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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.77.21

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 77: Bharata’s march to the Gaṅgā. The Queens, army, priests, craftspeople and townspeople accompany him, the company camps before the river crossing

In the sequence: on reaching the Gaṅgā, Bharata orders them to camp and rest before crossing the next day → he also wishes to offer water there for his father

2.77.21

dātuṃ ca tāvad icchāmi svar gatasya mahīpateḥ
aurdhvadeha nimittārtham avatīryodakaṃ nadīm

And meanwhile I wish, for the sake of the funeral rite of the king who has gone to heaven, to go down into the river and offer the water-libation.'

Words: dātuṃ — to give; ca — and; tāvad — meanwhile; icchāmi — I wish; svar gatasya — of him who has gone to heaven; mahīpateḥ — of the king; aurdhvadeha nimittārtham — for the sake of the funeral rite; avatīryodakaṃ — having descended, the water; nadīm — the river

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.