Chapter 1(41)
‘O Rama! When Sagara departed, following the rule of time, the ordinary people wished to make Amshumat, who was extremely devoted to dharma, the king. O descendant of the Raghu lineage! Amshumat was an extremely great king. He had a great son, who was famous by the name of Dileepa. O descendant of the Raghu lineage! Having handed over the kingdom to Dileepa, he329 went to a beautiful summit in the Himalayas. There, he tormented himself through extremely terrible austerities.330 The extremely illustrious king performed austerities in the hermitage for thirty-two thousand years. The store of austerities then went to heaven. The immensely energetic Dileepa heard about the slaughter of his grandfathers. Though he was afflicted by grief, he could not make up his mind about what should be done. “How will Ganga be brought down? How will water rites be performed for them? How will they be saved?” These were the profound thoughts he pondered about. With his mind immersed in dharma, he always thought about this. He had a son named Bhageeratha, who was supremely devoted to dharma. The immensely energetic Dileepa performed many desired sacrifices. The king ruled over the kingdom for thirty thousand years. However, the king could not make up his mind about how they should be saved. O tiger among men! Following the dharma of time, the king succumbed to disease. Because of the deeds that he had himself performed, the king went to Indra’s world, after the bull among men had instated his son, Bhageeratha, in the kingdom.
‘O descendant of the Raghu lineage! Bhageeratha was a royal sage who was devoted to dharma. The immensely energetic one was without offspring. He didn’t possess any sons and desired sons. O descendant of the Raghu lineage! For a long period of time, the king performed austerities in Gokarna.331 He conquered his senses. He raised up his hands and ate only once, at the end of the month. He observed the vow of the five fires.332 He engaged in these fierce austerities for one thousand years. The illustrious Brahma, the lord and god of all subjects, was extremely pleased. Accompanied by a large number of gods, the grandfather appeared before the great-souled Bhageeratha, who was tormenting himself through austerities, and said, “O Bhageeratha! O immensely fortunate one! O lord of men! I am pleased with you. You have tormented yourself with excellent austerities. O one who is great in vows! Accept a boon.” The immensely energetic and immensely fortunate Bhageeratha joined his hands in salutation and spoke to the grandfather of all the worlds. “O illustrious one! If you are pleased with me and if my austerities have borne fruit, let all of Sagara’s sons obtain water through me. With their ashes sprinkled with the water of the Ganga, let all my great-souled great grandfathers find their ultimate objective in heaven. O god! Grant me offspring. There is no one in our lineage, in this lineage of the Ikshvakus. This is the next boon that I ask for.” Having been thus addressed, the grandfather of all the worlds replied in auspicious and sweet words, which were full of sweet syllables, to the king. “O Bhageeratha! O maharatha! This desire of yours is great. O fortunate one! O extender of the lineage of the Ikshvakus! It shall be this way. Ganga, who flows through the Himalayas, is the eldest daughter of the Himalayas. O king! The earth is incapable of withstanding the descent of the Ganga. O king! Hara333 has been given the task of bearing her burden. O brave one! With the exception of the wielder of the trident, I do not see anyone else who can take on that burden.” Speaking in this way to the king, the creator of the worlds addressed Ganga. With the large number of gods, the god then went to heaven.’
