(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, O Bharata, 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."'"