River Ganga
The Ganges, the ultimate holy river, is the main river of India. It originates from the Gomukh of Gangotri and falls in the Bay of Bengal, purifying many states of India and joining it in the ocean. The story of this fallen river is very beautiful which makes the mind of the listener and listener self-reliant.
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| Gomukh |
Legend of Origin
The Shiva Purana and Shri Madbhagwat mahapurana have different contexts for the birth of the Ganges River.
Story Of Shiva Purana
Himalaya Raj and his wife Maina Devi had two daughters, Ganga and Parvati, who were influential and endowed with divine qualities. Parvati received Shiva in the form of a groom by performing rigorous austerity and on the other hand, Ganga was independent and followed an arbitrary path, not obeying any bond.
Pleased with Ganga's extraordinary talent, the devtas took her to heaven for the welfare of the world, seeking her from the Himalayas and she started wandering in heaven.
Story Of Shri MadhBhagwat
According to this legend, when Lord Vamana asked for three feet of earth from King Baali when he took his first step, he measured the whole earth and the universe. During this time, his foot collided with the top of the Himalayas and a stream came out from there which was absorbed into lord Brahma Stoup. Then the river Ganges started wandering in heaven.Story Of Ganga's Descent On Earth
Several generations before Lord Rama's dynasty, A glorious King Sagara. ruled the country. He had two wives. Elder queen Keshani who was the daughter of the king of Vidarbha and was beautiful and truthful. His second queen was Sumati who was the daughter of King Arishtanemi. but they had no child.Penance by King Sagar
To get a son, Maharaj went to the Himalayas and meditated along with his two wives. Pleased with his penance, Maharishi Bhrigu granted a boon that one of his two queens would have 60,000 sons and the other would have only one son who would increase the lineage. The Maharishi told the king that you have to decide which queen would give birth to a son and which one would raise 60,000 children.
Then the elder queen Keshani accepted to be the mother of a son who extended the dynasty. In due course of time, Keshani gave birth to a son named Asmanjas. He was very cruel. He used to enjoy killing people. The king also got him married, but he did not improve. Asmanjas had one son named Anshuman. He was very simple-hearted and God-fearing.
On the other hand, from the womb of queen Sumati, a fetus of the shape of a womb came out. which was divided into 60,000 pieces. And all those embryos were developed by keeping them in a pit of ghee. (Just like today, they are born as test tubes), 60,000 sons of king Sagar were the most powerful warriors. But they were also very proud of themself.
Sage Kapil Curses Sagar's Sons
They advised King Sagar to perform an Ashwamedgha Yagya to win the whole world. At the time, King Sagar performed the Ashwamedgha Yagya on the orders of the sages.
His 60,000 glorious sons followed behind the horse of the yagna, where the horse roamed, that area started coming under the territory of King Sagar. Seeing this, Indra, the king of heaven, was afraid that after performing the Ashwamedha yagna, King Sagar would attack heaven. Indra stole the yagna horse with his elusive lore and hid it in sage Kapil
ashram.
Unable to find the yajna horse, the sons of king Sagar reached to Sage Kapil ashram. At that time, Sage Kapil was busy meditating. The sons of the king thought that Sage Kapil had stolen the horse and hence they started saying harsh sentences to sage Kapil. Due to this Sage, Kapil became very angry and cursed Sagar's sons and consumed them.
Conversation Between Anshuman And Sage Kapil
When this news reached to King Sagar, he sent Anshuman to Kapil ashram. When Anshuman saw his 60,000 uncles being engulfed, he became extremely sad. Due to the anger of sage Kapil, they all were consumed in the fire. They all had become spirits.
When Anshuman asked Sage Kapil the remedy for their liberation. Sage Kapil said, that they have not been consumed by ordinary fire, they have been consumed by his anger, so they cannot be freed from ordinary water.
Lord Kapil told that only if mother Ganga comes to the earth from heaven, then their salvation is possible. Hearing this, Anshuman came back to Ayodhya with a very sad heart. When the time came, King Sagar went to the forest giving the throne to Anshuman.
Penance Of Lord Bramha By Anshuman
Anshuman was very religious he had a very powerful son Dilip. When the time came, Anshuman gave the throne to Dilip and went to the penance of Lord Brahma for the incarnation of Ganga on earth. He did harsh penance of Brahma but Lord Brahma did not please. Anshuman died while doing penance and went to heaven.
Penance Of Lord Bramha By Dilip
After Anshuman, his son Dilip gave the throne to his son Bhagirath and went to the penance of Lord Brahma. He did harsh penance of Lord Brahma. but Lord Brahma did not delight. Dilip also died while doing austerities of Lord Brahma.
Penance Of Lord Bramha By Bhagiratha
Bhagiratha was a great king, he went to the Himalayas and started a very harsh penance of Lord Bramha. He practised austerity of Brahma for many years, Lord Brahma pleased and appeared in front of Bhagiratha He asked for a boon. Then Bhagirath prayed to Lord Bramha for the incarnation of Devi Ganga on Earth for the liberation of 60,000 sons of king Sagar. Then Lord Brahma said, that Ganga can come on Earth but the Earth is not capable of holding the flow of river Ganga, so you should request Lord Shiva to absorb the flow of river Ganga.
Austerity Of Lord Shiva By Bhagirath
Then Bhagirath started the very harsh penance of Mahadev.He stood on his toe and began to do penance.Mahadev delighted and appeared to Bhagirath. He said that he is willing to hold the velocity of the Ganges on his head.
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| Lord Shiva holding Ganges on his head |
Arrival Of Goddess Ganga On Earth
Then river Ganga, with its full velocity, went towards the Earth, but Lord shiva absorbed the entire water of the Ganges into his hair. Even after a lot of effort, Ganga could not be exempted from the roots of Mahadev. Again Bhagirath made Lord Shiva's penance to release river from his hair.
Lord Mahadev satisfied and left Ganga at the Himalayan point. Then Ganga started flowing into 7 streams. 3 streams Haladini, Pavini and Nalini flowed towards the east and Suchakshu, Sita and Sindhu towards the west. one stream flew behind Bhagirath for the liberation of 60,000 sons of King Sagar.
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| King Bhagirathi and Goddess Ganga |
Why is River Ganga known As Jahnavi
River Ganga started following the path of King Bhagirath. Flowing with the ragged velocity, Ganga destroyed sage jangham's hut and Yagya shala. Sage became angry and all the streams of Bhagirathi were drunk by him. After praising the Sage by Bhagirath He expelled Ganga from his ears and accepted Ganga as his daughter. So, therefore, Ganga is also known as jahnavi.
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| Goddess Ganga |
Salvation Of The Sons Of Sagar
The flow of Ganga to the emergence of many pilgrimages and finally, it reached the place where 60,000 sons of Sagar were consumed. With the divine touch of Mother Ganga, they were freed from the phantom life and attained heaven.The place where 60,000 sons of Sagar were freed is located in the Ganga Sagar in West Bengal, where the festival takes place every year on Makar Sankranti and from there Ganga goes ahead and meets the Sea.
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| Ganga Sagar |
।। OM NAMO NARAYANA ।।
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