{"collection":"Hinduism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/hin/hmvp/hmvp45.htm","path":"hin/hmvp/hmvp45.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/hin/hmvp/hmvp45.htm","text":"Hindu Mythology, Vedic and Puranic, by W.J. Wilkins, [1900]\nGang\u0101 (the Ganges), the chief of the sacred streams of India, whose waters are said to have the power of cleansing from all past, present, and future sins, is\n \n \nClick to enlarge\nGANG\u0100.\nbelieved to be divine, and the account of her birth and appearance on earth forms an interesting episode in the R\u0101m\u0101yana. The story is told to R\u0101ma by the hermit\n[paragraph continues] Visvamitra, as he was travelling with R\u0101ma and his brother Lakshman. As soon as they reach the banks of the sacred stream,\nAs soon as they were seated, R\u0101ma said-\nThe sage next tells R\u0101ma that there was a mighty King of Ayodha named S\u0101gara \u2020 who, being childless,\nand most anxious to have a son, propitiated the saint Bhrigu (or, according to other accounts, his grandson) by penances extending over a hundred years. At length the saint, pleased with S\u0101gara's worship, said\u2014\nHearing this, the wives are anxious to know which of them is to have the one son, and which the multitude; but this the Br\u0101hman leaves them to decide. Kesini wishes for the one; and Sumati is pleased with the prospect of having sixty thousand.\nAfter a time King S\u0101gara determined to make an Asvamedha, or horse sacrifice, with the object of becoming the reigning Indra, or king of the gods. Preparations for this are accordingly made, and Prince Ansum\u0101n, the son of the elder wife, is appointed by the king to follow the horse set apart for the sacrifice; for, according to the ritual, it was to be set free, and allowed to wander for a whole year wherever it would. Indra, knowing the great merit that S\u0101gar would obtain by this sacrifice, and fearing that he might even lose his crown,\nThe officiating priest, being aware of this, cries out\u2014\nKing S\u0101gara, incited by the Br\u0101hman, urges his sons to search until they find the stolen horse:\nThe sons commence their search. Each digs a league in depth, and by this means they reach the centre of the earth; but cannot see the horse. Alarmed at their destructive work, the gods repair to Brahm\u0101, and tell him what is happening. He cheers them with the information that Vishnu, in the form of Kapila, will protect the Earth, his bride, and that these sons of S\u0101gara will be consumed to ashes. The gods, encouraged by these words, repair to their home and patiently wait for deliverance.\nAfter digging sixty thousand leagues into the earth without obtaining any tidings of the horse, the princes return to their father, asking what can be done. S\u0101gara commands them to dig on, and continue their search until the horse is found. At length they\nHearing no news of his sons, the king became anxious, and sent his grandson Ansum\u0101n to look after them. He inquires of all he meets on the earth, and is encouraged by the information that he shall certainly bring back the stolen horse. At length he reaches the spot where his brothers were consumed, and is overwhelmed with grief at their fate. At this moment his uncle Garuda appears and consoles him, saying\u2014\nThe prince takes the steed; the sacrifice is completed, and for 30,000 years King S\u0101gara was thinking how he could induce Gang\u0101 to come down from heaven. At length, not having succeeded in forming a successful plan, the monarch himself went to heaven. Ansum\u0101n\nreigned in his stead, who, in his turn, tried to find some means of liberating his brothers. His son Dilipa also made a similar, but equally unsuccessful, effort. It was given to Dilipa's son Bhagirath to accomplish this work. Bhagirath had no son. He, in order to obtain this boon, and also to free his kinsmen from their sad fate, practised most severe austerities, until at length Brahm\u0101 said\u2014\n\"Blest monarch, of a glorious race,\n \u00a0Thy fervent rites have won my grace.\n \u00a0Well hast thou wrought thine awful task:\n \u00a0Some boon in turn, O hermit, ask.