King Bhagīratha

“Like Aṁśumān himself, his son Dilīpa was also unable to bring the Gaṅgā to this material world, and he also became a victim of death in due course of time. Then, Dilīpa’s son, Bhagīratha, performed very severe austerities to bring the Gaṅgā to this material world.”

The first king of the Solar Dynasty was Vaivasvata Manu’s son, Ikṣvāku. Māndhātā, Pūrukutsa, Trasaddasyu, Amaraṇya, Haryaśva, Tribandhana, Triśaṅku, Hariścandra, Rohita, Harita, Campa, Sudeva, Vijaya, Bharuka, Vṛka and Bāhuka all belonged to the Ikṣvāku Dynasty. Being troubled by enemies, Bāhuka went to the forest with his wife, but died there. When Bāhuka’s pregnant wife prepared to die together with her husband, Sage Urva forbade her to do so. The other wives of Bāhuka were envious of her and, in order to eliminate the child in her womb, they fed her a type of poison (gara). Thus, she gave birth to a son who was born with gara, so he was named Sagara. On the advice of Sage Urva, King Sagara performed an aśvamedha-yajña, but Indra kidnapped the horse that was intended for the yajña.

King Sagara had two wives—Sumati and Keśinī. Mahābhārata states that his wives were named Vaidarbhī and Śaibyā. When the sons of Sumati went looking for the stolen horse that was intended for the yajña, they first dug up the earth and formed the sagara (ocean). After a long search they found the horse standing next to Lord Kapila. Mistakenly, they took him to be the thief of the horse. When they expressed their anger toward him, they were all burned to ashes by the fire in their own bodies due to their offense:

“It is sometimes argued that the sons of King Sagara were burned to ashes by fire emanating from the eyes of Kapila Muni. This statement, however, is not approved by greatly learned persons because Kapila Muni’s body is completely in the mode of goodness, and therefore cannot manifest the mode of ignorance in the form of anger, just as the pure sky cannot be polluted by the dust of the Earth.”

Mahābhārata narrates this episode as follows:

Once, King Sagara desired a son, so in order to obtain the blessings of Lord Mahādeva, he performed severe penance. Soon after, Mahādeva was pleased and gave King Sagara a boon that he would get 60,000 sons from one wife but they would all die together, and he would get a brave son from his second wife. Thus, as promised by Lord Mahādeva, 60,000 sons were born from Vaidarbhī and, from Śaibyā, one son as bright as Kārtik was born. The mother and father named this son Asamañjasa . Asamañjasa’s son, Aṁśumān, went to Kapila Muni in search of the horse in order to secure the salvation of his ancestors. Having arrived there, he found the yajña horse and the ashes of the sons of Sumati. Aṁśumān started glorifying Lord Kapila and, by doing so, managed to satisfy Him. Lord Kapila then gave him permission to take the horse but, as Aṁśumān kept on standing before Him, Kapiladeva understood that he wanted to ask for something more. When Lord Kapila learned of his wish, He told him that his ancestors would be liberated if they were offered the oblation water of Mother Gaṅgā. After this, Aṁśumān paid his obeisances to Lord Kapila and returned to his father. King Sagara completed the yajña, gave his kingdom to Aṁśumān and left for the heavenly abode. Despite many great efforts, Aṁśumān’s son Dilīpa failed to bring the Gaṅgā to the Earth. After the death of Dilīpa, his son Bhagīratha decided to perform penance in order to bring the Gaṅgā.

Being pleased by Bhagīratha’s penance, Mother Gaṅgā appeared before him to grant him a benediction. Thus, Bhagīratha requested her to descend to Earth for the salvation of his ancestors. Then Mother Gaṅgā replied, “To fulfill your wish I shall descend to Earth, but I shall require a competent person on the Earth to curb the force and velocity of my fall, otherwise I shall pierce the Earth planet and enter Patāla, the lower planetary system. Actually, I do not wish to descend to Earth, because humans will wash away their sins by taking a dip in my waters, thereby maligning me. If that should occur, then how will I attain liberation from all those sins?” Therefore, King Bhagīratha countered her with two arguments:

1) Pure-hearted sages will take away all the accumulated sins by bathing in your waters, because Lord Hari, the destroyer of all sins, resides in their hearts.

2) The all-prevailing Lord Śiva, who is non-different from and most dear to the Supreme Lord, will endure the pressure of your flow.

