← 1.42.9 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 42: Story of Sagara: Gaṅgā’s descent through Śiva’s hair · 1.42.11 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.42.10
Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 42: Story of Sagara: Gaṅgā’s descent through Śiva’s hair. Śiva catches the falling river in his matted hair, Bhagīratha wins her release and leads the purifying waters across the earth
In the sequence: their ornaments light the cloudless sky like a hundred suns
1.42.10
tad adbhutatamaṃ loke gaṅgā patanam uttamam
didṛkṣavo devagaṇāḥ sameyur amitaujasaḥ
Desiring to see that most wondrous, sublime descent of Gaṅgā in the world, the hosts of gods, of measureless might, assembled.
Words: tad — that; adbhutatamaṃ — most wondrous; loke — in the world; gaṅgā — of Gaṅgā; patanam — the fall, descent; uttamam — sublime, highest; didṛkṣavo — desiring to see; devagaṇāḥ — the hosts of gods; sameyur — assembled, came together; amitaujasaḥ — of measureless might
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.