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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.42.3

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: pleased, Śiva agrees to receive Gaṅgā on his head

1.42.3

prītas te 'haṃ naraśreṣṭha kariṣyāmi tava priyam
śirasā dhārayiṣyāmi śailarājasutām aham

“I am pleased with you, O best of men; I shall do you this kindness — I shall bear the daughter of the mountain-king upon my head.”

Words: prītas — pleased; te — with you; 'haṃ — I; naraśreṣṭha — O best of men; kariṣyāmi — I shall do; tava — your, for you; priyam — a kindness, dear thing; śirasā — on (my) head; dhārayiṣyāmi — I shall bear, hold; śailarājasutām — the daughter of the mountain-king; aham — I

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.