SECTION 98
(Sambhava Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'The maiden then, hearing those soft and
sweet words of the smiling monarch, and remembering her promise to the Vasus, addressed
the king in reply. Of faultless features, the damsel sending a thrill of
pleasure into the heart by every word she uttered, said, 'O king, I shall
become thy wife and obey thy commands. But, O monarch, thou must not interfere
with me in anything I do, be it agreeable or disagreeable. Nor shall thou ever
address me unkindly. As long as thou shalt behave kindly I promise to live with
thee. But I shall certainly leave thee the moment thou interferest with me or
speakest to me an unkind word.' The king answered, 'Be it so.' And thereupon
the damsel obtaining that excellent monarch, that foremost one of the Bharata
race for her husband, became highly pleased. And king Santanu also, obtaining her
for his wife, enjoyed to the full the pleasure of her company. And adhering to
his promise, he refrained from asking her anything. And the lord of earth,
Santanu, became exceedingly gratified with her conduct, beauty, magnanimity,
and attention to his comforts. And the goddess Ganga also, of three courses
(celestial, terrestrial, and subterranean) assuming a human form of superior
complexion and endued with celestial beauty, lived happily as the wife of
Santanu, having as the fruit of her virtuous acts, obtained for her husband,
that tiger among kings equal unto Indra himself in splendour. And she gratified
the king by her attractiveness and affection, by her wiles and love, by her
music and dance, and became herself gratified. And the monarch was so
enraptured with his beautiful wife that months, seasons, and years rolled on
without his being conscious of them. And the king, while thus enjoying himself with
his wife, had eight children born unto him who in beauty were like the very
celestials themselves. But, those children, one after another, as soon as they
were born, were thrown into the river by Ganga who said, 'This is for thy
good.' And the children sank to rise no more. The king, however, could not be
pleased with such conduct. But he spoke not a word about it lest his wife
should leave him. But when the eighth child was born, and when his wife as
before was about to throw it smilingly into the river, the king with a
sorrowful countenance and desirous of saving it from destruction, addressed her
and said, 'Kill it not! Who art thou and whose? Why dost thou kill thy own
children? Murderess of thy sons, the load of thy sins is great!'" His
wife, thus addressed, replied, 'O thou desirous of offspring, thou hast already
become the first of those that have children. I shall not destroy this child of
thine. But according to our agreement, the period of my stay with thee is at an
end. I am Ganga, the daughter of Jahnu. I am ever worshipped by the great
sages; I have lived with thee so long for accomplishing the purposes of the
celestials. The eight illustrious Vasus endued with great energy had, from
Vasishtha's curse, to assume human forms. On earth, besides thee, there was
none else to deserve the honour of being their begetter. There is no woman also
on earth except one like me, a celestial of human form, to become their mother.
I assumed a human form to bring them forth. Thou also, having become the father
of the eight Vasus, hast acquired many regions of perennial bliss. It was also agreed
between myself and the Vasus that I should free them from their human forms as
soon as they would be born. I have thus freed them from the curse of the Rishi
Apava. Blest be thou; I leave thee, O king! But rear thou this child of rigid
vows. That I should live with thee so long was the promise I gave to the Vasus.
And let this child be called Gangadatta.'"
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