← 1.41.20 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 41: Story of Sagara: Bhagīratha takes up the ancestral task · 1.41.22 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.41.21

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: Brahmā agrees but explains that the earth cannot withstand Gaṅgā's fall → only Śiva can receive her force → after speaking to the King and Gaṅgā, Brahmā departs.

1.41.21

manoratho mahān eṣa bhagīratha mahāratha
evaṃ bhavatu bhadraṃ te ikṣvākukulavardhana

“This is a great wish, Bhagīratha, O great warrior; so be it — blessings on you, O increaser of the Ikṣvāku line.

Words: manoratho — the wish, heart's desire; mahān — great; eṣa — this; bhagīratha — O Bhagīratha; mahāratha — O great warrior; evaṃ — so, thus; bhavatu — let it be; bhadraṃ — welfare, blessing; te — to you; ikṣvākukulavardhana — O increaser of the Ikṣvāku line

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.