THE VALMIKI RAMAYANA

BALA KANDA

¢æOcÏva¢r|S: sgI:      Canto 43

gÄñavtrNm¯      Bringing   Ganga  to   earth

dEvdEvE   gtE   t¢Þmn¯   saE{Äñ¿ag#¢np£¢ftam¯   .
k]Ïva   vs¤mt£|   ram   s|vÏsrm¤past   ¡ 1¡
dEvdEvE        the god of gods
gtE        on leaving
t¢Þmn¯        that
s:        he
AÄñ¿ag#¢np£¢ftam¯        touching with the tip of his big toe
k]Ïva        having made
vs¤mt£|        the earth
ram        O! Rama!
s|vÏsr|        one year
upast        worshipped

UÒvIbah^¢nIral|baE   vay¤BXaE   ¢nra½y:   .
Acl:   ÞTaN¤vt¯   ¢ÞTÏva   ra¢æO|¢dvmt¢Ód#t:   ¡ 2¡
UÒvIbah^:        with arms raised
¢nral|b:        without any prop
vay¤BX:        with air as food
¢nra½y:        with no support
Acl:        motionless
ÞTaN¤vt¯        like a pillar
¢ÞTÏva        having stood
ra¢æO|¢dv|        night and day
At¢Ód#t:        without any respite
 
O!   Rama!   When   Lord   Brahma   thus   disappeared   from   there,
he   worshipped     (Lord   Siva)   for   a   year,   standing   on   the
earth   on   the   tip   of   his   big   toe,   with   upraised   arms,   with
no   (other)   support   (for   this   posture),   subsisting   on pure   air,
all   alone,   day   and   night,   without   motion   like a   staff   and
in   an   indefatigable   state   (1-2).
 
AT   s|vÏsrE   p¥NI   svIlaEknmÞk]t:   .
umap¢t:   pS¤pt£   rajan¢mdmb#v£t¯     ¡ 3¡
AT        thereafter
s|vÏsrE        a year
p¥NI        on completion
svIlaEknmÞk]t:        worshipped by everyone
umap¢t:        the lord of Uma (Lord Siva)
pS¤pt£        the protector of all beings (Lord Siva)
rajan|        to the king
id|        as under
Ab#v£t¯        said
 
Thereafter,   at   the   end   of   one   year,   the   Lord   of   Uma   (Siva),
who   is   worshipped   by   all   the   worlds,   the   protector   of   all
beings,   spoke   thus   to   the   king   (3).
 
p#£tÞtE{h|   nr½E¿   k¢rÝya¢m   tv   ¢p#ym¯   .
¢Srsa   Dar¢yÝya¢m   SWlrajs¤tamhm¯       ¡ 4¡
p#£t:        pleased
tE        with you
Ah|        am I
nr½E¿        O! Noblest among men!
k¢rÝya¢m        will do
tv        your
¢p#ym¯        what pleases
¢Srsa        with my head
Dar¢yÝya¢m        shall bear
SWlrajs¤ta|        the daughter of the king of mountains
Ahm¯        I

O!   Best   among   men!   I   am   pleased   with   you   and   shall   do
whatever   pleases   you.   I   shall   bear   the   (force)   of   the daughter 
of   the   king   of   mountains   on   my   head'   (4).  
ttaE   hWmvt£   ÇyE¿a   svIlaEknmÞk]ta              .
tda   sa   t¤   mhd#p|   k]Ïva   vEg|   c   ѤÞshm¯   ¡
AakaSadptéÄña   ¢SvE   ¢Sv¢SrÞy¤t                ¡ 5¡
tt:        then
hWmvt£        the daughter of the Himalayas
ÇyE¿a        elder
svIlaEknmÞk]ta        worshipped by all the worlds
tda        then
sa        she
t¤        also
mht¯        mighty
ãp|        form
k]Ïva        assuming
vEg|        speed
c        and
ѤÞshm¯        unbearable
AakaSat¯        from the skies
Aptt¯        descended
gÄña        Ganga
¢SvE        auspicious
¢Sv¢Sr¢s        upon the locks of Siva
ut        it is said

Thereupon,   the   elder   daughter   of   Himavan,   worshipped   by all   the   worlds,   assuming   a   mighty   form   and   gathering unbearable   speed,   descended   from   the   skies,   upon   the auspicious   (matted)   locks  of   Lord   Siva,   it   is   said   (5).
 
