Bala Kanda, Sarga 35

Meaning

Having reposed for the rest of the night on the bank of the Sona alongwith the great Ṛṣis, who accompanied him on the journey, Viśwāmitra spoke as follows on the night having culminated in a beautiful sunrise : (1)

Meaning

“The night has ended in a lovely dawn, O Rāma ! The morning twilight has set in. Get up, arise and make yourself ready to proceed further. May happiness and well-being attend you !” (2)

Meaning

Hearing his instruction as aforesaid and having finished his morning duties (Sandhyā etc.,) Śrī Rāma made himself ready to leave for the journey and spoke the following words: so the tradition goes : (3)

Meaning

“The river Sona, whose waters are so holy, is fordable here and as such adorned with sandy banks. By which of the two fords (appearing before us) shall we wade through it, O holy Sir?” (4)

Meaning

Questioned thus by Śrī Rāma, Viśwāmitra indeed replied as follows : “Here is the ford already pointed out by me, through which the great Ṛṣis over there are wading.” (5)

Meaning

After wise Viśwāmitra said so, the Maharṣis enjoying the beautiful sceneries of the forest departed. (6)

Meaning

Then having crossed the Sona at the spot mentioned by Viśwāmitra and traversed a long way further, the party sighted the Gaṅgā, the foremost of all rivers, resorted to by sages, in the afternoon. (7)

Meaning

The sages, including Śrī Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, the two scions of Raghu, were all rejoiced to see the celebrated river, whose waters confer merit (on those who resort to them) and which was frequented by swans and cranes. (8-9)

Meaning

On the bank of that river all of them forthwith broke their journey. Having then bathed in the river according to the scriptural ordinance, (i.e., after reciting a Vedic hymn known as the Aghamarṣaṇa-Sūkta—vide Ṛgveda X. 190), duly propitiated the manes and gods (including Ṛṣis) with libations of water and also poured oblations into the sacred fire and partaken of the remnants of the sacrifice, which have been likened* to ambrosia in the Śāstras, the blessed Ṛṣis sat down on the bank of the Gaṅgā with a cheerful mind surrounding the high-souled Viśwāmitra on all sides. When they were all comfortably seated in order of seniority as also Śrī Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa (the two scions of Raghu) according to their position, Śrī Rāma presently addressed Viśwāmitra as follows with an overjoyed mind : (10-11)

Meaning

“I wish to hear, O venerable Sir, about the holy river Gaṅgā, which takes a threefold course, flowing as it does through heaven, the earth and the subterranean regions, how having coursed through the three worlds, viz., heaven and earth and the space intervening the two, it meets the ocean (the ruler of rivers, both big and small).” (12)

Meaning

Impelled by the inquiry of Śrī Rāma, the great sage Viśwāmitra started discoursing on the origin as well as on the expansion of the holy Gaṅgā, as follows : (13)

Meaning

“There stands (on the extreme north of India) O Rāma, the great Himālaya, the king of mountains and a storehouse of minerals. A couple of daughters, matchless in beauty on earth, were born to the deity presiding over the said mountain, O Rāma ! (14)

Meaning

“The charming and beloved consort of Himavān, the deity presiding over the Himālayas, Menā by name, who was marked by a slender waist and was the daughter of Mount Meru, was their mother, O Rāma ! (15)

Meaning

“The elder daughter of Himavān, born through her, was this Gaṅgā. A second daughter, Umā by name, was born to the selfsame Himavān, O scion of Raghu ! (16)

Meaning

“With the intention of accomplishing through her the purpose of gods, all the gods presently asked Himavān, the king of mountains, for the elder of the two, viz., Gaṅgā, who later turned into a river that follows a threefold course. (17)

Meaning

“From considerations of piety (according to which the solicitation of a supplicant is not to be rejected) and out of solicitude for the welfare of the three worlds, Himavān gave in adoption to gods his daughter, Gaṅgā, who is capable of purifying the world and who could carve her way even through the airspace and the subterranean regions according to her own free will. (18)

Meaning

“Accepting the gift so readily given by the pious Himavān in the interest of the three worlds and taking the Gaṅgā with them, the gods, who wished well of the three worlds, left with their mind fully satisfied. (19)

Meaning

“The other daughter of Himavān, who looked upon askesis as Her only wealth, O scion of Raghu, practised austerities in the shape of meditation on Lord Śiva, while remaining a virgin and observing a noble and formidable vow of forgoing even dry leaves to keep Her body and soul together. (20)

Meaning

“Himavān, the chief of mountains, gave away to Lord Rudra (the god of destruction), who has no rival, this daughter, Umā who was rich in severe asceticism and adored by the universe. (21)

Meaning

“Gaṅgā, the foremost of rivers, and Goddess Umā, these are the two well-known daughters of Himavān, the king of mountains, who are venerated by the whole universe, O scion of Raghu ! (22)

Meaning

“In this way everything connected with the origin of Gaṅgā has been narrated to you. Now hear how it followed a threefold course. In the first place (as I have told you in verse 18 above), O dear Rāma, it rose into the sky, which allows moving space to all mobile beings alongwith the gods who took her away to heaven. Then this celebrated daughter of Himavān, the king of mountains, rose to heaven (the realm of gods) in the form of the delightful Mandākinī, the heavenly stream visible in the form of the milky way, and last of all assumed the form of an earthly stream, Gaṅgā, capable of ridding the world of its sins.” (23-24)