स तस्याः शीलवृत्तेन रूपौदार्यगुणेन च ॥
उपचारेण च रहस् तुतोष जगतीपतिः ॥
दिव्यरूपा हि सा देवी गङ्गा त्रिपथगा नदी ॥
मानुषं विग्रहं श्रीमत् कृत्वा सा वरवर्णिनी ॥
भाग्योपनतकामस्य भार्येवोपस्थिताभवत् ॥
शंतनो राजसिंहस्य देवराजसमद्युतेः ॥
संभोगस्नेहचातुर्यैर् हावलास्यैर् मनोहरैः ॥
राजानं रमयाम् आस यथा रेमे तथैव सः ॥
स राजा रतिसक्तत्वाद् उत्तमस्त्रीगुणैर् हृतः ॥
संवत्सरान् ऋतून् मासान् न बुबोध बहून् गतान् ॥
रममाणस् तया सार्धं यथाकामं जनेश्वरः ॥
अष्टाव् अजनयत् पुत्रांस् तस्याम् अमरवर्णिनः ॥
जातं जातं च सा पुत्रं क्षिपत्य् अम्भसि भारत ॥
प्रीणामि त्वाहम् इत्य् उक्त्वा गङ्गास्रोतस्य् अमज्जयत् ॥
तस्य तन् न प्रियं राज्ञः शंतनोर् अभवत् तदा ॥
न च तां किं चनोवाच त्यागाद् भीतो महीपतिः ॥
अथ ताम् अष्टमे पुत्रे जाते प्रहसिताम् इव ॥
उवाच राजा दुःखार्तः परीप्सन् पुत्रम् आत्मनः ॥
मा वधीः कासि कस्यासि किं हिंससि सुतान् इति ॥
पुत्रघ्नि सुमहत् पापं मा प्रापस् तिष्ठ गर्हिते ॥
स्त्र्य् उवाच
पुत्रकाम न ते हन्मि पुत्रं पुत्रवतां वर ॥
जीर्णस् तु मम वासो ऽयं यथा स समयः कृतः ॥
अहं गङ्गा जह्नुसुता महर्षिगणसेविता ॥
देवकार्यार्थसिद्ध्यर्थम् उषिटाहं त्वया सह ॥
अष्टेमे वसवो देवा महाभागा महौजसः ॥
वसिष्ठशापदोषेण मानुषत्वम् उपागताः ॥
तेषां जनयिता नान्यस् त्वद् ऋते भुवि विद्यते ॥
मद्विधा मानुषी धात्री न चैवास्तीह का चन ॥
तस्मात् तज्जननीहेतोर् मानुषत्वम् उपागता ॥
जनयित्वा वसून् अष्टौ जिता लोकास् त्वयाक्षयाः ॥
देवानां समयस् त्व् एष वसूनां संश्रुतो मया ॥
जातं जातं मोक्षयिष्ये जन्मतो मानुषाद् इति ॥
तत् ते शापाद् विनिर्मुक्ता आपवस्य महात्मनः ॥
स्वस्ति ते ऽस्तु गमिष्यामि पुत्रं पाहि महाव्रतम् ॥
एष पर्यायवासो मे वसूनां संनिधौ कृतः ॥
मत्प्रसूतं विजानीहि गङ्गादत्तम् इमं सुतम् ॥
sa tasyāḥ śīlavṛttena rūpaudāryaguṇena ca ||
upacāreṇa ca rahas tutoṣa jagatīpatiḥ ||
divyarūpā hi sā devī gaṅgā tripathagā nadī ||
mānuṣaṃ vigrahaṃ śrīmat kṛtvā sā varavarṇinī ||
bhāgyopanatakāmasya bhāryevopasthitābhavat ||
śaṃtano rājasiṃhasya devarājasamadyuteḥ ||
saṃbhogasnehacāturyair hāvalāsyair manoharaiḥ ||
rājānaṃ ramayām āsa yathā reme tathaiva saḥ ||
sa rājā ratisaktatvād uttamastrīguṇair hṛtaḥ ||
saṃvatsarān ṛtūn māsān na bubodha bahūn gatān ||
ramamāṇas tayā sārdhaṃ yathākāmaṃ janeśvaraḥ ||
aṣṭāv ajanayat putrāṃs tasyām amaravarṇinaḥ ||
jātaṃ jātaṃ ca sā putraṃ kṣipaty ambhasi bhārata ||
prīṇāmi tvāham ity uktvā gaṅgāsrotasy amajjayat ||
tasya tan na priyaṃ rājñaḥ śaṃtanor abhavat tadā ||
na ca tāṃ kiṃ canovāca tyāgād bhīto mahīpatiḥ ||
atha tām aṣṭame putre jāte prahasitām iva ||
uvāca rājā duḥkhārtaḥ parīpsan putram ātmanaḥ ||
mā vadhīḥ kāsi kasyāsi kiṃ hiṃsasi sutān iti ||
putraghni sumahat pāpaṃ mā prāpas tiṣṭha garhite ||
stry uvāca
putrakāma na te hanmi putraṃ putravatāṃ vara ||
jīrṇas tu mama vāso 'yaṃ yathā sa samayaḥ kṛtaḥ ||
ahaṃ gaṅgā jahnusutā maharṣigaṇasevitā ||
devakāryārthasiddhyartham uṣiṭāhaṃ tvayā saha ||
aṣṭeme vasavo devā mahābhāgā mahaujasaḥ ||
vasiṣṭhaśāpadoṣeṇa mānuṣatvam upāgatāḥ ||
teṣāṃ janayitā nānyas tvad ṛte bhuvi vidyate ||
madvidhā mānuṣī dhātrī na caivāstīha kā cana ||
tasmāt tajjananīhetor mānuṣatvam upāgatā ||
janayitvā vasūn aṣṭau jitā lokās tvayākṣayāḥ ||
devānāṃ samayas tv eṣa vasūnāṃ saṃśruto mayā ||
jātaṃ jātaṃ mokṣayiṣye janmato mānuṣād iti ||
tat te śāpād vinirmuktā āpavasya mahātmanaḥ ||
svasti te 'stu gamiṣyāmi putraṃ pāhi mahāvratam ||
eṣa paryāyavāso me vasūnāṃ saṃnidhau kṛtaḥ ||
matprasūtaṃ vijānīhi gaṅgādattam imaṃ sutam ||
