Gaṅgāvataraṇa

The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells the descent of Gaṅgā to earth in the 9th Skanda. Three generations did tapas (austerity) for it: Aṃśumān, Dilīpa and Bhagīratha. Bhagīratha’s great tapas pleased first Gaṅgādevī and then Mahādeva. The holy river then came down to earth, and Sagara’s sixty thousand sons were freed. The account also teaches where Gaṅgā comes from. She flows from the lotus feet of Śrī Hari, through the matted locks of Śiva, and onto the earth.

Background: the sixty thousand sons

Sagara Mahārāja was performing an Aśvamedha yajña. Indra stole the yajña horse and hid it near the āśrama of Bhagavān Kapila in the northeast. Sagara’s sixty thousand sons, born of his first wife Sumati, were sent to find the horse. They dug through the earth in every direction. This digging made the basin of the ocean, and so the ocean is called sāgara. They found the horse near Kapila, who was meditating. They wrongly thought him the thief and rushed at him. Kapila opened his eyes, and in an instant the fire within their own bodies burned them to ash.

The text is clear that this was not Kapila’s anger. As an all-knowing ātman (self) he was wholly free of krodha (anger). Their own wrong conduct toward a mahātmā (great soul) brought about their end.

Sagara’s grandson Aṃśumān was sent to bring back the horse. He found the ash and the horse near Kapila. He offered a deep stotra (hymn of praise) that spoke of Bhagavān Kapila’s knowledge of all things. Kapila told him that only the waters of Gaṅgā could free the sixty thousand. Aṃśumān brought back the horse, and Sagara finished the yajña. Then Sagara, Aṃśumān and Dilīpa each tried to bring Gaṅgā to earth. Each died in the attempt without success.

Bhagīratha’s tapas and Gaṅgādevī’s conditions

Bhagīratha, the son of Dilīpa and the third in line to carry this task, did tapas of great force. Gaṅgādevī was pleased and appeared before him, offering a vara (boon). He asked her to come down to earth and make his ancestors’ ash holy.

Gaṅgādevī raised two concerns.

The first concern. She said: “When I fall from the sky with great speed, I will split the earth and go down to Rasātala, unless some being is able to bear the force of my fall.”

The second concern. She said: “When I flow on earth, human beings will wash their gathered pāpa (sin) in my waters. Who will then cleanse me of that pāpa?”

Bhagīratha answered both with wisdom. For the first, he said that Mahādeva Śiva alone could bear her. Śiva is the ātmā of all beings, and this whole world is woven in him like warp and weft. For the second, he said that sants who stand firm in brahmanishṭhā (rest in Brahman) and have given up all attachment make the world pure by their very presence. When such sants bathe in Gaṅgā, the purity of Śrī Hari who lives within them will wash away whatever impurity she may carry.

Bhagīratha pleases Śiva

Bhagīratha then turned his tapas toward Mahādeva. In a very short time, which shows Śiva’s endless compassion, Śiva was fully pleased. He was told of Gaṅgādevī’s wish that someone bear her descent. Śiva always works for the good of all beings. He kindly agreed, received Gaṅgā in his matted locks, and let her go gently to flow upon the earth.

The descent and the freeing of Sagara’s sons

Bhagīratha rode in a chariot that moved as fast as the wind, and he led Gaṅgā forward. She flowed behind him and made pure all the lands she passed. He brought her to the northeast, where the ash of Sagara’s sixty thousand sons lay. The moment Gaṅgā’s waters touched the ash, all sixty thousand were freed and went up to svarga (heaven).

The Bhāgavata’s teaching on Gaṅgā

The Bhāgavata ends this account with a teaching. Gaṅgā comes down from the sky, from the lotus feet of Vishṇu. She flows through the matted locks of Śiva and reaches the earth. It is no surprise that she can purify, for she comes from the lotus feet of Ananta, and those feet are themselves the source of freedom from saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death). Those who worship Gaṅgā with faith and steadiness, and give her respectful devotion, will reach svarga.

The Bhāgavata also records the deep meditation of Aṃśumān’s stotra at Kapila’s feet. It teaches that the all-knowing Bhagavān Kapila can never be grasped by the tools of body and mind.

Sources

• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 9th Skanda, Chapters 8–9