The indomitable spirit of Bhageeratha…

The indomitable spirit of Bhageeratha…
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In the Balakandam of Valmikiramayanam, we find that Sage Visvamitra takes Rama and Laksmana to a forest area.. Sidhaasrama, where they are given the duty of protecting a Yajna conducted by the Sage..
After the successful conclusion of the Yajna, Vishvamitra takes the children on a journey to Vidheha..
Their journey takes them to the beautiful banks of Janhnavi, the Ganga..
There Vishvamitra narrates to them the story of the origin of Ganga.. And how Ganga was brought to earth by Bhageeratha..
There was a king named Sagara who ruled Ayodhya.
He had two wives, Keshini and Sumathi.
They did penance to beget children and Sage Bhrighu blessed the king and his spouses with the choice that
one of the wives would have one single son from whom the race would continue
and the other queen would beget sixty thousand children who were all of great valour..
Keshini chose to have a single child
and Sumathi the daughter of Kahsyapa and the siter of Garuda, chose to have sixty thousand boys.
Kehsini gave birth to a prince by name Asamanja.
And Sumathi delivered a huge mass of flesh which was cut into sixty thousand pieces and kept in pots of oil and nurtured and in time grew into sixty thousand healthy young princes..
Asamanja was by nature wayward and cruel and for his bad character, he had to be driven away from the kingdom.
.( The useless fellows in all families are called Asamanjams even today)
However, Asmanja had one son by name Amshuman. Amshuman grew into a virtuous prince.
King Sagara conducted a grand sacrifice..
The field for yajna was the vast expanse of land between Himalaya and Vindhya mountain ( the Indo Gangetic Plain of today..)
Indra, the king of Gods, was worried that if the yajna succeeded Sagara would become powerful and would even pose a threat to his own status as the leader of Gods..
So he disguised himself as a demon and stole the Sacrificial horse and kept it hidden in the nether world.. Rasaathalam..
As the conclusion of the Yajna was not possible without the Horse returning to the field of fire after wandering unopposed wherever it went, the Yajna remained inconclusive..
Sagara therefore instructed his sixty thousand sons to search for the horse and fetch it any cost..
The princes searched every part of the earth,
ransacked every corner of the land
but could not trace the horse..
They dug huge holes all over the earth
( which later were filled with water and became oceans and the oceans were therefore called Saagarams.. that is History) to search for the horse if it was hidden..
but even that search proved of no use..
Finally they entered Paataalam ( or Rasaathaalam.. a part of the Paathaala complex..)
where they found the yajna horse running around freely..
Lord Kapila Vasudeva , Narayana Himself incarnate was doing penance there,
and the princes mistook that this Sage had stolen the horse.
They started shouting at Him and abusing Him and so disturbed his penance..
The irritated Sage just made a hoomkaaram.. a throaty utterance in low voice,
and the entire sixty thousand princes were turned into a lump of Ashes..
Kinga Sagara, along with his grandson, Amshumaan waited for the return of the horse,
but years and years passed without any news.
Finally prince Amshumaana was sent on a search and rescue operation..
He covered the entire earth, and followed everywhere tracing the footsteps of his illustrious uncles..
He entered the netherworld, and with the help of the Cardinal Elephants or dik gajas which carried the worlds,
finally reached Rasathalam,
where he could find only the huge heap of ashes in the place of his sixty thousand uncles..
Garuda the maternal uncle of the sixty thousand princes had witnessed the tragedy that befell his nephews..
He informed the grandson Amshuman that the uncles were no more..
Amshuman tried to fetch water and do the the last rites for the princes with a desire that they would reach heaven..
But Garuda warned that the princes had committed the gravest sin by insulting the Lord Kapila Vasudeva Himself
and have been curses to the present state .
So mere offer of water from somewhere would not absolve them of their sins..
If they were to be lifted and saved from the sin,
the waters of Ganga the river of Heaven..
the rivew who is the elder daughter of Himavan,
should wash their bones and ashes..
Amshuman was not having sufficient resources or strength to bring Ganga there.
So he just took the horse which was wandering around to the field of sacrifice of his grandfater Sagara and they concluded the sacrifice.
The sin of the princes haunted the Solar Race.
Sagara passed away unable to do anything to expiate the sin of his sons..
Amshumaan too passed away after his long stint as the king ..
A prince named Dileepa was born to Amshuman, and he too ruled without doing anything substantial to overcome the family curse and joined his predecessors in obscurity.
A worthy son by name Bhagiratha, was born ot Dileepa..
He was eager to do something positive and bring solace to his departed forefathers and redeem the virtue of his race..
So, after he took over from his father, he did intense penance on Brahmadeva with the desire that
the river Ganga from heaven, the Shailpautree should be taken to Rasathalam
where the bones of his grandsires laid waste,
and that Her holy waters should wash away their sins and give them the ultimate status in heaven.
Brahma informed Bhagiratha that the earth and the worlds below could not take the onslaught of the torrential flow of Ganga from heaven..
The only person who could match Her strength was none other than Lord Shankara Himself..
So if Bageeratha were to succeed in his mission, he would have to make Shankara do something to tame the torrential Ganga..
Here starts the travails of Bhageertha..
By his sheer persistence, he brings Ganga to earth,
and to the netherworls too,
He washes the bones of his grandfathers with the holy waters of Ganga,
and brings emancipation for them
and Glory for his race,
and the greates boon for the holy Earth.. the River Ganga herself..
The way Ganga came to earth.. is described in Sargam 43 of Valmikiramayanam, Balakandam..
The description is classic and sacred..
It is sacred for all of us who revere Ganga..
It is lovely for the people of this Bharatha ..
Ganga is our life, our blood..
And it is a classic on human persistence and endeavour..
Even to this day the ultimate in ahievement after overcoming all possible challenges on the face of tear and toil, is called Bhageertaha prayatnam.. the toil of Bhageeratha..
Bhageeratha is an inspiration for all who want to succeed..
and Ganga became his daughter Bhageerathi.