03.108
Lomaśa said.
Having listened to Bhagiratha's words done to please the residents of heaven, the venerable one replied to the king, saying, "Let it be so." (03-108-1)
O mighty-armed one, for your sake, O best of kings, I shall bear the auspicious, divine, holy river of the gods fallen from the sky. (03-108-2)
Having thus spoken, O mighty-armed one, he went to the Himalaya mountain, surrounded by his fierce attendants ready with various weapons. (03-108-3)
Then, standing there, he said to Bhagiratha, the best of men: "O mighty-armed one, request the daughter of the king of mountains, the river. As she falls, the best of rivers, I shall support her from heaven." (03-108-4)
Having heard this speech expressed by Śarva, the king, after purifying himself and bowing, deeply contemplated upon Ganga. (03-108-5)
Then, after the king deeply contemplated, the beautiful sacred water, seeing Ishana standing, suddenly fell from the sky. (03-108-6)
Seeing her fall, the gods, along with the great sages, gandharvas, serpents, and rākṣasas, all assembled out of curiosity to witness (the event). (03-108-7)
Then, Gaṅgā, the daughter of Himavat, fell from the sky, filled with great agitated whirlpools and teeming with fish and crocodiles. (03-108-8)
O King, Hara (Śiva) held her—Ganga, the sky-girdle—on his forehead, fallen like a garland made of pearls. (03-108-9)
She, O King, flowed in three branching streams towards the ocean, her waters filled with masses of foam, resembling rows of swans. (03-108-10)
At places, she winds about in curves, stumbling here and there, clothed in her own foam like an intoxicated woman wandering about. Sometimes, she roars with the sounds of the waters, producing a superb sound. (03-108-11)
Thus, after taking many forms and falling from the sky, upon reaching the earth's surface, she then spoke to Bhagīratha. (03-108-12)
O great king, show me the path by which I should go. For your sake I have come down to earth, O lord of the earth. (03-108-13)
Having heard these words, King Bhagīratha set forth to where the bodies of the great-souled sons of Sagara lay. (03-108-14)
O best of men, indeed, for the purpose of purification, with meritorious water. (03-108-14)
After bearing Gaṅgā, Hara, honored by the worlds, went with the gods to Mount Kailāsa, the foremost of mountains. (03-108-15)
And the king, accompanied by Gaṅgā, upon reaching the ocean, swiftly caused the ocean—the abode of Varuṇa—to be filled. (03-108-16)
The king regarded Gaṅgā as his daughter, and being fully satisfied in his desire, he offered water there to his ancestors. (03-108-17)
All this has now been told to you—how Gaṅgā, the river flowing along three paths, was brought down to earth for the purpose of filling the ocean. (03-108-18)
Just as the ocean was drunk by the great-souled one for a purpose, and as Vātāpi was destroyed, so too, O lord, was the slayer of a Brāhmaṇa annihilated. (03-108-19)
O great king, that which you ask me by Agastya, (I will tell you). (03-108-19)
