Canto 1 - Boyhood
Bāla-kāṇḍa
Chapter 42: Bhagīratha’s Austerities for Gaṅgā’s Descent
Text 1.42.1
कालधर्मं गते राम सगरे प्रकृतीजनाः।
राजानं रोचयामासुरंशुमन्तं सुधार्मिकम्॥
kāla-dharmaṁ gate rāma sagare prakṛtī-janāḥ
rājānaṁ rocayām āsur aṁśumantaṁ sudhārmikam
kāla-dharmam gate = after died; rāma = O Rāma; sagare = Sagara; prakṛtī-janāḥ = his minister; rājānam = as the next king; rocayām āsuḥ = selected; aṁśumantam = Aṁśumān; sudhārmikam = the very dhārmika.
O Rāma, after Sagara died, his ministers selected the very dhārmika Aṁśumān as the next king.
1 Prakṛtī is the same as prakṛti—the final vowel has been elongated to fulfill metrical requirements.
Now the sage Viśvāmitra provides a direct answer to Śrī Rāma’s question on how Gaṅgā traversed the three worlds. Kāla-dharmam gate indicates Sagara had attained that which everyone who has taken birth certainly attains—death. Prakṛtī-janāḥ means “ministers,” for the Vaijayantī-kośa states that prakṛti can mean “minister” 1.1 The ministers selected Aṁśumān as the next king for it was appropriate.