Shaantanu and Gangaa-1

There happened to be a king named Shaantanu, in the lineage of Bharat. He ruled in Hastinaapur. Once he went for gaming spree towards Gangaa's banks. One day he saw a beautiful woman coming out of Gangaa River and taking a stroll on the bank. Shaantanu got attracted to her, he came to her and introduced himself - "I am Shaantanu, the king of Hastinaapur." The woman said - "I am Gangaa." Shaantanu further said - "I came here to game but became myself a game of a woman with beautiful eyes. Now there is only one way to save Hastinaapur." Gangaa asked - "And what is that?" Gangaa further said, before he could answer, - "I will come tomorrow to get my answer." Shaantanu asked - "Why tomorrow, why not today?" Gangaa said - "Because an answer of every question has its own time." and she went away. Shaantanu also came back to his camp.

Raajaa could not sleep the whole night, and he came at the same place next day. Gangaa also came there and she furthered the previous day's conversation. She said - "So yesterday you were saying that there was only one way to save Hastinaaapur. What is that?" Shaantanu said - "And that way is that you come to my palace as my wife." Gangaa accepted his proposal, but with a condition that Raajaa would not ask her any question whatever she did and if Raajaa asked any question about her any action, she would leave after replying his question. Raajaa Shaantanu was madly in love with her, so he agreed her all conditions. He brought her to his palace, and declared her as his chief queen.

Shaantanu was very happy living with Gangaa. He used to spend his day and night with her. People felt as if he had forgotten Hastinaapur, because he was not seen around for many days. Then one day the news came from the palace that Gangaa was pregnant. People were very happy to hear this news. And not much time passed by that Gangaa gave birth to a baby boy. Now People were very happy that Hastinapur had got its Crown Prince.

The then Raajaa saw Gangaa taking his son to Gangaa River. He was surprised to see this and followed her. He saw that she flowed the baby in Gangaa River and came back to the palace. He was shocked with grief and sorrow to see this, as how a woman could throw her newborn baby in a river. He wanted to ask something from her but could not ask because he was bound to his words.

Everybody whoever heard it could not believe his ears, but it was true. Time passed by and Gangaa gave birth to second boy. She did the same with him too what she did with the first. Shaantanu again got very sad, but bound to his words he could not ask her as why did she do this to his children. Although he saw all this with his own eyes but his heart was not ready to accept this.

Shaantanu went to his Raaj Guru and said - "Kul Guru, I am lost in darkness, I can't see anything. I can't find the way to come out." Guru said - "If the human being will close his eyes, he will not be able to see anything, therefore you open your eyes and then look around. Light is soul and without soul nothing is possible. What I guess that this darkness is some of your problem."

Shaantanu said - "Mahaaraanee has killed my two sons and I couldn't do anything." Guru asked - "But why?" "Because I am bound to my words to her." Guru said - "Are you bound to your words for the reason that Mahaaraanee continues to kill your children and you cannot do anything? Mahaaraaj, You have no right to promise for anything such like which hinders the justice. Such promises are Shaap." Raajaa said - "I am living the same Shaap." Guru said - "If you call this living then what is called dying? Don't you see injustice in this?" Raajaa said sadly - "Yes, I can see it." Raaj Guru asked - "Then what are you doing to stop it? Whoever Raajaa cannot save lives of his own children how he will protect the public of Hastinaapur?"

Shaantanu said - "I am not only a Raajaa, I am an individual also." Guru said - "A Raajaa is only a Raajaa. He has no right to be an individual. Come out of your darkness, then only you will be able to see the solution of this problem." Shaantanu went away from there.

Thus Gangaa killed Shaantanu's five sons one by one by flowing them in Gangaa River. Once Shantanu's Chief Minister also said - "Mahaaraaj, What type of a woman she is? She has no quality in her among the three qualities of a woman - consciousness, inspiration, and enthusiasm. If you cannot ask her as a husband, then ask her at least as a Raajaa that why she is doing it?" But Raajaa neither could say anything, nor could ask anything, because of his words given to her. She flowed two more sons of Raajaa - a total of seven.

Now the eighth prince was born, so Gangaa took him also towards River as before. This time Shaantanu couldn't be silent, he asked - "Why are you killing my sons?" Then Gangaa told him that she did not kill his seven children, rather she helped them getting Mukti from their Shaap and that she herself was also living with him because of a Shaap. Even Shaantanu was living the life of a Shaap with her. Raajaa asked surprisingly - "Shaap, Shaap, Shaap? Whose Shaap? What type of Shaap?"

Then Gangaa told him the story. She said - "I am Gangaa, the daughter of Brahmaa Jee and I am living with you because of my father's Shaap to both of us. In your previous life you were Raajaa Mahaabheeshak. Indra was a good friend of yours, so you often used to come to Indra's court to see dances of Apsaraa. One day I also came there with my father. You were also there. You saw me, and I saw you and we were lost in each other. Then wind blew and moved my cloth from my body. Everybody present there lowered their eyes but we were so much lost in each other that neither I knew about it, nor you moved your eyes from me. My father got angry at this and he gave us Shaap that we both should take birth on Prithvi and live together for some time. When you broke your promise today, I got freed from that Shaap. Now my time has come to go from here."

Shaantanu asked curtly - "Then my those seven sons were also a game of Devtaa?" Gangaa said - "Your eight sons are eight Vasu to whom Vashishth Jee gave Shaap to be born on Prithvi. They were very sad. I couldn't see their sad faces, so I offered my help to give birth to them and thus gave Mukti to them from this life. Thus I freed seven Vasu but it seems that this Vasu's Shaap still remains."

Gangaa started going from there carrying the child. Shaantanu asked - "At least give my child to me." Gangaa said - "No, Its time has not come yet. I am taking him with me and when the time will come, I will return him to you. I have named him Devavrat but in future what will be his name nobody knows." And she went away with the child.

After Gangaa left, Shaantanu got very sad. He often used to go to Gangaa banks and gazed at Gangaa water for long time. He was sad for both Gangaa as well as his son Devavrat. One day when he was coming back from there, he heard cries of children from nearby. When he looked around, he found two children lying and crying on a deer skin under a tree. He said - "It seems that they are of some Braahman's children. It is my duty to protect them." So he picked them up and said - "Because I have got them by the Kripaa (kindness) of Braahman, that is why I will name them Kripaa and Kripee." He brought them to his Kul Guru and asked him to take care of them.