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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.42.5

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: she descends from heaven in an immense, irresistible torrent → caught within his matted hair, she can find no exit and wanders there for years

1.42.5

naiva sā nirgamaṃ lekhe jaṭāmaṇḍalamohitā
tatraivābabhramad devī saṃvatsaragaṇān bahūn

But she found no way out, bewildered in the coil of his matted locks; and right there the goddess wandered about for many years.

Words: naiva — not at all; sā — she; nirgamaṃ — a way out, exit; lekhe — found, obtained; jaṭāmaṇḍalamohitā — bewildered in the coil of matted locks; tatraivābabhramad — wandered about right there; devī — the goddess; saṃvatsaragaṇān — for many years (groups of years); bahūn — many

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.