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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.41.15

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 41: Story of Sagara: Bhagīratha takes up the ancestral task. Aṃśumat & Dilīpa leave the ancestral task unfinished, Bhagīratha wins permission for Gaṅgā’s descent and learns that Śiva must receive her

In the sequence: after thousands of years Brahmā appears with the Suras and offers a boon

1.41.15

bhagīratha mahābhāga prītas te 'haṃ janeśvara
tapasā ca sutaptena varaṃ varaya suvrata

“Bhagīratha, O illustrious one, I am pleased with you, O lord of men; by your well-performed austerity — choose a boon, O firm in vows.”

Words: bhagīratha — O Bhagīratha; mahābhāga — O illustrious one; prītas — pleased; te — with you; 'haṃ — I; janeśvara — O lord of men; tapasā — by austerity; ca — and; sutaptena — well-performed (well-heated); varaṃ — a boon; varaya — choose; suvrata — O firm in vows

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.