THE VALMIKI RAMAYANA

BALA KANDA

p·¢æO|S:  sgI:      Canto  35
gÄñaEmav¦äOaÓtkTnm¯      The  episodes   relating   to   Ganga  and   Parvati
upaÞy   ra¢æOSEx|   t¤   SaENak\lE   sma¢ht:   .
¢nSaya|   s¤p#Bataya|   ¢váa¢mæOaE{×yBaxt   ¡1¡

upaÞy

spent

ra¢æOSEx|

the rest of the night

t¤

itself

SaENak\lE

on the banks of the river Sona

sma¢ht:

the pure

¢nSaya|

night

s¤p#Bataya|

with dawn

¢váa¢mæO:

Viswamitra

A×yBaxt

said as under

Spending   the   rest   of   the   night   on   the   banks   of   Sona   river   itself,
the   holy   Viswamitra   spoke   thus   at   the   time   of   daybreak   (1).

s¤p#Bata   ¢nSa   ram   p¥vaI   sÓÒya   p#vtItE   .
u¢äO¿aE¢äO¿   Bd#|   tE   gmnaya¢BraEcy   ¡2¡

s¤p#Bata

a good morning

¢nSa

night

ram

O! Rama!

p¥vaI

early part

sÓÒya

dawn

p#vtItE

is drawing near

u¢äO¿

wake up

u¢äO¿

wake up

Bd#|

all auspicious things

to you

gmnay

to continue the journey

A¢BraEcy

get ready

`O!Rama!   The   night   has   given   place   to   a   good   morning.   The   morning twilight   time   is   drawing   near.   May   you   rise.   May   you   shake   off your   sleep.   May   you   attain   all   prosperity.   May   you
set   your   mind   on departing     (from   here)'   (2).

tÅC®¤Ïva   vcn|   tÞy   k]Ïva   paWvaI¢k£|   ¢@yam¯   .
gmn|   raEcyamas   vaÀy|   cEdm¤vac   h   ¡3¡

tt¯

those

½¤Ïva

hearing

vcn|

words

tÞy

his

k]Ïva

performed

paWvaI¢k£|

morning ablutions

¢@yam¯

rituals

gmn|

to set out

raEcyamas

desired

vaÀy|

words

and

id|

these

uvac

said

behold!

Hearing   those   words   of   his   and   performing   all   the   rituals   due
in   the   ante-meridian   period,   (Rama)   set   about   to   set   out   and   uttered these   words   also,   hark!   (3).

Ay|   SaEN:   S¤BjlaE   gaD:   p¤¢lnm¢Îft:   .
ktrEN   pTa   b#'n¯   sÓt¢rÝyamhE   vym¯   ¡4¡

Ay|

this

SaEN:

Sona

S¤Bjl:

holy waters

gaD:

with little water

p¤¢lnm¢Îft:

strewn with sand dunes

ktrEN

how, (by which)

pTa

path

b#'n¯

Oh! venerable sage!

sÓt¢rÝyamhE

shall ford

vym¯

`This   Sona,   with   holy   waters,   is   not   deep   but   yet   shines   with
beautiful   sand   banks.   O!   Realised   One!   Taking   what   route
may   we   cross   (this   river)   ?'     (4).

evm¤³Þt¤   ramEN   ¢váa¢mæOaE{b#v£¢ddm¯   .
ex   pn¯Ta   myaE¢ê¾aE   yEn   ya¢Ót   mhxIy:   ¡5¡

ev|

like this

u³:

being spoken

t¤

verily

ramEN

by Sri Rama

¢váa¢mæO:

Viswamitra

Ab#v£t¯

said

idm¯

as follows

ex:

this

pn¯Ta:

route

mya

by me

u¢ê¾:

thought of

yEn

by which path

ya¢Ót

mhxIy:

the great sages

Being   asked   thus   by   Rama,   Viswamitra   replied   thus:   `That   route
which the great sages have   taken,   is   the   route   advocated by   me' (5).