"The lord of the earth was pleased by her character and conduct, her beauty, nobility, virtues, and attentive service in private. The goddess Ganga, of divine form, the river flowing along three paths, of lovely countenance, having taken on a splendid human form, presented herself as though the wife of Shantanu, the lion among kings. With amorous tenderness, skill, and enchanting movements she delighted the king. That king, wholly absorbed in passion, carried away by the virtues of his excellent wife, did not notice the many years, seasons, and months that passed. The lord of men, taking his pleasure with her as he desired, begot on her eight sons, resembling the immortals in splendor. O Bharata, each son as he was born she would say, ‘I am gratifying you,’ and would plunge him into the waters of the Ganga's current. This did not please King Shantanu at the time; but, fearing that she would abandon him, the king said nothing to her. And then, when the eighth son was born, as she seemed about to do the same with a faint smile, the king, tormented by grief and wishing to save his own son, spoke thus: ‘Do not kill him! Who are you, whose are you? Why do you slay your sons? O slayer of children, do not incur so great a sin; stop, O reprehensible one!’ The woman said: ‘O you who desire a son, best of those who have sons, I do not kill your son; but, as the agreement was made, my dwelling with you has now run its course. I am Ganga, daughter of Jahnu, honored by hosts of great sages; for the accomplishment of the gods' purpose I dwelt with you. These eight are the blessed, mighty gods, the Vasus, who through the fault of Vasishtha's curse came to a human birth. Of them there is no begetter on earth other than you; and there is no human mother like me here. Therefore, for the sake of their birth, I took on a human nature; having begotten the eight Vasus, you have won imperishable worlds. Such was the agreement with the Vasus that I gave: “Each one, as soon as born from a human birth, I shall release at once.” Thus they are freed from the curse of the great-souled Apava (Vasishtha); may there be well-being for you; I am going; guard this son of the great vow. This was my periodic dwelling with you for the sake of the Vasus; know this son, born of me, as Gangadatta (Given-by-Ganga).’"
c8e06e3a0865 · प्रकाशित 12 जुल॰ 2026, 4:16:46 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Here unfolds something both sorrowful and marvelous: Ganga drowns seven sons — and then reveals the secret. Shantanu's agonizing trial is telling: loving his wife, he silently bears what looks like infanticide seven times over, dreading her departure; at the eighth, he can bear it no longer and cries out. Here is a profound drama of trust and love: how long can one stay silent before an apparent evil in a beloved? Shantanu held to the pact and to trust to the very limit of human endurance — but love for his son and horror at the sin overcame him. And, bitter truth, his breaking of silence, his question "who are you?", saved the eighth son, Bhishma, yet cost him Ganga. Most striking of all is the disclosure itself: what looked like monstrous infanticide was in fact mercy — the release of the cursed Vasus from the burdens of earthly life. Here lies the greatest lesson: do not judge by appearance; an act that looks like evil may in the higher plan be a good, and only when the whole design is seen does it become understood. So too in life: much that seems cruel to us, suffering and loss, may by a higher providence be deliverance. And at the center of it all stands the birth of Bhishma (Gangadatta, the eighth Vasu, Dyu): saved for the earth, he is the son of a great vow; thus the epic's greatest righteous man enters the story — born of a goddess, destined, like Dyu, to a long earthly life and, as we know, to celibacy and sacrifice.