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Mahabharata -Rajagopalachari
1.DEVAVRATA
"You must certainly become my wife,
whoever you may be." Thus said the great
King Santanu to the goddess Ganga who
stood before him in human form,
intoxicating his senses with her
superhuman loveliness.
The king earnestly offered for her love his
kingdom, his wealth, his all, his very life.
Ganga replied: "O king, I shall become
your wife. But on certain conditions that
neither you nor anyone else should ever
ask me who I am, or whence I come. You
must also not stand in the way of
whatever I do, good or bad, nor must you
ever be wroth with me on any account
whatsoever. You must not say anything
displeasing to me. If you act otherwise, I
shall leave you then and there. Do you
agree?"
The infatuated king vowed his assent, and
she became his wife and lived with him.
The heart of the king was captivated by
her modesty and grace and the steady love
she bore him. King Santanu and Ganga
lived a life of perfect happiness, oblivious
of the passage of time.
She gave birth to many children; each
newborn babe she took to the Ganges and
cast into the river, and then returned to the
king with a smiling face.
Santanu was filled with horror and
anguish at such fiendish conduct, but
suffered it all in silence, mindful of the
promise be had made. Often he wondered
who she was, wherefrom she had come
and why she acted like a murderous witch.
Still bound by his word, and his allmastering
love for her, he uttered no word
of blame or remonstrance.
Thus she killed seven children. When the
eighth child was born and she was about
to throw it into the Ganges, Santanu could
not bear it any longer.
He cried: "Stop, stop, why are you bent on
this horrid and unnatural murder of your
own innocent babes?" With this outburst
the king restrained her.
"O great king," she replied, "you have
forgotten your promise, for your heart is
set on your child, and you do not need me any more
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