One of the most emotional and mysterious stories of Mahabharata is that of Mother Ganga floating her own sons in the river. At first glance this act seems extremely cruel, but behind it lies a deep spiritual reason and a story of liberation from the ‘curse’.
Mystery hidden in mythology
According to mythological texts and Mahabharata, once eight Vasus (gods) along with their wives went to the ashram of Maharishi Vashishtha. There was a divine cow named ‘Nandini’. A Vasu, whose name was Deyu, stole that cow at the request of his wife.
When Maharishi Vashishtha came to know of this, he became angry and cursed the eight Vasus that they would have to be born as human beings on Mrityuloka (Earth) and suffer human sufferings.
Pact between Ganga and Vasus
When the Vasus sought forgiveness from the Maharishi, the sage said that the curse could not be reversed, but the remaining seven Vasus would be freed as soon as they were born, but ‘Dyu’ (the one who had committed the theft) would have to stay on earth for a long time.
After this, the eight Vasus went to Mother Ganga and prayed to her to become their mother on earth. Ganga placed a condition that she would give birth to sons, but her husband (King Shantanu) would not interfere in any of her work.
The mystery of drowning sons in the river
Ganga was married to King Shantanu. As soon as Ganga gave birth to her first son, she took him to the river and immersed him in the water. Similarly, he drowned his 7 sons in the river one by one.
Actually, Ganga was freeing those Vasus from the curse of Maharishi Vashishtha. As soon as those seven Vasus were born, they left their human bodies and went back to the world of gods. He did not have to suffer the sufferings of the earth.
Birth of eighth son ‘Bhishma’
When Ganga was taking her eighth son to drown in the river, King Shantanu’s patience ran out. He stopped Ganga and asked the reason for her action. Due to the breaking of the condition, Ganga had to leave the king, but she told the whole truth to Shantanu. That eighth son was ‘Dyu’, who became famous as Devavrata, who stole a cow. He had to stay on earth for a long time, who later became famous by the name of ‘Bhishma Pitamah’.
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