SECTION XCVIII
(Sambhava Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'The maiden then,
hearing those soft and sweet words of the smiling monarch, and remembering her
promise to the Vasus, addressed the king in reply. Of faultless features, the
damsel sending a thrill of pleasure into the heart by every word she uttered,
said, 'O king, I shall become thy wife and obey thy commands. But, O monarch,
thou must not interfere with me in anything I do, be it agreeable or
disagreeable. Nor shall thou ever address me unkindly. As long as thou shalt
behave kindly I promise to live with thee. But I shall certainly leave thee the
moment thou interferest with me or speakest to me an unkind word.' The king
answered, 'Be it so.' And thereupon the damsel obtaining that excellent
monarch, that foremost one of the Bharata race for her husband, became highly
pleased. And king Santanu also, obtaining her for his wife, enjoyed to the full
the pleasure of her company. And adhering to his promise, he refrained from
asking her anything. And the lord of earth, Santanu, became exceedingly
gratified with her conduct, beauty, magnanimity, and attention to his comforts.
And the goddess Ganga also, of three courses (celestial, terrestrial, and
subterranean) assuming a human form of superior complexion and endued with
celestial beauty, lived happily as the wife of Santanu, having as the fruit of
her virtuous acts, obtained for her husband, that tiger among kings equal unto
Indra himself in splendour. And she gratified the king by her attractiveness
and affection, by her wiles and love, by her music and dance, and became
herself gratified. And the monarch was so enraptured with his beautiful wife
that months, seasons, and years rolled on without his being conscious of them.
And the king, while thus enjoying himself with his wife, had eight children
born unto him who in beauty were like the very celestials themselves. But, O
Bharata, those children, one after another, as soon as they were born, were
thrown into the river by Ganga who said, 'This is for thy good.' And the
children sank to rise no more. The king, however, could not be pleased with
such conduct. But he spoke not a word about it lest his wife should leave him.
But when the eighth child was born, and when his wife as before was about to
throw it smilingly into the river, the king with a sorrowful countenance and
desirous of saving it from destruction, addressed her and said, 'Kill it not!
Who art thou and whose? Why dost thou kill thy own children? Murderess of thy
sons, the load of thy sins is great!'" His wife, thus addressed, replied,
'O thou desirous of offspring, thou hast already become the first of those that
have children. I shall not destroy this child of thine. But according to our
agreement, the period of my stay with thee is at an end. I am Ganga, the
daughter of Jahnu. I am ever worshipped by the great sages; I have lived with
thee so long for accomplishing the purposes of the celestials. The eight
illustrious Vasus endued with great energy had, from Vasishtha's curse, to
assume human forms. On earth, besides thee, there was none else to deserve the
honour of being their begetter. There is no woman also on earth except one like
me, a celestial of human form, to become their mother. I assumed a human form
to bring them forth. Thou also, having become the father of the eight Vasus,
hast acquired many regions of perennial bliss. It was also agreed between
myself and the Vasus that I should free them from their human forms as soon as
they would be born. I have thus freed them from the curse of the Rishi Apava.
Blest be thou; I leave thee, O king! But rear thou this child of rigid vows.
That I should live with thee so long was the promise I gave to the Vasus. And
let this child be called Gangadatta.'"
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