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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.42.9
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
1.42.9
vimānair nagarākārair hayair gajavarais tathā
pāriplavagatāś cāpi devatās tatra viṣṭhitāḥ
The deities stood there in aerial cars shaped like cities, on horses and on splendid elephants, and also floating to and fro in the air.
Words: vimānair — with aerial cars, celestial chariots; nagarākārair — shaped like cities; hayair — with horses; gajavarais — with splendid elephants; tathā — and, likewise; pāriplavagatāś — floating to and fro; cāpi — and also; devatās — the deities; tatra — there; viṣṭhitāḥ — stood, were stationed
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.