← 1.41.6 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 41: Story of Sagara: Bhagīratha takes up the ancestral task · 1.41.8 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.41.7

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

1.41.7

tasya cintayato nityaṃ dharmeṇa viditātmanaḥ
putro bhagīratho nāma jajñe paramadhārmikaḥ

To him, ever pondering, his soul realized through righteousness, a son named Bhagīratha was born, supremely righteous.

Words: tasya — to him, his; cintayato — pondering; nityaṃ — ever, constantly; dharmeṇa — through righteousness, by dharma; viditātmanaḥ — whose self is realized; putro — son; bhagīratho — Bhagīratha; nāma — by name; jajñe — was born; paramadhārmikaḥ — supremely righteous

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.