King Shantanu and Ganga

One day King Shantanu of Hastinapur was walking along the bank of the Ganga. There he saw a woman of great beauty and at once wished to marry her. She was the goddess Ganga herself. She said, 'I will marry you, but on one condition. Whatever I do, you will never stop me or question me. The day you stop me, I will leave.' Shantanu, deeply in love, agreed.

They lived happily, and then their first son was born. Ganga carried the newborn to the river and let him go into the water. Shantanu's heart broke, but bound by his promise he said nothing. This happened seven times. Seven sons, the same grief seven times over, and each time the king stayed silent.

When the eighth son was born and Ganga began to carry him away too, Shantanu could bear it no longer. 'Stop!' he cried. 'What kind of mother are you?' Ganga stopped and said, 'King, you have broken your word, so now I must go. But hear the truth. These eight children were the eight Vasus. Cursed by the sage Vasishtha, they had to be born on earth. I set them free quickly so they would not have to bear the sorrows of human life.'

Ganga said, 'This eighth child will live a long life. I am taking him with me, and I will return him to you when he is grown.' Saying this, she vanished with the baby. Shantanu was left alone, and for many years he ruled with justice.

Many years later Shantanu noticed that the Ganga had grown very shallow. Going further, he saw a radiant young man who had held back the river's flow with a wall of arrows. Then Ganga appeared and said, 'This is your son Devavrata. He has learned the Vedas from Vasishtha and the art of weapons from Parashuram.' Overjoyed, Shantanu embraced his son and made him Yuvaraj.