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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.41.5

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: Dilīpa is preoccupied with bringing Gaṅgā down and redeeming the dead, but finds no means → his son Bhagīratha is born

1.41.5

dilīpas tu mahātejāḥ śrutvā paitāmahaṃ vadham
duḥkhopahatayā buddhyā niścayaṃ nādhyagacchata

But the mighty Dilīpa, hearing of the destruction of his forefathers, his mind stricken with grief, could reach no certain means (of redeeming them).

Words: dilīpas — Dilīpa; tu — but; mahātejāḥ — the mighty, of great splendour; śrutvā — having heard; paitāmahaṃ — of his forefathers (ancestral); vadham — the slaying, destruction; duḥkhopahatayā — stricken with grief; buddhyā — with (his) mind; niścayaṃ — certainty, a means; nādhyagacchata — did not attain

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.