How Ganges Came to Earth
Long ago the great river Ganges proudly rolled over the plains of heaven, and scorned to descend to earth.
From: Unknown To: 1922 C.E.
Location: Ganges River, India
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From Ancient Tales From Many Lands by Rachel M. Fleming, 1922.
Long ago the great river Ganges proudly rolled over the plains of heaven, and scorned to descend to earth. At that time a great misfortune fell upon Sagar, King of India. His sons were searching for a horse that should be beautiful enough for him to sacrifice to the gods.
So eager were they that they did not notice a saint who was praying, and rudely broke in upon his prayers and disturbed them.
In order to punish them for this sin, they were told that unless their ashes could be washed by the waters of the Ganges, they should never enter heaven. As the river was in heaven and not on earth, there seemed no way for Sagar to reach it and obtain the water to wash his sons' ashes. So he prayed Siva, the mighty Lord of Heaven, to order the Ganges to come down to earth.
He not only prayed, but he lived a very hard life, denying himself all comforts and enduring many hardships in order to persuade Siva to grant his prayer.
At last he died, but his son, who had not been with his careless brothers when they disturbed the saint, continued to pray to Siva, and to live just as saintly a life as his father had done. It was no good, for Siva's heart was still hard. Then the son of Sagar died, and his grandson came to the throne. He too, prayed to Siva, and lived in the same way as his father and grandfather had done. Alas! it was all in vain, for he too died, and the Ganges still remained in heaven.
Then Sagar's great grandson took up the task, and his prayers and his saintly life touched Siva's heart, and he ordered the Ganges to leave the plains of heaven and descend to earth.
As you can guess, this did not please the river at all. In fact she was so very angry that she made up her mind to come down with such mighty force as to wash away the earth, and even to wash away great Siva too.
Gathering together all her waters, she hurled the mighty, raging torrent at Siva. So much mightier was he, however, that he caught the angry river on his giant head, where the hair grew thick and tall as the trees in the forests on Himalaya's slopes.
Here the raging Ganges rushed wildly about, trying in vain to find some way of escape, and here she stayed for many a year till her pride was quite tamed.
Then at last Siva once more bade Ganges descend to earth. This time she was quite pleased to obey, for she was weary of wandering about among Siva's hair.
With a deafening roar, her waters poured down upon the solid rock with such great force that the very earth shook beneath the blow. Picture what a pretty sight it must have been to see the waters sparkling with all the colours of the rainbow, as they came falling through the air. White clouds of foam and silvery spray were tossed in every direction, and the light shone and sparkled on the gleaming scales of the fishes as they too came tumbling down amidst the waters.
Kings and peoples, and even gods in their shining cars, came to see the wondrous sight. Soon the river became calm and quiet, and flowed proudly and steadily over the sandy plain to the sea.
Then Sagar's great-grandson brought the ashes of Sagar's sons to the side of the stream, and bathed them in its waters. So Sagar's sons entered heaven at last, and Sagar's great grandson gave praise and thanks to mighty Siva.
Fleming, Rachel M. Ancient Tales From Many Lands. Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1922.
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