A¢cÓtyÅc   sa   dEv£   gÄña   prmѤDIra           .
¢vSaØyh|   ¢h   patal|   ÞæOaEtsa   g¦/   SÄðrm¯   ¡ 6¡
A¢cÓtyt¯        thought
c        and
sa        she
dEv£        goddess
gÄña        Ganga
prmѤDIra        difficult to bear
¢vSa¢m        shall enter
Ah|        I
¢h        indeed
patal|        the nether world
ÞæOaEtsa        along with my flow (of waters)
g¦/        carry
SÄðrm¯        Lord Siva
 
That   extremely   difficult-to   bear   goddess   Ganga   also thought :
`Carrying   Sankara   along   with   my   flow   (of   waters),
I   shall   enter   the   netherworlds   indeed'   (6).
 
tÞyavlEpn|   MaÏva   @ÑGÞt¤   Bgvan¯   hr:   .
¢traEBav¢yt¤|   b¤¢ÑG|   c@E¢æONynÞtda            ¡ 7¡
tÞya:        her
AvlEpn|        arrogance
MaÏva        discerning
@ÑG:        angry
t¤        verily
Bgvan¯        Lord
hr:        Hara (Siva)
¢traEBav¢yt¤|        to make (her) disappear
b¤¢ÑG|        decided
c@E        upon
¢æONyn:        the three-eyed
tda        then
 
Lord   Hara   (Siva)   the   triple-eyed   one,   knowing   about   her
arrogance   and   turning   angry,   then   decided   to   make   her
disappear   (7).  
sa   t¢Þmn¯   p¢tta   p¤Îya  p¤ÎyE  âd#Þy  m¥DI¢n .
¢hmvt¯p#¢tmE   ram   jzamÎflgºrE                ¡ 8¡
sa        she
t¢Þmn¯        that
p¢tta        fell
p¤Îya        holy
p¤ÎyE        the sacred
âd#Þy        of Rudra (Siva)
m¥DI¢n        head
¢hmvt¯p#¢tmE        rivalling the Himalayas
ram        O! Rama!
jzamÎflgºrE        the collection of matted locks that resembled a cave
 
O!   Rama!   That   holy   (Ganga)   then   fell   on   the   head   of   that
Rudra   (Siva),   which   was   holy,   and   which   was   comparable   to
the Himalayan   caves,   owing   to   the   thick   collection   of   matted
locks   (8).  
sa   kT|¢cÓmh£|   gÓt¤|   naS;aEïÏnma¢ÞTta   .
nWv   sa   ¢ngIm|   lEBE   jzamÎflmaE¢hta     ¡ 9¡
sa        she
kT|¢ct¯        by any means
mh£|        earth
gÓt¤|        reach
n        not
AS;aEt¯        could not
yÏn|        effort
Aa¢ÞTta        having taken
n        not
ev        also
sa        she
¢ngIm|        escape
lEBE        gained
jzamÎflmaE¢hta        confounded in the labyrinth of the matted locks
 
She   made   an   effort   to   reach   the   earth   somehow   but   could
not   do   so.   Entrapped   in   the   labyrinth   of   matted   locks   (of
the   Lord),   she   did   not   gain   exit   therefrom   (9).
 
tæOWvabB#mêEv£   s|vÏsrgNan¯   bh\n¯        .
tampÜyn¯   p¤nÞtæO   tp:   prmma¢ÞTt:   ¡ 10¡
tæO        there
ev        itself
AbB#mt¯        went in circles
dEv£        the goddess Ganga
s|vÏsrgNan¯        scores of years
bh\n¯        several
ta|        her
ApÜyn¯        not seeing
p¤n:        again
tæO        there
tp:        austerities
prm|        severe
Aa¢ÞTt:        engaged in
 
There   itself,   that   goddess   went   in   circles   for   numberless
groups   of   years.   Not   seeing   her   (come   down   to   the   earth),
again   (Bhagiratha)   engaged   in   severe   austerities   there itself   (10).
 
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