Chapter 1(42)
‘O Rama! When the god of the gods334 had departed, he335 pressed down on the earth with his big toe and stood there, performing austerities for one year. When one year had passed, Pashupati, Uma’s consort, worshipped by all the worlds, spoke to the king. “O best among men! I am pleased with you. I will do what is agreeable to you. I will bear the daughter of the king of the mountains on my head. O Rama! The eldest daughter of the Himalayas is worshipped by all the worlds. She assumed an extremely great form, with a force that is difficult to withstand. She descended from the sky, on Shiva’s auspicious head. Having been released from there, she was confused by that mass of matted hair. The goddess roamed around there for a large number of years. O descendant of the Raghu lineage! Hara was extremely delighted at this and eventually released Ganga in the direction of Vindusara.336 The gods, the rishis, the gandharvas, the yakshas and the large number of siddhas witnessed the progress of Ganga from the sky to that spot. The gods were stationed on celestial vehicles that were like cities, yoked to the best of horses and elephants. These mounts staggered at the sight. The supreme descent of Ganga on the earth was extraordinary. All the infinitely energetic gods who had assembled witnessed this. As they were surprised, the ornaments fell down from the bodies of these infinitely energetic gods and it was as if one hundred suns glittered amidst the clouds in the sky. Large numbers of porpoises, serpents and fish were agitated. It was as if flashes of lightning were streaked throughout the sky. Thousands of flows of foam from the water were splashed around. It was as if a flock of swans was stretched out against clouds in the autumn sky. In some places, the flow coursed speedily. In other places, it meandered along curves. In some places, the flow was humble and slow. In other places, it proceeded faster and faster. In some places, water dashed against water and rose up in torrents. It rose up in an instant and then fell down on the earth again. Dislodged once,337 it was dislodged once again from Shankara’s head on to the surface of the earth. Devoid of all taints, the sparkling water roamed freely. The large number of rishis, gandharvas and the residents of earth touched the sacred water released from Bhava’s338 body. There were those who were cursed and had fallen down from the sky to earth. They were sprinkled with this water and cleansed of all sin. With their sins cleansed by the water, they regained their radiant forms. They again headed towards the sky and regained their own respective worlds. Cheerfully, the world sprinkled itself with that resplendent water. Cleansed of sin, everyone was delighted. Bhageeratha, the royal sage, was on a celestial chariot. As the immensely energetic one proceeded in front, Ganga followed him at the rear. O Rama! The gods, the rishis, all the daityas, danavas and rakshasas, the best of gandharvas and yakshas, kinnaras and giant serpents and all the apsaras followed Bhageeratha’s chariot. All the aquatic creatures also cheerfully followed Ganga. Wherever King Bhageeratha went, the illustrious Ganga, best among rivers and the cleanser of all sins, followed.’
Chapter 1(43)
‘The king went to the ocean and penetrated the surface of the ground where the mounds of ashes were, followed by Ganga. O Rama! The ashes were sprinkled with the waters of the Ganga. Brahma, the lord of all the worlds, spoke these words to the king. “O tiger among men! Sagara’s sixty thousand great-souled sons have been saved and will go to heaven, like gods. O king! As long as there is water in this ocean on earth, till then, Sagara’s sons will reside in heaven, like gods. This Ganga will be known as your eldest daughter. Because of your deeds, she will be famous on earth through your name. The divine Ganga, with three flows, will be known as Bhageerathee. Since she has three flows, she will be known as Tripathaga.339 O lord of men! Perform the water rites for all your ancestors here. O king! You will thus accomplish your pledge. O king! Your ancestors were exceedingly illustrious. However, even though they were supremely devoted to dharma, they could not achieve what you have. O son!340 In that way, Amshumat was infinitely energetic in this world. However, even he could not accomplish the pledge of bringing Ganga down. Your father, Dileepa, was immensely fortunate and infinite in his energy. He was a royal sage, but like a maharshi in his qualities. Though he was established in the dharma of kshatriyas, he was like me in austerities. O unblemished one! Even he was unable to accomplish his desire of bringing Ganga down. O bull among men! However, you have been able to accomplish your pledge. You will obtain supreme worlds and fame and will be greatly revered. O destroyer of enemies! You have accomplished the task of bringing Ganga down. Because of this, you have obtained a great deal of dharma. O supreme among men! O tiger among men! You
will always be able to bathe yourself in these waters and purify yourself, thus obtaining sacred fruits. Now go and perform the water rites for all your ancestors. O king! May you be fortunate. I will now go to my own world and so should you.” The lord of the gods, the grandfather of all the worlds, spoke in this way. After this, the immensely illustrious one went away to the world of the gods, which is where he had come from. The royal sage, Bhageeratha, performed the excellent water rites for the immensely illustrious sons of Sagara, as is proper, and following the due order. Having purified himself by bathing in the water, the king entered his own city. O best among men! O Raghava! For the sake of prosperity, he ruled his own kingdom well and the people were delighted to get their king back. He was devoid of sorrow and devoid of anxiety. He was prosperous and wealthy. O Rama! I have thus told you about Ganga in detail. O fortunate one! May you be safe. The time for sandhya has passed. This account of Ganga’s descent, recounted by me, is blessed and brings fame, long life, heaven and sons.’
