There lived a King named MahaBhisha who was born in the ikshwaku dynasty. He was a very generous and righteous person. He performed one thousand Ashwamedhas and a hundred Rajasuyas. He made all the gods and Indra very happy. With all his good deeds he was able to go to the DevaLoka and Brahma Loka. He enjoyed all luxuries along with all the gods in the abode of Brahma.
One day in the court of Brahma, Ganga came in the form of a woman. A gust of wind blew and her Saree blew along and her thighs were shown. All the gods turned their heads in a sign of respect, but MahaBhisha looked at her with lust. Brahma was extremely angry with MahaBhisha's behaviour, and he cursed him saying " You will be born in Bhuloka". MahaBhisha repented for what he did and fell on the feet of Brahma. MahaBhisha then said " I know the power of your curse, but please consider my plea. There is a very righteous person named Pratheepa in Bhuloka, I would like to be born to him", Brahma agreed to his request.
Ganga was moved by the situation in which MahaBhisha landed, she felt that if it was not for her, he would have been fine. She was impressed by his feelings for her. She started getting attracted towards him. Her love grew for him even more when he was cursed by Brahma. She followed MahaBhisha to Bhuloka. On the way she met with the eight Vasus, they were leaving the DevaLoka and were in a bad state. She asked them what the problem was and where they were headed. They replied saying they were headed to Bhuloka. "We were cursed by Vasishta to be born to humans, we do not wish to be born to any normal woman. We heard about you and are on our way to meet you. MahaBhisha will be born to Pratheepa as Shantanu. You will be united with him, If you oblige we will be born to you and Shantanu."
Ganga obliged to their request, Vasus then said "We will be born one after other in a row, as soon as we are born please leave us in to water. We would like get rid of our human life immediately.Vasishta has also ordered us to do so". But Ganga replied saying " If all of you leave your human form, I would at least want one son who can live longer". They said " The eighth Vasu will be your son who will live. He will take 1/8th of our life span and will live longer. Are you fine with that?" Ganga and Vasus mutually agreed and left for Bhuloka. Pratheepa was the King of Hasthinapur, one day he was doing penance on the banks of river Ganga. She came and stood in front of him, she was extremely beautiful, her body was golden in color. Her eyes were very bright and beautiful and her beauty was divine. She looked at him and smiled and sat on his right thigh.
Pradeepa was taken back by this behaviour and questioned her " Why are you sitting on my thigh? Who are you?". She said " I came for you, I like you. I will be your wife". Pradeepa replied saying " This cannot happen. I will not see or touch any other woman other than my wife Sunanda. You cannot be my wife, don't waste your efforts. Another thing is, a wife can sit on the left thigh and kids should sit on the right thigh. Since you sat on my right thigh you are my daughter in law". Ganga approved to what Pradeepa said.
Among the sons of King Pradeepa, eldest son Devapi suffered from leprosy and abdicated his inheritance to become a hermit, son Bahlika devoted his life to conquer the oldAryan territories and hence Shantanu had become the King. Pradeepa left to become a hermit after Shantanu was crowned as King. While leaving he told Shantanu " you will find a beautiful woman on the banks of Ganga, you will have to marry her. Do not ask her whereabouts. Just agree to what she has to say".
One day Shantanu went for hunting, he was alone during the hunt. He reached the banks of river Ganga. He was enjoying the cool breezes on the banks of the river, he then saw a very beautiful woman sitting on a rock by the bank. She was glowing with feminine beauty, she wore a silk saree and was wearing ornaments worn by gods. Shantanu was taken aback by her divine glow and beauty and thought" Is she the goddess of the forest? Or does she belong to Nāga clan? Or is she a goddess? Is she Gandharva ? Who is she? How can a human come in to this forest? Who is she waiting for? Her face and smile look very familiar, like I have known her for a long time. Maybe she is the one who my father told me about? No doubt she is the one". He wanted to ask her but then he stopped himself. Kamadeva released his arrows and made them fall in love with each other. " I have been waiting for you for a long time now" said Ganga, "I have been longing to meet you" said Shantanu. " Do not say no to whatever I do" said Ganga, " My father has already asked me to follow what you say" said Shantanu. " We shall live together as long as to listen to me and never question me for anything I do, the moment you question me, I will have to leave you and go forever" said Ganga, " I completely agree to your demands" said Shantanu.
Shantanu and Ganga were very compatible and happy in each others company. Her life revolved around him and he could not live a second without her. Ganga conceived and gave birth to a healthy baby boy, she immediately took him in to the river banks and drowned him in the river. Shantanu didn't utter a word, she repeated her act of drowning the babies soon after she gave birth. Shantanu was heartbroken, he knew questioning her would be the end of their relationship, he was very much worried of her demonic acts and was getting impatient. Ganga became pregnant for the 8th time and as usual she began proceeding towards the river banks to drown the child. Shantanu became furious and said " You have already killed seven of my kids, I kept quiet all this time because of your love, you do not have sympathy or the feeling of guilt for having done all this, I will not let go of this baby."
