r Speech. She is very remote, being incapable of
easy attainment. She is the embodiment of auspiciousness and prosperity.
She is capable of bestowing the six well-known attributes beginning with
lordship or puissance. She is always inclined to extend her grace. She is
the displayer of all things in the universe, and she is the high refuge
of all creatures. Those who have sought her protection in this life have
surely attained heaven. The fame of Ganga has spread all over the welkin,
and Heaven, and Earth, and all the points, cardinal and subsidiary, of
the compass. Mortal creatures, by using the waters of that foremost of
streams, always become crowned with high success. That person who himself
beholding Ganga, points her out to others, finds that Ganga rescues him
from rebirth and confers Emancipation on him. Ganga held Guha, the
generalissimo of the celestial forces, in her womb. She bears the most
precious of all metals, viz., gold, also in that womb of hers. They who
bathe in her waters every day in the morning, succeed in obtaining the
aggregate of three, viz., Righteousness, Wealth and Pleasure. Those
waters are, again, equal in point of sanctity to the butter that is
poured with Mantras on the sacrificial fire. Capable of cleansing one
from every sin, she has descended from the celestial region, and her
current is held in high esteem by every one. Ganga is the daughter of
Himavat, the spouse of Hara, and the ornament of both Heaven and Earth.
She is the bestower of everything auspicious, and is competent to confer
the six well-known attributes beginning with lordship or puissance.
Verily O king, Ganga is the one object of great sanctity in the three
worlds and confers merit upon all. Truly, O monarch, Ganga is
Righteousness in liquefied form. She is energy also running in a liquid
form over the Earth. She is endued with the splendour or puissance that
belongs to the butter that is poured with Mantras on the sacrificial
fire. She is always adorned with large waves as also with Brahmanas who
may at all times be seen performing their ablutions in her waters.
Falling from Heaven, she was held by Siva on his head. The very mother of
the heavens, she has sprung from the highest mountain for running over
the plains and conferring the most precious benefits on all creatures of
the Earth. She is the highest cause of all things; she is perfectly
stainless. She is as subtile as Brahma. She affords the best bed for the
dying.