le blue. O (prince) of a powerful arm!
Obtain the favour, by practising austerities, of that same Siva--giver
of boons. That same god will sustain my descent upon his head. Thy
desire he will fulfill, the desire, namely, to be of service to thy
fathers, O king!" Then the great king Bhagiratha having heard the same,
went to the Kailasa hill, and betaking himself to a severe course of
penances, at the expiration of a certain length of time obtained the
favour of that worker of blessings (Siva). And, O protector of men! that
same best of men, in order that his forefathers might have a place in
heaven secured to them, received from that very Siva the fulfilment of
his wish, namely the wish that the descending Ganga might be
sustained.'"

SECTION CIX

"Lomasa said, 'The blessed God having heard what Bhagiratha had said,
and with a view to doing what was agreeable to the residents of heaven,
replied to the king, saying, "So let it be. O most righteous of the
protectors of men, O (prince) of a powerful arm! For thy sake I shall
sustain the river of the gods, when she will take her descent from the
sky, she who is pure and blessed and divine, O (king) of a mighty arm!"
Saying this, he came to the snowy mountain, surrounded by his
attendants, of awful mien, and with uplifted weapons of diverse forms.
And standing there, he said to Bhagiratha, the most praiseworthy of men,
"O (prince) of a powerful arm! do thou pray to the river, the daughter
of the king of mountains. I shall sustain that most praiseworthy of
rivers when she falls down from the third region of the world (heaven)."
Having heard these words uttered by Siva, the king became devout (in
heart), made obesiance and directed his thoughts towards Ganga. Then the
delightful (river), of pure water in being so thought of by the king,
and seeing that the great lord (Siva) was standing (to receive her
fall), came down all of a sudden from the sky. And seeing that she had
taken her leap from the sky, the gods, together with the mighty saints,
the Gandharvas, the snakes, and the Yakshas, assembled there as
spectators. Then came down from the sky Ganga, the daughter of the snowy
mountain. And her whirlpools were raging, and she was teeming with
fishes and sharks. O king! she directing her course towards the sea,
separated herself, into three streams; and her water was bestrewn with
piles of froth, which looked like so many rows of (white) ganders. And
crooked and tortuous in