Valmiki Ramayana 1.43.27: Bala Kanda, Sarga 43, Shloka 27
गङ्गावतरणम्
The Descent of the Gaṅgā and Bhagiratha’s Fulfilment
Addressed to Rama and LakshmanaSetting: At the Gaṅgā tīrtha where abhiṣeka/bathing is performedPlaces named: Gagana (heaven/sky), VasudhātalaThose fallen to earth seek restoration via sacred bathing
शापात्प्रपतिता ये च गगनाद्वसुधातलम् ॥२७॥
कृत्वा तत्राभिषेकं ते बभूवुर्गतकल्मषाः ।
śāpāt prapatitā ye ca gaganād vasudhā-talam ||27||
kṛtvā tatrābhiṣekaṃ te babhūvur gata-kalmaṣāḥ |
और जो लोग किसी शाप की वजह से आसमान से ज़मीन पे गिर गए थे, वो वहाँ नहाकर साफ हो गए।
Sandhi Notes
- शापात्प्रपतिता = शापात् प्रपतिताः
- गगनाद्वसुधातलम् = गगनात् वसुधातलम्
- तत्राभिषेकं = तत्र अभिषेकम्
- बभूवुर्गतकल्मषाः = बभूवुः गतकल्मषाः।
Those cursed to fall from heaven to earth were absolved of their sins after bathing there (in the waters of Ganga).
The teaching
Even when one falls by śāpa/karma, sincere purification and right means can remove kalmaṣa and reopen the path to restoration.
Duties in tension
- Accountability to the moral order (accepting the curse’s consequence)
- Desire for restoration and return to rightful station
- Ethical theme
- Prāyaścitta / karma-phala
- How it resolves
- Prāyaścitta through tīrtha-abhiṣeka leading to purification
Devotion and practice
Supports practices of repentance, bathing/ablution symbolism, and faith in purification through sacred means.
- Deity praised
- Gaṅgā as purifier (implicit)
Mood and themes
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion), with Shanta (peace)
- Mood
- Penitent, relieved, cleansed
Themes
- Dharma
- Karma
- Purification
- Itihasa
Bondage and release: descent due to doṣa, then śuddhi leading toward regained station—an allegory for jīva’s return from impurity to clarity.
Kaṭha’s motif of falling into lower states through ignorance and rising through knowledge/purification (echoed here as ritual-ethical ascent).
Beings fallen by curse become purified after abhiṣeka at the descended waters
Mahābhārata tīrtha narratives where bathing removes curse/taint; Purāṇic accounts of śāpa-vimocana through Gaṅgā-snāna
Smṛti notions of prāyaścitta via snāna/abhiṣeka
Rāmāyaṇa 1.43.28 (restoration to sky and own worlds)
Anuṣṭup (śloka)
Solemn
Slightly plaintive opening on ‘śāpāt’ resolving to steadier tone on ‘gatakalmaṣāḥ’
FAQs
Dharma affirms moral restoration: even the consequences of wrongdoing or curse can be alleviated through purifying, rightful means and sincere reorientation.
The narrative explains the salvific effect of bathing in Gaṅgā after her descent—cursed fallers regain purity.
Hope and accountability: one acknowledges affliction (curse/karma) and seeks cleansing through sanctioned sacred practice.
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