Devabrata the son of Ganga

King Pratip was a great king of the Kuru dynasty from which both the Pandava and Kaurava clans rose. He was a person who was an ascetic at heart though being a great king. After many austerities he could beget a son of his wife at a very advanced age. The son was named Santanu because he was born when his father had controlled his passions by ascetic penances. Santanu grew up to be a virtuous soul. When he reached his youth, his father installed him as the king and retired to the woods for meditation.

Before going away, Pratip called Santanu and told him something which he had to do as his last wish and command from his father. He said – “O dear son, some time ago, a celestial nymph came to me for your sake. If you meet the beautiful damsel again in some secret place and she desires to have children from you, please accept her as your wife. Do not question her antecedents nor judge her of propriety or impropriety. Just marry her. This is my command. “

Days passed and once Santanu went to the woods for a hunt. As he was wandering along the bank of the river Ganga he came upon a secluded place where he saw a lovely maiden of blazing beauty. Decked with celestial ornaments she was attired in garments of such fine texture that it resembled the filaments of the lotus in splendour. The king was enamoured with the beautiful girl and could not hold himself of proposing love to her.

The girl replied to her offer of union, saying – “O, great king, I am willing to marry you and be your dutiful wife. But you have to promise me that you will never interfere with what I do and also never speak harshly to me. Because, the moment you do this, I will leave you forever.

Eager to have her, Santanu agreed to this stipulation by the beautiful girl. They both were united and led a most romantic and enjoyable conjugal life. Santanu never asked her past or family. He never knew who she was. Both spent times continually loving each other. One by one, seven sons were born to them and after every birth, the mother threw the newborn into the river Ganga saying – “This is for your good. “Santanu bore with this strange ritual with a lot of pain and frustration as his own sons were destroyed this way by his loving wife. But being bound to his word, he never uttered anything about it.

His patience, however ended when the same thing was about to be repeated with the eighth son born to them. No longer able to hold himself, he spoke out against this heartless conduct of his wife, calling her out to spare the life of this child. His wife replied, 'O king, let your desire to have your offspring be fulfilled. I will not destroy this child of yours. Have him and nurture him with your love. But according to our agreement, the period of my stay with you is at an end. I will therefore, leave now. “

Hearing this the king realised his folly and became sad. He asked his wife- “O fair lady, I regret my action and now can’t do anything about it to keep you with me. Before you go, at least tell me who you are and why did you destroy our seven sons, one by one.”

The wife replied – “O king Santanu, I am Ganga, the daughter of Jahnu. I am ever worshipped by the great sages as the holiest. I have lived with you so long just for accomplishing the purposes of the celestials. These eight sons born to us were the eight illustrious Vasus (celestial beings) who were cursed by the sage Aparva  for their transgression. They had to assume human form on earth. No woman on the earth could be their mother and hence I had also to assume a human form to give birth to them. You too earned the right to father them due to your great virtue. 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. The eighth one has been cursed with a longer stay and I will come back to release him from the curse, when his time comes. “

She carried on – “O, king. rear this child carefully. He will grow up into a mighty person of rigid vows and he will be known through history for this. Stay blessed. “

Saying this Ganga left for her celestial abode as King Santanu held the eighth child, his son. He named his son Devabrata , who grew up to be the most famous warrior in the history of the Kuru dynasty.

 As prophesied by Ganga, history will always remember Devabrata as Bhishma, the ultimate for his unbroken and strict pledges and vows. But then, that is a story for another day.