After that, Bhāgīratha resolutely performed penance in order to receive the mercy of Lord Śiva. When Lord Śiva became pleased by his penance, he appeared before him. Thus, Bhāgīratha requested him to endure the flow of the Gaṅgā, to which Rudra agreed. So, when the Gaṅgā finally descended to Earth, Śiva took her on his head and the noble King Bhāgīratha took the Gaṅgā to the place where his forefathers were burned to ashes. Bhāgīratha mounted a swift chariot while blowing his conch1 and Mother Gaṅgā followed him, purifying all places in the process. By the mere touch of the water of the Gaṅgā, the sons of Sagara were at once freed from all their sins, and they left for heaven. Mother Gaṅgā descended to Earth because of Bhagīratha, thus she is also known as Bhagīrathī. In this context, Sage Vedavyāsa has glorified the Gaṅgā in three verses:

“Because the sons of Sagara Mahārāja committed a great sin, the heat of their bodies had increased, and they were burned to ashes. However, by the mere touch of the water of the Gaṅgā, the sons of Sagara Mahārāja were elevated to the heavenly planets. Therefore, what is to be said of a devotee who worships Mother Gaṅgā faithfully with a determined vow? One can only imagine the benefit that accrues to such a devotee. Because Mother Gaṅgā emanates from the lotus toe of Lord Hari, she is able to liberate one from material bondage. Therefore, whatever is described herein about her is true, and in no way an exaggeration.”

In the Vana-parva of Mahābhārata, the detailed story of King Sagara, the episode of King Bhagīratha bringing Mother Gaṅgā to Earth and the salvation of the Sagara Dynasty are described. The narration of Mahābhārata is almost identical to that of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.

However, we do find differences in the narration of Valmiki’s Rāmāyana, which is that Mother Gaṅgā appeared as a result of the union between Himālaya and Manorama or Maina (daughter of Sumeru). The demigods prayed to the Himālaya demigod and received River Gaṅgā as a donation2. Lord Brahmā kept River Gaṅgā in his water pot (kamaṇḍalu), and when Bhagīratha learned that River Gaṅgā was contained in the water pot of Brahmā, he left his kingdom at the disposal of his ministers and performed penance to please Brahmā. After one thousand years of penance, Brahmā, along with all the demigods, appeared before Bhagīratha, who disclosed the purpose of his penance to him. After hearing of his desire, Brahmā told him that the Earth would not be able to bear the force of Mother Gaṅgā’s water and, in order to curb her force, one would first have to please Lord Mahādeva.

Bhagīratha performed penance for a year, andmanaged to please Lord Mahādeva, who thereafter accepted his prayer and agreed to bear the falling water of the Gaṅgā. Āśutoṣa Mahādeva is easily pleased. When Gaṅgā Devī learned that Śiva was going to curb her stream of water falling from the heavens, she decided to descend to Earth with great force and enter the lower planets along with Mahādeva. Śiva was wary when he learned of this resolve, so as Gaṅgā descended, Śiva trapped her in the locks of his hair. Gaṅgā Devī could not escape in spite of her many efforts, and when Bhagīratha did not see Gaṅgā, he became anxious and prayed to Śiva. Then, Lord Śiva merged Gaṅgā into Bindu-sarovara. Seven streams of the Gaṅgā emerged from Bindu-sarovara. On the eastern side were three streams: Hlādinī, Pāvanī and Nalinī. On the western side there were three streams: Vankaśu, Sita and Sindhu. The remaining stream followed Bhagīratha and came to be known as Bhāgīrathī. From the narration of the Rāmāyana one learns that two daughters were born from Maina, the wife of Himālaya. The elder daughter was Gaṅgā Devī and the younger was Uma Devī. To ensure the success of a certain task of the demigods, Himālaya sent Gaṅgā Devī to Surloka, the higher planetary system. Uma attained Rudra as her husband after performing great penance. The husband of Gaṅgā is also Mahādeva.

When Bhagīrathī touched the sea, the sons of Sagara ascended to heaven. Since Gaṅgā Devī emerged from the lotus foot of Lord Viṣṇu, she is also known as Viṣṇupadī. The etymological meaning of Gaṅgā is: ‘gamyate brahma-padamanayā gam-gan’ (Gamyad-yoga, Verse 1.122). According to the encyclopedia: ‘gacchatīti gam-gan-ṭāp’ (Viśvakośa).