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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.42.14
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: the currents race, bend, rise, slow, collide, and leap upward before falling again
1.42.14
kva cid drutataraṃ yāti kuṭilaṃ kva cid āyatam
vinataṃ kva cid uddhūtaṃ kva cid yāti śanaiḥ śanaiḥ
In one place (the water) runs very swiftly, in another it goes winding, in another drawn out; here bent down, here tossed up, here it flows ever so slowly.
Words: kva cid — in one place, somewhere; drutataraṃ — very swiftly, faster; yāti — goes, flows; kuṭilaṃ — winding, crooked; kva cid — in another place; āyatam — extended, drawn out; vinataṃ — bent down, curved; kva cid — somewhere; uddhūtaṃ — tossed up, upheaved; kva cid — somewhere; yāti — goes, flows; śanaiḥ śanaiḥ — ever so slowly, very gently
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.