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Mantras on the sacrificial fire. Capable of cleansing one from every sin, she has descended from the celestial region, and her |
current is held in high esteem by every one. Ganga is the daughter of Himavat, the spouse of Hara, and the ornament of both |
Heaven and Earth. She is the bestower of everything auspicious, and is competent to confer the six well-known attributes |
beginning with lordship or puissance. Verily O king, Ganga is the one object of great sanctity in the three worlds and confers |
merit upon all. Truly, O monarch, Ganga is Righteousness in liquefied form. She is energy also running in a liquid form over |
the Earth. She is endued with the splendour or puissance that belongs to the butter that is poured with Mantras on the sacrificial |
fire. She is always adorned with large waves as also with Brahmanas who may at all times be seen performing their ablutions |
in her waters. Falling from Heaven, she was held by Siva on his head. The very mother of the heavens, she has sprung from the |
highest mountain for running over the plains and conferring the most precious benefits on all creatures of the Earth. She is the |
highest cause of all things; she is perfectly stainless. She is as subtile as Brahma. She affords the best bed for the dying. She |
leads creatures very quickly to heaven. She bears away a large volume of water. She bestows great fame on all. She is the |
protectress of the universe.[245] She is identical with every form. She is very much coveted by persons crowned with success. |
Verily, Ganga is the path to Heaven of those that have bathed in her current.[246] The Brahmanas hold Ganga as equalling the |
Earth in forgiveness, and in the protection and upholding of those that live by her; further, as equalling Fire and Surya in |
energy and splendour; and, lastly, as always equalling Guha himself in the matter of showing favours unto the regenerate |
class.[247] Those men who, in this life, even mentally seek with their whole souls that sacred stream which is praised by the |
Rishis, which has issued out of the feet of Vishnu, which is very ancient, and which is exceedingly sacred, succeed in repairing |
to the regions of Brahman. Fully convinced that children and other possessions, as also regions possessed by every kind of |
felicity, are transitory or liable to destruction, men of subdued souls, who are desirous of attaining to that everlasting station |
which is identical with Brahma, always pay their adorations to Ganga with that reverence and love which are due from a son to |
mother. The men of cleansed soul who is desirous of achieving success should seek the protection of Ganga who is like a cow |
that yields Amrita instead of ordinary milk, who is prosperity's self, who is possessed of omniscience, who exists for the entire |
universe of creatures, who is the source of all kinds of food, who is the mother of all mountains, who is the refuge of all |
righteous persons, who is immeasurable in puissance and energy, and who charms the heart of Brahma himself. Having, with |
austere penances, gratified all the deities with the Supreme Lord (Vishnu), Bhagiratha brought Ganga down on the Earth. |
Repairing unto her, men always succeed in freeing themselves from every kind of fear both here and hereafter. Observing with |
the aid of intelligence, I have mentioned to thee only a small part of the merits of Ganga. My power, however, is inadequate to |
speak of all the merits of the sacred river, or, indeed, to measure her puissance and sanctity. One may, by putting forth one's |
best powers, count the stones that occur in the mountains of Meru or measure the waters that occur in the ocean, but one cannot |
count all the merits which belong to the waters of Ganga. Hence, having listened to these particular merits of Ganga which I |
have uttered with great devotion, one should, in thought, word and deed, reverence them with faith and devotion. In |
consequence of thy having listened to those merits which I have recited, thou art sure to fill all the three regions with fame and |
attain to a measure of success that is very large and that is difficult of being attained to by any other person. Verily, thou shalt, |
soon after that, sport in joy many a region of great felicity created by Ganga herself for those that reverence her. Ganga always |
extends her grace unto those that are devoted to her with humbleness of heart. She unites those that are so devoted to her with |
every kind of happiness. I pray that the highly-blessed Ganga may always inspire thy heart and mine with such attributes as are |
fraught with righteousness'. |
"Bhishma continued, 'The learned ascetic endued with high intelligence and great illumination, and crowned with success, |
having in this manner discoursed unto that poor Brahmana in the observance of the Sila vow, on the subjects of the infinite |
merits of Ganga, then ascended the firmament. The Brahmana in the observance of Sila vow, awakened by the words of that |
ascetic crowned with success, duly worshipped Ganga and attained to high success. Do thou also, O son of Kunti, seek Ganga |
with great devotion, for thou shalt then, as the reward thereof, attain to high and excellent success. |
"Vaisampayana continued 'Hearing this discourse from Bhishma that was fraught with the praise of Ganga, Yudhishthira with |
his brothers became filled with great delight. That person who recites or hears recited this sacred discourse fraught with the |
