| Shiva was
greatly pleased with the rishi and appeared before him. Gautama prostrated himself before
the great Lord and begged that he be absolved of his sin and that for thatpurpose Ganga be
sent down to the earth. Shiva immediately said 'tathastu’, and ordered Ganga to come
out of his was and go down to the earth.Ganga was most unwilling to be separated from the
god and refused to budge. Her appeals to Shiva were of no avail and Shiva told her that
she had to go and help Gautama.Even then Ganga did not move! The god then loosened his
jatas and thrashed them against a rock. Now Ganga had no recourse but to go. She then came down to the earth. The rock still bears the scars made
by Shiva’s jatas. This emergence of Ganga took place in the afternoon of a Monday and
the day was the tenth day of the month of Magha. The year was ‘Mandhata’, and
two hundred thousand years of the Krita Yuga had already passed. The emergence of Ganga
was welcomed by the gods and rishis alike and after bestowing the boon on Gautama Shiva
disappeared.
Ganesh and his mother Parvati were greatly satisfied, as
their stratagem had succeeded so well! But things did not run so smoothly for Gautama. No
sooner Shiva disappeared than Ganga vanished. She had not reconciled herself to her
separation from Shiva and was in no mood to oblige Gautama who had brought it about. The
poor fellow had again to pray Ganga and beg her to reappear. Ganga was ultimately
satisfied by Gautama’s praise and appeared again. |
