एतत्ते सर्वमाख्यातं यथा त्रिपथगा नदी। खं गता प्रथमं तात गतिं गतिमतां वर।।1.35.23।।
Meaning
I have told you all this, dear one, of how the three-coursing river first attained the path of the sky, best of the moving.
Word-by-word (pada-artha)
| Word | Devanagari | Meaning | Grammatical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| etat te sarvam ākhyātam | एतत् ते सर्वम् आख्यातम् | all this has been told to you | Nominative singular |
| yathā tri-pathagā nadī | यथा त्रि-पथगा नदी | how the river that flows in three paths | Nominative singular |
| kham gatā prathamam tāta | खम् गता प्रथमम् तात | first went to the sky, dear child | Accusative / Nominative / Adverbial / Vocative |
| gatim gatimatām vara | गतिम् गतिमताम् वर | O best of those who move | Accusative / Genitive plural / Vocative |
Scholar commentary
valmikiramayan.net Prose Commentary
Desiraju Hanumanta Rao's prose rendering with embedded explanatory notes
The source explains the differing interpretations of Ganga's three courses. One reading takes them as: first, her course in the lap of the Himalayas as Ganga; second, her course to heaven with the gods as Deva Ganga, Mandakini, or Sudirghika; and third, her course from heaven to earth, into the ocean and netherworlds, as Jahnavi. A second reading, based on deriving 'gati mataam vara' (best of the moving, granted a path by the sky), takes the first course as her entry into the sky, the second as her entry into heaven, and the third as her later coming to earth. A third view holds that the gods did not leave her partway in the sky before bringing her to heaven, so her three courses are simply Ganga, Mandakini, and Jahnavi.
1 of 16 traditions have commentary on this shloka. Traditions without a verse-specific commentary here are omitted rather than filled in.
Reference: 1.35.23 · Bāla Kāṇḍa