SECTION –CVIII
(Tirtha-yatra Parva Continued)
"Lomasa said, 'That same king, of a powerful
bow, standing at the head of the surrounding, (i.e., the occupant of an
imperial throne) of a powerful car, (i.e., possessing every great fighting
power) became the delight of the eyes and the soul of all the world. And he of
the powerful arm came to learn how his forefathers had met an awful end from
Kapila of mighty soul, and how they had been unable to attain the region of
gods. And he with a sorrowful heart made over his kingly duties to his
minister, and, O lord of men! for practising austerities, went to the side of
the snowy Mountain (the Himalayas). And, O most praiseworthy of men, desirous
of extinguishing his sins by leading an austere life, and (thereby) obtaining
the favour of the (goddess) Ganga, he visited that foremost of
mountains--Himalaya. And he beheld it adorned with peaks of diverse forms full
of mineral earth; besprinkled on all sides with drops from clouds which were
resting themselves upon the breeze; beautiful with rivers and groves and rocky
spurs, looking like (so many) palaces (in a city); attended upon by lions and
tigers that had concealed themselves in its caves and pits; and also inhabited
by birds of checkered forms, which were uttering diverse sounds, such as the
Bhringarajas, and ganders, and Datyuhas, and water-cocks, and peacocks and
birds with a hundred feathers, and Jivanjivakas, and black birds, and Chakoras
of eyes furnished with black corners, and the birds that love their young. And
he saw the mountain abounding in lotus plants growing in delightful reservoirs
of water. And the cranes rendered it charming with their sounds; and the
Kinnaras and the celestial nymphs were seated on its stony slabs. And the
elephants occupying the cardinal points had everywhere robbed its trees with
the end of their tusks; and the demi-gods of the Vidyadhara class frequented
the hill. And it was full of various gems, and was also infested by snakes
bearing terrible poison and of glowing tongues. And the mountain at places
looked like (massive) gold, and elsewhere it resembled a silvery (pile), and at
some places it was like a (sable) heap of collyrium. Such was the snowy hill
where the king now found himself. And that most praiseworthy of men at that
spot betook himself to an awful austere course of life. And for one thousand
years his subsistence was nothing but water, fruit and roots. When, however, a
thousand years according to the calculation of gods had elapsed, then the great
river Ganga having assumed a material form, manifested to him her (divine)
self.'
"Ganga said. 'O great king! what dost thou
desire of me? And what must I bestow on thee? Tell me the same, O most
praiseworthy of men! I shall do as thou mayst ask me.' Thus addressed, the king
then made his reply to Ganga, the daughter of the snowy Hill, saying, 'O
grantress of boons! O great river! my father's fathers, while searching for the
horse, were sent by Kapila to the abode of the god of death. And those same
sixty thousand sons of Sagara of mighty soul, having met with the majestic
Kapila, perished, (to a soul) in an instant of time. Having thus perished,
there hath been no place for them in the region of heaven. O great river! So
long as thou dost not besprinkle those same bodies with thy water, there is no
salvation for these same Sagara's sons. O blessed goddess! carry thou my
forefathers, Sagara's sons, to the region of heaven. O great river! on their
account am I beseeching thee forsooth."
"Lomasa said, 'Ganga, the goddess saluted by
the world, having heard these words of the king, was well pleased, and spake to
Bhagiratha the following words: 'O great king! I am prepared to do what thou
dost ask me; there is no doubt therein. But when I shall descend from the sky
to the earth, the force of my fall will be difficult to sustain. O protector of
men! In the three worlds there exists none who is able to sustain the same,
excepting Siva, the most praiseworthy of gods, the great Lord with the throat
of sable blue. O (prince) of a powerful arm! Obtain the favour, by practising
austerities, of that same Siva-giver of boons. That same god will sustain my
descent upon his head. Thy desire he will fulfill, the desire, namely, to be of
service to thy fathers, O king!' Then the great king Bhagiratha having heard
the same, went to the Kailasa hill, and betaking himself to a severe course of
penances, at the expiration of a certain length of time obtained the favour of
that worker of blessings (Siva). And, O protector of men! that same best of
men, in order that his forefathers might have a place in heaven secured to
them, received from that very Siva the fulfilment of his wish, namely the wish
that the descending Ganga might be sustained.'"
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