Bhagīratha and Bhāgīrathī

The Brahma Mahā Purāṇa tells, in the Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 8, how the sixty thousand sons of King Sagara were burned to ashes by the ṛshi Kapila in the nether world. Many in Sagara’s family tried to free them, but only the young prince Bhagīratha succeeded. He went to Kailāsa, pleased Śiva, and led Gaṅgā from Śiva’s matted hair down to the nether world and then to the Earth.

The Gaṅgā led by Bhagīratha, a kshatriya, is called Bhāgīrathī. She flows north of the Vindhya. The Gautamī flows south of it.

Sagara and the horse yajña

There was a king of the family of Ikshvāku, born from Vaivasvata Manu. His name was Sagara, and the ocean (Sāgara) takes its name from him. He was devoted to yajña (fire ritual), generous in giving, and always full of thoughts of dharma. He had two wives, both sincerely devoted to their husband.

For a long time Sagara had no children. He served his family priest Vasishṭha, who advised him to serve ṛshis together with his wives. Later a great tapasvī (one who practises tapas) came to Sagara’s house. He was pleased by Sagara’s welcome and gave a vara (a boon). One wife would bear a single son who would carry on the family. The other wife would bear sixty thousand sons.

The sixty thousand sons and Kapila

Sagara began a great aśvamedha yajña (horse yajña), and Indra stole the horse. Sagara’s sixty thousand sons were sent to find it. They searched svarga (heaven) and the Earth and could not find it. A divine voice then told them to go to the nether world.

They dug into the Earth and entered the nether world. There they found the horse tied near the sleeping ṛshi Kapila. Long before, Kapila had done a great task for the devas. As a reward he had been given the nether world as a place to rest, on one condition: anyone who woke him would at once be burned to ashes.

The asuras had tied the horse near Kapila’s head. They hoped to use the princes as their weapons. The sons of Sagara thought Kapila was the thief and kicked him awake with their feet. Kapila looked at them in fury, and all sixty thousand became ashes in one moment.

Aṃśumān and Dilīpa

Nārada brought the news of this disaster to Sagara. Sagara’s other son, Asamañja, had been sent away from the kingdom for being cruel to the citizens. But Asamañja’s son Aṃśumān went down to the nether world, pleased the ṛshi Kapila, and brought back the horse. In this way Sagara’s yajña was completed. Even so, the ancestors were still not freed.

Aṃśumān’s son was the righteous Dilīpa. Dilīpa’s wise son was the young Bhagīratha.

Bhagīratha’s task

Bhagīratha heard how all his grandfathers had died, and he was full of grief. He asked the king how the sons of Sagara could be freed. He was told to ask Kapila. So Bhagīratha went down to the nether world and bowed to the ṛshi.

Kapila meditated and then gave the answer: “Please Śaṅkara with tapas. Then sprinkle your ancestors with the water that stays in the matted hair of Śiva. After that, you and your ancestors will both be satisfied. Go to the excellent mountain Kailāsa and praise Maheśvara. Do tapas as far as you are able.”

Bhagīratha was only a boy, but his heart was firm. He went to Kailāsa and began his tapas. His prayer to Śiva was simple and touching: “O Śiva, wearer of the crescent moon, I am a boy and my mind is childish. I know nothing. Even so, be pleased with me. May Śiva bring about what is wanted by those who gave me birth and brought me up, those whose gotra (family line) is the same as mine and whose duties are the same.”

Śiva gives Gaṅgā

While Bhagīratha was still praising him, Śiva appeared. He said: “O Bhagīratha of great mind, I will surely give what even the Sādhyas and devas cannot give. Tell me without fear.”

Bhagīratha asked in a few simple words: “To make my ancestors pure, O ruler of the devas, give me the excellent river that stays in your matted hair.”

Śiva smiled and gave the gift. He also told the boy to praise Gaṅgā herself.

Bhagīratha did more tapas and received the grace of Gaṅgā. Though still a child, he acted like a mature person. He led Gaṅgā, who came from Maheśvara, to the nether world and showed everything to Kapila. He placed Gaṅgā there in the proper way and walked around her with respect. Then he said: “O devī, my ancestors have fallen because of the śāpa (curse) of the ṛshi Kapila. O mother, save them.”

Gaṅgā frees the ancestors and fills the ocean

Gaṅgā said, “So be it.” She sprinkled the ashes of the sixty thousand princes who had been burned to ashes in the nether world. She filled the holes that the sons of Sagara had dug. She flooded the mountain Meru and then paused.

Bhagīratha said: “You must stay in the land of holy rites.” Gaṅgā agreed. She came to the Himālaya, flowed through the land of Bhārata, and went on toward the eastern sea. She filled that sea, which Agastya had emptied when he drank its waters to show the asuras who were hiding in it.

The two rivers from Śiva’s matted hair

In this way the Gaṅgā held in Śiva’s matted hair took two forms. These were two rivers, brought down by two different devotees.

The Gaṅgā brought by the brāhmaṇa Gautama, through the power of his tapas and the grace of Śiva, is called Gautamī. She flows south of the Vindhya and goes through the Daṇḍaka forest to the eastern sea. Brahmā, Vishṇu and Śiva together preside over her.

The Gaṅgā led by the kshatriya Bhagīratha from Śiva’s hair, through the tapas he did as a child, is called Bhāgīrathī. She stays on the peak of Himavān and flows north of the Vindhya.

Among all the channels of the Bhāgīrathī, the Gautamī is the best. She was brought by the power of a brāhmaṇa’s tapas, and she carries strands of Śiva’s own matted hair.

Sources

• Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 8