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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.42.18

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: purified by contact with Śiva, the water is honored as sacred → beings cast down to earth by curses bathe, regain purity, and return to their heavenly homes → the world rejoices and is refreshed

1.42.18

śāpāt prapatitā ye ca gaganād vasudhātalam
kṛtvā tatrābhiṣekaṃ te babhūvur gatakalmaṣāḥ

And those who had fallen through a curse from the sky to the earth's surface, having bathed there, became free of all impurity.

Words: śāpāt — through a curse; prapatitā — fallen; ye — who; ca — and; gaganād — from the sky; vasudhātalam — to the earth's surface; kṛtvā — having made; tatrābhiṣekaṃ — an ablution there; te — they; babhūvur — became; gatakalmaṣāḥ — free of impurity

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. 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.