Indian traditions, Nivedita and Coomaraswamy
Bhagiratha
Bhagiratha succeeds earlier rulers who could not bring the heavenly river down. He leaves the kingdom in a counsellor’s care and undertakes austerities, receiving Brahma’s advice to seek Shiva’s help with the force of the fall. After the river’s release he leads it towards the nether regions, where its waters cleanse Sagara’s sons. Brahma then calls Ganga his daughter and asks him to make offerings for the ancestors.
Also known as Bhagīratha · Bhaglratha in scan OCR
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalBhagiratha succeeds earlier rulers who could not bring the heavenly river down. He leaves the kingdom in a counsellor’s care and undertakes austerities, receiving Brahma’s advice to seek Shiva’s help with the force of the fall.
Further detail
TraditionalAfter the river’s release he leads it towards the nether regions, where its waters cleanse Sagara’s sons. Brahma then calls Ganga his daughter and asks him to make offerings for the ancestors.
Context & interpretation
Bhagiratha is presented through the collection’s Ganga legend. Its long lifetimes, divine appearances and ancestral salvation are traditional narrative features. The austerities are described as part of that story rather than a practical method or a verified historical chronology.
Original passages
Source 1
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
consigned the kingdom to the care of a counsellorOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Nivedita and Coomaraswamy, Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (1914), active reader leaf 388
Exact passage checked against the active edition text and original-leaf mapping; whitespace and scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0109-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0109-E001-P0388
- Original scan leaf
- 388
- Recorded leaf number
- 388
- Current Reader position
- 379
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
Ganga shall be called thy daughterOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Nivedita and Coomaraswamy, Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (1914), active reader leaf 392
Exact passage checked against the active edition text and original-leaf mapping; whitespace and scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0109-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0109-E001-P0392
- Original scan leaf
- 392
- Recorded leaf number
- 392
- Current Reader position
- 383
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
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The heavenly river whose descent joins ancestral restoration to Shiva’s restraint.
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