The life of the goddess ganga,
who incarnated as the Ganga (Ganges) river, is fully
described in "The
life of Ganga". Following is only a very short
version of that famous indian epic.
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At one time, the demon Bali acquired
enough power to chase the gods from the heavens.
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When the Gods consulted Vishnu,
he promised aid. |
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Vishnu incarnated as the dwarf
Vamana and tricked Bali to grant him as much of his
kingdom as he could measure in 3 steps. With the first
step he covered all of Earth.
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With the second step he covered
all the heavens and while doing that Brahma washed his
feet in his kamandula or water pot, from which Ganga
would be born. |
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With the third step, Vamana pushed
Bali back to the underworld.
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Ganga was
born from the water in Brahma's kamandula. Ganga was
very pretty and danced in the heavens to the delight
of all. |
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The 8 vasus obtained the vow
from Ganga that she would become their mother when incarnated
as a river. They themselves were suffering from a curse
to incarnate given by Saint Vashista and hoped that
Ganga would drown them as soon as they were born. |
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So Indra stole Sagar's horse before
the ritual could be completed and tied it to the tree
under which Sage Kapila was meditating. |
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When the 60.000 sons of King Sagar
found the horse, they
thought Sage Kapila had stolen it. Feeling disturbed
and insulted, Sage Kapila burned them to ashes with
yogic fire that came out of his third eye.
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When Ansuman, the last remaining
son of King Sagar came to know the fate of his brothers,
he asked Sage Kapila how to liberate their souls from
the ashes. |
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In the seventh generation of King
Sagar, Bhagiratha was born. His austerities were so
disciplined that he could finally please Brahma enough
to help. |
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Brahma had no objection to release
Ganga, except that Bhagiratha first had to worship Shiva,
so that he would accept to hold the force of Ganga in
his hairs, lest she would overwhelm the entire Earth.
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Thus Bhagiratha undertook further
penances to please Shiva. When Ganga descended from the heavens, Shiva covered the sky with
his hair locks, so that not a drop would fall on Earth. |
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When Ganga flooded the ashram of
Saint Janu, he swallowed her as a lesson in respect
and only released Ganga out of
pity for Bhagiratha. |
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Finally Ganga reached the ashram
of Sage Kapila and freed the 60.000 souls from their
ashes. Ganga continues to purifie the people that
take bath in her and is herself purified by the saints
who will bath in her water.
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Free
Life of Ganga Desktop Wallpaper |