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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.83.19

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 83: Guha ferries Bharata’s company. Five hundred boats carry people, vehicles and provisions across the Gaṅgā, the army halts as Bharata approaches Bharadvāja

In the sequence: the boats return for more loads; elephants swim, while others cross on rafts, with flotation vessels, or by swimming

2.83.19

savaijayantās tu gajā gajārohaiḥ pracoditāḥ
tarantaḥ sma prakāśante sadhvajā iva parvatāḥ

The elephants, bearing their banners and urged on by their drivers, as they swam across gleamed like mountains crowned with flags.

Words: savaijayantās — bearing their banners; tu — and; gajā — the elephants; gajārohaiḥ — by the elephant-drivers; pracoditāḥ — urged on; tarantaḥ — crossing, swimming; sma — (narrative particle); prakāśante — shone; sadhvajā — with flags; iva — like; parvatāḥ — mountains

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.