BHA GIRA THl—BHA G WANG OLA.
354
and had ninety-nine times performed the Aswamedha jajna or great Horse Sacrifice, which consisted in sending a horse round the Indian world, with a defiance to any one to arrest its progress. If the horse returned unopposed, it was understood to be an acquiescence in the supremacy of the challenger, and the animal was then solemnly sacrificed to the gods. King Sagar made preparations for the hundredth performance of this ceremony, but the god Indra having himself performed the sacrifice, and jealous of being displaced by a rival, stole the horse and concealed it in a subterranean cell, where a holy sage was absorbed in heavenly meditation. The sixty thousand sons of Sigar traced the horse to its hiding-place, and believing the sage to be the author of the theft, assaulted him. The holy man, being thus aroused from his meditation, cursed his assailants, who were immediately reduced to ashes, and sentenced to hell. A grandson of Sagar, in search of his father and uncles, at last found out the sage, and begged him to redeem
The holy man replied that this could only be Ganga (the aqueous form of Vishnu and
the souls of the dead. effected
the
if
waters of
Lakshmi) could be brought to the spot to touch the ashes. Now residing in heaven, under the care of Brahma the Creator, and the grandson of Sagar prayed him to send the goddess to the earth. He was unsuccessful, however, and died without his supplication being granted. He left no issue, but a son, Bhagfrath, was miraculously born of his widow, and through his prayers Brahma allowed Ganga
Ganga was
to visit the earth.
Bhagirath led the way to near the sea, and then
declared that he could not show the rest of the road.
Ganga,
order to
make
sure of reaching
Whereupon,
the bones of the
dead, divided herself into a hundred mouths, thus forming the delta of the Ganges. One of these mouths arrived at the cell, and by washing in
the ashes, completed the atonement for the sin of the sons of
King
Sagar.
Bhagirathi. (lat.
30°
8'
— River
in
30" to 30" 56'
Garhwal N.,
long.
State,
North-Western Provinces
78° 38' 15" to
79“ 6' 45" E.);
one of the head-waters of the Ganges ; rises from the Gangotri Peak, in the Native State of Garhwal; flows through a wild and rocky bed,
and
with numerous shoals
rapids,
and
joins
the
Alaknanda
at
Thenceforward the united stream is known as the Ganges. The Bhagirathi, though inferior in importance and volume to the Deoprayag.
.‘Vlaknanda,
is
regarded
sacred
stream, and
Ganges
at
among
the Hindus as the chief feeder of the
branch thrown Chhapghati more than 1000 miles below. identified with the
is
off
by the
21° Bombay Presidency. — Seaport Surat Average annual value of trade years ending 1881-82 — exports, ^1^2093 imports, ;£b22. ’lMurshidabad Bhagwangola. — River mart on the Ganges,
Bhagwa.
in
Lat.
District,
24' N., long. 72° 40' E.
for five
in
