Bhagiratha- Hindu FigureMortal"Bringer of the Ganges"

The Sixty Thousand Sons

Bhagiratha's quest began generations before his birth. His ancestor King Sagara of Ayodhya performed the ashvamedha sacrifice, releasing a consecrated horse to roam the earth. Indra stole the horse and hid it near the hermitage of the sage Kapila in the netherworld. Sagara sent his sixty thousand sons to find it. They dug through the earth until they reached Kapila's ashram and found the horse nearby. Accusing the sage of theft, they charged at him with weapons drawn. Kapila opened his eyes. The fire of his tapas reduced all sixty thousand to ash.

Without Ganga's waters to wash the ashes, their souls remained trapped. Anshuman and Dilipa, Bhagiratha's forebears, each spent their lives in penance to bring the river down from heaven. Each failed. The burden passed to Bhagiratha.

Penance to Brahma

Bhagiratha left his throne and withdrew to the Himalayas. He stood on one foot with arms raised, surrounded by five fires in summer and immersed in freezing water in winter, sustaining himself on dry leaves and then on air alone. Brahma appeared, pleased by his devotion, and agreed to release Ganga from heaven. But he warned: no earthly surface could withstand the force of her descent. Only Shiva could receive her fall.

Shiva Catches the Ganga

Bhagiratha turned his penance toward Shiva, standing motionless on the tip of one toe at the summit of the Himalayas. Shiva agreed. When Ganga descended from heaven, she came with full force, intending to sweep Shiva into the netherworld. Shiva caught the entire torrent in his matted locks, where she wandered lost for years among the tangled coils. At Bhagiratha's renewed supplication, Shiva released a gentle stream from his hair, and Ganga flowed onto the earth.

The Journey to the Sea

Bhagiratha mounted his chariot and rode ahead of the river's course. Ganga followed wherever he led. Along the way, the waters flooded the sacrificial ground of the sage Jahnu, who in anger drank the entire river. Bhagiratha pleaded. Jahnu relented and released Ganga from his ear. Bhagiratha led the river to the netherworld where his ancestors' ashes lay. As the waters washed over the remains, the sixty thousand sons of Sagara were liberated and ascended to heaven.