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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.40.4

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: When his sons fail to return, Sagara sends Aṃśumat after them, armed with bow and sword and instructed to honor worthy beings while overcoming obstruction

1.40.4

abhivādyābhivādyāṃs tvaṃ hatvā vighnakarān api
siddhārthaḥ saṃnivartasva mama yajñasya pāragaḥ

Saluting those worthy of salutation, and slaying even those who make obstruction, return with your object accomplished, having carried my sacrifice through to its end.”

Words: abhivādyābhivādyāṃs — having saluted those worthy of salutation; tvaṃ — you; hatvā — having slain; vighnakarān — the obstacle-makers; api — even, also; siddhārthaḥ — your object accomplished; saṃnivartasva — return, come back; mama — my; yajñasya — of the sacrifice; pāragaḥ — one who has carried (it) through to the end

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.