Chapter 1(44)
On hearing Vishvamitra’s words, Rama and Lakshmana were overcome by great wonder. Rama told Vishvamitra, ‘O brahmana! The account recited by you, about Ganga’s sacred descent and the filling up of the ocean, is wonderful. With Soumitri, I spent the entire night thinking about the auspicious account that you had told us.’ When a sparkling morning dawned, after having performed the morning ablutions, Raghava, the destroyer of enemies, spoke these words to Vishvamitra, the great sage. ‘While we heard this supreme account, the illustrious night has passed. O great ascetic! It is as if the entire night passed in a single instant, as we reflected on everything that you have told us. We now have to cross this best of rivers, the sacred river with the three flows. O illustrious one! On knowing that you have come, the rishis, the performers of auspicious deeds, have swiftly come here and have brought boats with comfortable spreads.’ On hearing Raghava’s words, the great-souled one,341 made arrangements for crossing over, with Raghava and with the large number of rishis. Having reached the northern bank, they worshipped all the rishis. They saw the city of Vishala,342 situated on the banks of the Ganga. With Raghava, the supreme among sages quickly proceeded towards the beautiful city of Vishala, which was as divine as heaven.
The immensely wise Rama joined his hands in salutation and asked Vishvamitra, the great sage, about the supreme city of Vishala. ‘O great sage! To which royal lineage does Vishala belong? O fortunate one! I am supremely curious and wish to hear about this.’ Hearing Rama’s words, the bull among sages started to recount the ancient tale about Vishala. ‘O Rama! Listen to what I have heard. This is an auspicious account about Shakra. O Raghava! Hear the truth about what happened in this region. O Rama! Earlier, in krita yuga, there were the extremely strong sons of Diti. Aditi had immensely fortunate and brave sons who were extremely devoted to dharma.343 O tiger among men! Those great-souled ones began to think about how they might be immortal, about how they might be without old age and without disease. O Rama! Reflecting on this, those learned ones arrived at a conclusion. They would churn the ocean and obtain juices from this.344 Having made up their minds to churn, they made Vasuki the rope to be used for churning. With Mount Mandara as the churning road, those infinitely energetic ones started to churn. Dhanvantari345 arose and so did the extremely radiant apsaras.346 O best among men! Since those supreme women were generated when the juices of the water were churned, they came to be known as apsaras. Sixty crores of such immensely radiant apsaras arose. O Kakutstha! The number of their attendants was infinite. None of the gods or the danavas wished to accept them. Since they were not accepted, they came to be known as general women.347 O descendant of the Raghu lineage! The immensely fortunate Varuni,348 Varuna’s daughter, arose and began to search for the path that she should follow. O Rama! Diti’s sons did not accept her, Varuna’s daughter. O brave one! Aditi’s sons accepted that unblemished one. Thereby, the daityas came to be asuras and Aditi’s sons became suras.349 Having accepted Varuni, the suras were delighted and rejoiced. O best among men! Uchchaishrava, best among horses, arose, and so did the jewel Koustubha. O Rama! So did the supreme amrita and there was a great destruction of the lineage because of that. The sons of Aditi devastated the sons of Diti. The brave sons of Aditi slaughtered Diti’s sons in that great, terrible and fierce battle that raged between the daityas and the adityas. When Diti’s sons were slain, Purandara obtained the kingdom. Delighted, he ruled over the worlds, with large numbers of rishis and charanas.’