tE   gÏva   Ñ¥rmÒvan|   gtE{DI¢dvsE   tda   .
jaþv£|   s¢rta|   ½E¿a|   dS¤m¤I¢nsE¢vtam¯   ¡6¡

they

gÏva

having gone

Ñ¥r|

very far

AÒvan|

way

gtE

while going

ADI¢dvsE

half the day

tda

then

jaþv£|

Ganga

s¢rta|

river

½E¿a|

superior among rivers

dS¤:

saw

m¤¢nsE¢vtam¯

resorted to by sages

Having   traversed   a   long   distance   and   when   half   the   day   was   spent, they   saw   the   Ganga,superior   among   rivers,   and   which   was
resorted   to   by   the   sages   (6).
ta|   ¾va   p¤Îys¢lla|   h|ssarssE¢vtam¯   .
bB¥v¤m¤Iny:   svI   m¤¢dta:   shraGva:   ¡
tÞyaÞt£rE   ttà@ÞtæOavasp¢rg#hm¯   ¡7¡

ta|

that (river)

¾va

on seeing

p¤Îys¢lla|

of holy waters

h|s

swans

sars

Sarasa

sE¢vtam¯

resorted to

bB¥v¤:

became

m¤ny:

the sages

svI

all

m¤¢dta:

joyous

shraGva:

in the company of Sri Raghava

tÞya:

its

t£rE

banks

tt:

then

c@:

established

tæO

there

Aavasp¢rg#hm¯

a dwelling place

Having   holy   waters   and   inhabited   by   groups   of swans and Sarasa
birds,   seeing   that   river,   all   the   sages   in   the   company   of Rama
(and   Lakshmana)   became   extremely   joyous.   They   also set up their   camp on   the   banks   of   that   river   (7).
tt:   s"aÏva   yTaÓyay|   sÓtrÔy   ¢pt¦dEvta:   .
h^Ïva   cWva¢g"haEæOa¢N   p#aÜy   cam¦tvÑG¢v:   ¡8¡

tt:

there

s"aÏva

having bathed

yTaÓyay|

as prescribed

sÓtrÔy

satisfying by the performance of rituals and offerings

¢pt¦dEvta:

the ancestors and the devas

h^Ïva

having done fire sacrifice

and

also

A¢g"haEæOa¢N

and Agnihotra sacrifice

p#aÜy

consuming

and

Am¦tvt¯

equal to ambrosia

h¢v:

(remnants of the) offerings of cooked rice

¢v¢vS¤jaIþv£t£rE S¤caW m¤¢dtmansa: .
¢váa¢mæO| mhaÏman| p¢rvayI smÓtt: ¡9¡

¢v¢vS¤:

sat down

jaþv£t£rE

on the banks of the river Ganges

S¤caW

pure

m¤¢dtmansa:

in a happy frame of mind

¢váa¢mæO|

Viswamitra

mhaÏman|

great soul

p¢rvayI

surrounded

smÓtt:

on all four sides

Having   their   ablutory   bath   in   that   river,   making   water   offerings
as oblations   to   the   manes   and   the   gods   and   satisfying   them,   performing Agnihotra,   partaking   the   (remnants   of   the)   elixirine   offerings,   in   an extremely   happy   state   of   mind,   (they) sat around
that   high-souled Viswamitra,   on   the   sacred   banks   of   Ganga   (8-9).

s|p#¶¾mna   ramaE   ¢váa¢mæOmTab#v£t¯   .
Bgvn¯ÅC®aEt¤¢mÅCa¢m   gÄña|   ¢æOpTga|   nd£m¯   ¡10¡

s|p#¶¾mna:

extremely pleased

ram:

Sri Rama

¢váa¢mæO|

to Viswamitra

then

Ab#v£t¯

said

Bgvn¯

O! Lord!

½aEt¤|

to hear

iÅCa¢m

I desire

gÄña|

of the story of the Ganges

¢æOpTga|

taking three routes

nd£m¯

river

Rama,   in   a   state   of   heightened   happiness   in   mind,   spoke   thus   to
Viswamitra:`O!   Lord!   I   desire   to   learn   all   about   the   history   of the
Ganga   that   flows   in   three   strands.   (10).
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