\"\u00a0*\nTo which Bhagirath replies as follows\u2014\nTo this the god replies\u2014\nBrahm\u0101 then re-ascended to the skies; but Bhagirath remained for a whole year\u2014\nSiva, pleased with this devotion, promised to sustain the shock of the descent of the waters on his head; but Gang\u0101 was not at all pleased when commanded to descend to earth:\nSiva, however, was a match for the wrathful deity. He held her in the coils of his hair until her anger abated, and then she fell into the Vindu lake, from whence proceed the seven sacred streams of India. This lake is not known; and of the seven streams mentioned, two only are familiar to geographers, the Ganges and the Indus. One branch of this stream followed Bhagirath wherever he went. On the way the waters flooded the sacrificial flame of Jahnu, a saint. In his anger he drank up its waters, and Bhagirath's work seemed to be fruitless. But at the intercession of the king and Brahm\u0101, the saint allowed the waters to flow from his ears. From this fact one of the many names of Gang\u0101 is J\u0101hnavi, or daughter of Jahnu. At length Bhagirath reached the ocean, and descending to the depths where S\u0101gara's sons were lying, Gang\u0101 followed until her waters touched the ashes, when\u2014\nAs a reward for his meritorious work, Brahm\u0101' said to him\u2014\nAs a consequence of faith in this legend, one of the most frequented places of pilgrimage in India is S\u0101gar Island, the place where the river Ganges and ocean meet.\nIn addition to the Ganges, there are many other rivers regarded as sacred by the Hindus; the worship of these, and bathing in them, being productive of almost as great blessings as are to be obtained from Gang\u0101 herself. Some of these are considered as males and some as females. The following is not a complete list, but it contains the names of the rivers most generally worshipped.\nMale rivers:\u2014The Sona and the Brahmaputra.\nFemale rivers:\u2014The God\u0101var\u012b, the K\u0101veri, the Atrey\u012b, the Karaloy\u0101, the Bahud\u0101, the Gomati, the Sarayu, the Gandak\u012b, the Varah\u012b, the Charmanwat\u012b, the Shatadru, the Vip\u0101sh\u0101, the Goutam\u012b, the Karman\u0101sh\u0101, the Air\u0101vat\u012b, the Chandrabh\u0101g\u0101, the Vitast\u0101, the Sindhu, the Krishn\u0101, the Vetravat\u012b, the Bhairav\u0101. \u2020\n461:* Griffiths's \"R\u0101m\u0101yana,\" i. 171.\n461:\u2020 S\u0101gara's birth was supernatural. His father B\u0101hu, King of Ayodha, was expelled from his kingdom. The mother of S\u0101gara p. 462 accompanied her husband to the forest, but, owing to a poisonous drug having been given her by a rival wife, she could not bring forth her son, with whom she had been pregnant for seven years. When her husband died, she wished to be burned with his body; but this was prevented by a sage named Aurva, who assured her that her son would yet be born, and grow up to be a mighty king. When he was born, Aurva gave him the name S\u0101gara (sa, with, and gara, poison). Aurva himself was also born in an extraordinary manner. A king named Kritavirya was very liberal to the Bhrigus, and through his liberality they became rich. His descendants being poor, they asked help of the Bhrigus. On this being refused them, they made an onslaught on the Br\u0101hmans of this family, slaying all they could find, even to children in the womb. One woman concealed her unborn child in her thigh. The Kshattriyas, hearing of this, tried to slay him, but he issued from his mother's thigh with such lustre that he blinded his persecutors. And because he was born from the thigh (uru) of his mother, he was called Aurva.\n462:* Griffiths's \" R\u0101m\u0101yana,\" i. 174.\n463:* Griffiths's R\u0101m\u0101yana,\" i. 175.\n463:\u2020 Ibid., 177.\n464:* Griffiths's \" R\u0101m\u0101yana,\" i. 177.\n465:* Griffiths's \"R\u0101m\u0101yana,\" i. 183.\n465:\u2020 Ibid., 186.\n466:* Griffiths's \"R\u0101m\u0101yana,\" i. 190.\n466:\u2020 Ibid.\n467:* Griffiths's \"R\u0101m\u0101yana,\" i. 193.\n467:\u2020 Ibid., 196.\n468:* Griffiths's \"R\u0101m\u0101yana,\" i. 197.\n468:\u2020 Ward, ii. 217.","title":"Hindu Mythology, Vedic and Puranic: Part III. The Inferio...","type":"page"}