Chapter 1(45)
‘When her sons were killed, Diti was extremely miserable. O Rama! She went to her husband Kashyapa, the son of Marichi, and said, “O illustrious! Your immensely strong sons350 have killed my sons. Through a long period of austerities, I wish to obtain a son who will kill Shakra. I will observe austerities and you should grant me such a conception. I seek your permission to obtain a son who will be Indra’s slayer.” Hearing her words, the immensely energetic Kashyapa, Marichi’s son, replied to Diti, who was supremely afflicted by grief. “O fortunate one! O store of austerities! This will indeed be the case if you remain pure. You will give birth to a son who will kill Shakra in an encounter. However, you will have to remain pure for the entire duration of one thousand years. Through me, you will then give birth to a son who will destroy the three worlds. Having said this, the immensely energetic one touched her with his hand and embraced her. Saying, “May you be safe,” he left for his own austerities. O best among men! When he had departed, Diti was greatly delighted. She went to Kushaplavana351 and tormented herself through extremely terrible austerities. O best among men! While she observed these austerities, the thousand-eyed one,352 full of supreme qualities, tended to her. The thousand-eyed one supplied her with whatever she desired—fire, kusha grass, kindling, water, fruits, roots and everything else. To remove her exhaustion, he massaged her body. Through the entire period, Shakra tended to Diti. O descendant of the Raghu lineage! Only ten years were left for the thousand years to be completed. Extremely happy, Diti told the one with the one thousand eyes, “O supreme among valiant ones! Only ten years are left for my austerities to be complete. O fortunate one! When those are over, you will be able to see your brother. O son! It is for your sake that I will rear him as someone who wishes for victory. O son! He will conquer the three worlds and you will be able to enjoy them with him, without any anxiety.” As Diti spoke in this way, the sun reached the midpoint of the sky. The goddess went to sleep, with her feet placed where her head should have been.353 Since her feet were where her head should have been, Shakra saw that she had become impure. He was delighted to see that her head was where her feet should have been and laughed. O Rama! Through that weakness, Purandara entered her body. The supremely brave one split her embryo into seven parts. He shattered the embryo with a vajra that possessed one hundred joints. O Rama! Diti woke up at the sound of the weeping and lamenting. Shakra addressed the embryo, “Do not cry! Do not cry!” However, having been shattered by the immensely energetic Vasava, it continued to cry. Diti exclaimed, “Do not kill it. Do not kill it.” To show respect to his mother’s354 words, Shakra fell out of the body. Still holding the vajra, Shakra joined his hands in salutation and told Diti, “O goddess! You are impure. You slept with your head in the direction that your feet should have been in. I got the chance to strike at the one who would kill Shakra in an encounter. O goddess! I shattered it into seven fragments. You should pardon this act.”’
Chapter 1(46)
‘When the embryo was shattered into seven fragments, Diti was extremely miserable. She entreated the invincible and thousand-eyed one in these words. “The embryo has been shattered into seven fragments because of my crime. O lord of the gods! O slayer of Bala!355 No sin attaches to you because of this. Though my embryo has been destroyed, I wish that you should do something agreeable for me. Let the seven times seven Maruts become guardians of different places.356 Let these seven sons of mine roam around in the firmament, on the shoulders of the wind. Let these so
ns of mine be divine in form and let them be famous as Maruts. Let one of them roam around in Brahma’s world and another in Indra’s world. Let the third and immensely illustrious one be known as the wind that blows through the firmament. O best among the gods! Let the fourth follow your command and roam around in the directions. Let the name Maruts be given by you and let them be known as this.” Hearing her words, the thousand-eyed Purandara joined his hands in salutation. Bala’s slayer spoke the following words to Diti. “There is no doubt that everything will occur exactly as you have spoken. O fortunate one! Your sons will roam around in the form of gods.” This is what mother and son decided in that hermitage. O Rama! Having become successful, we have heard that they357 proceeded to heaven. O Kakutstha! In ancient times, this is the country where the great Indra used to reside. This is where Diti obtained success in her austerities and he tended to her.
The Valmiki Ramayana Page 11
