Ganga Dussehra

Ganga Dussehra is celebrated every year on the tenth day of Shukla Paksha of Jyeshtha month. One day after this, Nirjala Ekadashi fast is observed which is the best among all Ekadashis. River Ganga is the purest river on this earth. As we all know, Ganga water is used in all types of religious activities which is very beneficial. Mother Ganga had descended on earth on the tenth day of Shukla Paksha of Jyeshtha month. Therefore, this day is celebrated as Ganga Dussehra festival. Goddess Ganga is the liberator and the giver of salvation. On this day, Mother Ganga is worshipped, apart from this, devotees donate, bathe and worship. Taking bath in river Ganga on this day destroys all sins. A person who takes bath in river Ganga attains happiness in this world and salvation in the next world.

How did Mother Ganga descend to this earth?

This story is described in the Balakanda of Srimad Valmiki Ramayana. In which Vishwamitra ji had narrated this story on the request of Shri Ramji.

Vishwamitra ji, while narrating the story of the descent of Ganga to Shri Ram ji, says - Some time ago, a religious king named Sagar in the Ikshvaku dynasty used to rule in Ayodhya. He had two wives. His eldest wife's name was Keshini who was the daughter of Vidarbha king. She was a very religious person and always spoke the truth. Sagar's second wife's name was Sumati who was the daughter of Arishtanemi Kashyap and sister of Garuda. Due to not having a son from both his wives, King Sagar along with his wives went to the Himalayan Mountains and started doing penance on a peak called Bhriguprastravan. Pleased with his penance, Maharishi Bhrigu gave a boon to the king that he would have many sons. From one of your wives, you will have a son who will expand your lineage and from one wife you will have sixty thousand bright, mighty, strong sons like a thunderbolt. Sagar's wives bowed to Maharishi Bhrigu and asked - who will get a son? And who will get sixty thousand sons? Please tell me this. Then Maharishi said to both the queens, both of you wish as per your wish, the one who wishes for one son will get one son and the one who wishes for sixty thousand sons will get sixty thousand sons. Then Queen Keshini wished to have a son who would increase the lineage and Sumati wished to have sixty thousand strong sons.

In this way, Queen Keshini gave birth to a son whose name was Asmanj and the king's second wife gave birth to a womb tube which upon bursting gave birth to sixty thousand sons. Gradually all the children came into adulthood. Asmanj, the eldest son of Sagar, used to catch the children of the city and throw them into the waters of Saryu, and when they started drowning, he used to look at them and laugh. Because of the pain he caused to good men, his father threw him out of the kingdom. A few days after Asmanj's departure, his wife gave birth to a son who was named Anshuman. He was a very sweet-spoken, bright and brave child. After some time, King Sagar thought of performing a yagya. After this all the ministers started preparation for the yagya. The ritual of that yagya was performed in the holy place of Aryavarta between the Vindhyachal and Himavan mountains. One horse was released and the responsibility of protecting that horse was given to Anshuman. The horse passed through many states, but no one caught him, everyone accepted to be friends with Sagar. Seeing the success of the Yagya, Devraj Indra became afraid of losing his kingdom. He took the form of a demon and stole the horse and went to Maharishi Kapil ji's ashram and tied it. The Yagya was not successful due to the horse being stolen, because to make the Yagya successful, it is necessary to see the horse at the end, otherwise the Yagya is not successful and if the Yagya is not successful, it is a sign of bad luck. King Sagar ordered his sixty thousand sons to search for the horse. After receiving the order, his sixty thousand sons set out in search of the horse. They started digging the earth in search of the horse, each of their blows was like a thunderbolt. Each son divided one yojana of land and thus dug up sixty thousand yojanas of land. They used to kill whatever creatures they found. Seeing this, all the deities got scared and went to Lord Brahma and said that if he continues to tear the earth like this, then all living beings will be destroyed and the entire earth will be torn apart, as a result of which the creation of the universe will be destroyed. Then Brahma ji, while explaining to the deities, said that Maharishi Kapil Muni, meditating on Shri Hari, resides in the abyss and it is he who will kill them. While searching for the horse of King Sagar's son, he reached Kapil Muni's ashram in the abyss. That horse was still there. Sixty thousand sons of Sagar considered Kapil Muni a thief and started saying sarcastic words to him - He is the one who is obstructing their father's yagya, he is the one who has stolen the horse. Saying this they ran to kill him. Due to this activity his trance was broken. Due to being angry, flames started coming out from his eyes due to which sixty thousand sons of King Sagar got burnt in the fire and turned into heaps of ashes.

