced to a heap of ashes; etān — these; pāvayel — would purify; lokapāvanī — the purifier of the worlds

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.