praise of Ganga, becomes cleansed of every sin.'" |
SECTION XXVII |
"Yudhishthira said, 'Thou O grandsire, art endued with wisdom and knowledge of the scriptures, with conduct and behaviour, |
with diverse kinds of excellent attributes, and also with years. Thou art distinguished above others by intelligence and wisdom |
and penances. I shall, therefore, O thou that art the foremost of all righteous men, desire to address enquiries to thee respecting |
Righteousness. There is not another man, O king, in all the worlds, who is worthier of being questioned on such subjects. O |
best of kings, how may one, if he happens to be a Kshatriya or a Vaisya or a Sudra, succeed in acquiring the status of a |
Brahmana? It behoveth thee to tell me the means. Is it by penances the most austere, or by religious acts, or by knowledge of |
the scriptures, that a person belonging to any of the three inferior orders succeeds in acquiring the status of a Brahmana? Do |
tell me this, O grandsire!' |
"Bhishma said, 'The status of a Brahmana, O Yudhishthira, is incapable of acquisition by a person belonging to any of the three |
other orders. That status is the highest with respect to all creatures. Travelling through innumerable orders of existence, by |
undergoing repeated births, one at last, in some birth, becomes born as a Brahmana. In this connection is cited an old history, O |
Yudhishthira, of a conversation between Matanga and a she-ass. Once on a time a Brahmana obtained a son who, though |
procreated by a person belonging to a different order, had, however, the rites of infancy and youth performed in pursuance of |
the ordinances laid down for Brahmanas. The child was called by the name of Matanga and was possessed of every |
accomplishment. His father, desiring to perform a sacrifice, ordered him, O scorcher of foes, to collect the articles required for |
the act. Having received the command of his father, he set out for the purpose, riding on a car of great speed, drawn by an ass. |
It so happened that the ass yoked unto that car was of tender years. Instead therefore, of obeying the reins, the animal bore |
away the car to the vicinity of its dam, viz., the she-ass that had brought it forth. Matanga, dissatisfied with this, began to strike |
repeatedly the animal with his goad on its nose. Beholding those marks of violence on her child's nose, the she-ass, full of |
affection for him, said--Do not grieve, O child, for his treatment. A chandala it is that is driving thee. There is no severity in a |
Brahmana. The Brahmana is said to be the friend of all creatures. He is the teacher also of all creatures and their ruler. Can he |
chastise any creature so cruelly? This fellow, however, is of sinful deeds. He hath no compassion to show unto even a creature |
of such tender years as thou. He is simply proving the order of his birth by conducting himself in this way. The nature which he |
hath derived from his sire forbids the rise of those sentiments of pity and kindness that are natural to the Brahmana. Hearing |
these harsh words of the she-ass, Matanga quickly, came down from the car and addressing the she-ass, said,--Tell me, O |
blessed dame, by what fault is my mother stained? How dost thou know that I am a Chandala? Do thou answer me without |
delay. How, indeed, dost thou know that I am a Chandala? How has my status as a Brahmana been lost? O thou of great |
wisdom, tell me all this in detail, from beginning to end.' |
"The she-ass said, Begotten thou wert, upon a Brahmana woman excited with desire, by a Sudra following the profession of a |
barber. Thou art, therefore, a Chandala by birth. The status of Brahmana thou hast not at all.' |
"Brahmana continued, 'Thus addressed by the she-ass, Matanga retraced his way homewards. Seeing him return, his father |
said,--I had employed thee in the difficult task of gathering the requisites of my intended sacrifice. Why hast thou come back |
without having accomplished thy charge? Is it the case that all is not right with thee? |
"Matanga said, 'How can he who belongs to no definite order of birth, or to an order that is very low be regarded as all right |
and happy? How, O father, can that person be happy whose mother is stained? O father, this she-ass, who seems to be more |
than a human being, tells me that I have been begotten upon a Brahmani woman by a Sudra. I shall, for this reason, undergo the |
severest penances.--Having said these words to his father, and firmly resolved upon what he had said he proceeded to the great |
forest and began to undergo the austerest of penances. Setting himself to the performance of those penances for the purpose of |
happily acquiring the status of a Brahmana, Matanga began to scorch the very deities by the severity of his asceticism. Unto |
him thus engaged in penances, the chief of the celestials, viz., Indra, appeared and said,--Why, O Matanga, dost thou pass thy |
time in such grief, abstaining from all kinds of human enjoyments? I shall give thee boons. Do thou name the boons thou |
desirest. Do not delay, but tell me what is in thy breast. Even if that be unattainable, I shall yet bestow it on thee.' |
"Matanga said, 'Desirous of attaining to the status of Brahmana I have begun to practise these penances. After having obtained |
it, I shall go home. Even this is the boon solicited by me.' |
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