Even after a long time, King Sagar's sixty thousand sons did not return nor was the horse found, then King Sagar ordered his grandson Anshuman to search for them and bring back the horse. Getting permission from King Sagar, Anshuman set out to search for his uncles. To search for his uncles, Anshuman walked on the same path which his uncles had dug. Whatever brave men or learned men Anshuman met on the way, Anshuman would greet them and inquire about their good news and the whereabouts of his uncles and horse. Thus, taking the blessings of all the scholars and great men, Anshuman reached the place where his uncle was lying in a heap of ashes.

When Anshuman saw the pile of ashes of his uncles he was very sad. He also saw that the horse was also grazing nearby. Anshuman started searching for water to pay tribute to his uncles for their salvation, but he could not find water anywhere. When Anshuman was wandering here and there in search of water, he met Garuda ji on the way. Anshuman also asked him about the water. Then Garuda said, my nephew has been burnt to ashes by the fire of divine vision. They can get salvation only by the water of Ganga. You go with the horse and complete the Yagya and for their salvation, do penance to bring Ganga ji to earth. Hearing Garuda 's words, Anshuman came back with the horse and told King Sagar about the death of his uncles and what Garuda ji had told him. After the completion of the Yagya, King Sagar kept thinking of bringing Ganga but could not decide anything. After some time, King Sagar died. After this, for the salvation of his uncles, Anshuman went to the peak of the Himalayas and started doing penance. After doing penance for some time, he left his body and attained heaven. Anshuman's son's name was Dilip. He also performed penance for the salvation of his ancestors and finally left his body and reached Indralok. Dilip's son was Bhagiratha. He was very brave, pious and brilliant. He also started trying to bring Mother Ganga down to earth for the wish of his son and for the salvation of his ancestors. First, he pleased Lord Brahma by performing penance. Brahma ji became pleased and said to Bhagirathi - I am very happy with your penance, as per your wish, Ganga will descend on the earth with great speed. Only Lord Shiva can control his speed. Therefore, do penance to Lord Shiva and convince him for this work. After this Bhagirathi started doing penance for Lord Shiva. Pleased with the penance of Bhagirathi, Lord Shiva gave him a boon that he would definitely keep Girirajkumari Ganga Devi on his head.

After getting Shankar ji's approval, Ganga ji assumed a very huge form and descended from the sky with great speed on Lord Shankar's head. When Mother Ganga descended on Lord Shankar's head, she became proud of her speed and thought that he would go straight to the underground taking Lord Shiva with her speed. Shiv ji recognized the arrogance of Ganga. He gave his hair the form of a closed cave and when Ganga started descending to the earth with great speed, she got trapped in Shiva's hair and even after trying, she could not get out of there. After this, Bhagiratha ji again started doing penance for Lord Shiva. Then Lord Shiva was pleased and brought him down to earth with his matted hair and left him in Bindusarovar. As soon as they left there, they got divided into seven streams. Hradini, Pavani and Nalini – these three streams moved towards the east. Suchakshu, Sita and Mahanadi Sindhu – these three streams flowed towards the west. Apart from this, the seventh stream followed Bhagiratha. Then Goddess Ganga inundated those sixty thousand sons of Sagar. Due to which he got salvation. In this way, she came from the sky to the earth from the head of Mahadev Ji. The day when Mother Ganga descended on this earth was on the tenth day of Shukla Paksha of Jyeshtha month. Therefore, this day is celebrated as the festival of Ganga Dussehra. Taking bath in river Ganga on this day brings worldly happiness and salvation in the next world. A person who takes bath in Ganga on this day becomes free from the cycle of birth and death and always resides in the supreme abode.

Verified by Purans……..