Ganga stopped right there and she began smiling and said " Well, this is the end of our relationship, but I will make everything clear to you of my behavior". You have mistaken me for a human being but I am the river goddess 'Ganga'. All these baby boys areEight Vasus, they had to take human form because of the curse of Sage Vasishta. They came to me and said that they wished to be born in my womb and requested that they be drowned and given salvation as soon as they were born. I had to take the form of a Woman because of this godly act, you will also reach heaven because you have fathered the Eight Vasus. This eight son of yours has some work to accomplish on this earth, and this is why you are destined to question me today. He will grow up to be a scholar who is well versed in all Dharmas, he will live for the welfare of the world.
"The Eight Vasus?" exclaimed Shantanu " Aren't they Gods? I thought they were ones who were not worried about anything, who were not connected to the human world. They being born as humans? Were they cursed by Sage Vasishta ? Then, seven of them will be going to heaven and the eighth one will be held back here on earth, I am very confused" he said. "Yes, Sage Vasishta' s curse is the reason for all this" said Ganga. " Varuna's son Vasishta had constructed an Ashram in the cave of Mount Meru and was performing penance in there.Nandini, was theKamadhenu that lived withVasishta in his Ashram. She was the daughter ofSurabhi who is the daughter of Daksha, and the wife of the rishi Kasyapa. She was a miraculous cow of plenty who could give her owner whatever he desired. One day the Eight Vasus, accompanied by their wives were strolling on Mount Meru. Nandini, from Vasishta's Ashram caught their glance. They were very much amazed by the cow's ability to bestow anything to its owner. The eighth Vasu Prabhasa's wife Yogasiddhi started to admire the cow and had this strong desire to own it. "Dear, the milk of this cow is so miraculous that the person who drinks it will live for ten thousand years, they will be free of diseases and will never show the signs of aging. The people who own it are very great. Jithavathi, who is the daughter of Useenara is my friend. She lives on Nara Loka, I always wanted to give her something. I wish I could give her this Kamadhenu." said Yogasiddhi to her husband Prabhasa. Everyone had come to a conclusion that they will be taking the cow and Prabhasa took the initiative and took the cow along with him.
Unable to find Nandini, Vasishta searched for the cow throughout the forest. Finally with his clairvoyance was able to find out that she has been taken by the vasus. He got very angry and curses them saying " Go take birth in a human womb!". After knowing about the curse, the Eight Vasus came rushing to sage Vasishta and pleaded him to forgive them. " We are guilty of the mistake and we did that in ignorance. You are the personification of Dharma, please relieve us from Nara Loka very soon." they said. Vasishta's anger subdued. " Let it happen as you wish, as soon as you get a human body, you will be relieved of it. But Prabhasa is the culprit and is responsible for all this to happen, hence he will be there on earth for a long time. He will not have any kids" said Vasishta ." Prabhasa, is this son Devavrata, this is the godly secret. I am leaving now, Devavrata will be raised by me until he is 16 years old" said Ganga and she vanished in to thin air along with the baby.
Everything seemed like a dream to Shantanu, he could not recover from what had happened. The time he spent with Ganga felt like a fraction of a second. Days passed by, his kingdom expanded in all directions, he was respected by kings of different countries and kingdoms, he was the embodiment of Dharma. One day Shantanu went on hunting and reached the banks of Ganga, the river was flowing slowly and felt like it was flowing in a slim lane. Shantanu felt that maybe Ganga was feeling leftout and hence was drying up in his absence. He walked on the banks and walked towards a small island on which a handsome young lad who looked like a prince was learning archery, he created a dam with arrows. That was the reason why Ganga was flowing slowly and looked like it was meandering in a small lane. The prince resembled Shantanu very much, Shantanu was surprised by this, he felt a very affectionate and fatherly feeling rushing in his mind towards the prince. The prince looked at Shantanu, the prince also reciprocated with feelings of affection, love, respect towards the king. The prince was unable to understand his feelings towards a stranger.
In the meantime Ganga appeared before them, she held the hand of her son and took him to Shantanu and said " Oh King! this is your son. He studied Vedas like Vasishta, Dharma Shastras like Shukra and Brihaspati and archery like Parasurama. He can be called Sanat Kumara in Brahma Gyana. Hence, I conclude my responsibility here, please take your son with you" and she vanished in to thin air. Shantanu was so excited and extremely ecstatic and he felt that he had obtained the wealth of the entire universe. He assembled all his courtisans, ministers and all the important people in the kingdom and crowned his son as the prince.
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