Gaṅgā and king Pratīpa

 vaiśampāyana uvāca

tataḥ pratīpo rājā āsīt sarvabhūtahitaḥ sadā
niṣasāda samā bahvīrgaṅgādvāragato japan

Vaiśampāyana said: There was a king named Pratīpa, engaged in doing good to all creatures. He spent many years in ascetic penances, going to the source of the river Gaṅgā.

tasya rūpaṇometā gaṅgā strīrūpadhāriṇī
uttīrya salilāt tasmāllobhanīyatamākṛtiḥ
adhīyānasya rājarṣerdivyarūpā manasvinī
dakṣiṇaṁ śālasaṁkāśamūruṁ bheje śubhānanā

Accomplished and beautiful Gaṅgā, in the form of a tempting woman, rose from the water and came to the king. That beautiful lady, that intelligent celestial maiden, endued with ravishing beauty, sat upon the right thigh of the king, which was like a Śāla tree.

pratīpastu mahīpālastāmuvāca yaśasvinīm
karomi kiṁ te kalyāṇi priyaṁ yat te ̍ bhikāṅkṣitam

Thereupon, king Pratīpa asked that famous: O fortunate lady! What good can I do for you what you desire?

struvāca
tvāmahaṁ kāmaye rājan bhajamānāṁ bhajasva mām
tyāgaḥ kāmavatīnāṁ hi strīṇāṁ sadbhirvigarhitaḥ

Maiden said: O king! I desire to have you. I offer myself, accept me!
To reject a woman, who is full of desire is never considered good by the wise.

pratīpa uvāca
nāhaṁ parastriyaṁ kāmād gaccheyaṁ varavarṇinī
na cāsavarṇāṁ kalyāṇi dharmyametaddhi me vratam

Pratīpa said: O beautiful lady! I never go to another man ̍s wife out of lust. O fortunate maiden! This is my solemn vow.

stryuvāca
nāśreyasyasmi nagamyā na vaktavyā ca karhicit
bhajantīṁ bhaja māṁ rājan divyāṁ kanyāṁ varastriyam

Maiden said: I am neither inauspicious, nor ugly, nor a detestable maiden. I am celestial damsel of great beauty. O king! I offer myself! Accept me!

pratīpa uvāca
tvayā nivṛttametat tu yanmāṁ codayasi priyasi priyam
anyathā pratipannaṁ māṁ nāśayed dharmaviplavaḥ

Pratīpa said: I have abstrained from the course to which you would initiate me. If I break my vow, its sin will destroy me!

prāpya dakṣiṇamūru me tvamaśliṣṭā varāṅgane
apatyānāṁ sruṣāṇāṁ ca bhīru viddyetadāsanam

O beautiful lady! You have sat upon my right thigh. O timid girl! It is the seat for daughters and daughters in law.

savyoruḥ kāminībhogyastvayā sa ca vivarjitaḥ
tasmādahaṁ nācariṣye tvayi kāmaṁ varāṅgane

Left thigh is the seat for the wife, but you have rejected it. Therefore, O best lady! I cannot accept you.

snuṣā me bhava suśreṇi putrārthaṁ tvāṁ vṛṇomyaham
snuṣāpakṣaṁ hi vāmoru tvamāgamya samāśritā

O beautiful girl! Be my daughter in law! I accept you for my son! Left thigh is for the wife which you have not accepted.

stryuvāca
evamapyastu dharmajña saṁyujyeyaṁ sutena te
tvadbhaktyā tu bhajiṣyātaṁ bhārataṁ kulam

Maiden said: O virtuous man! Let it be as you say! Let me be united with your son! Out of respect for you, I shall be a wife of famous Bharata race.

pṛthivyāṁ pārthivā ye ca teṣāṁ yūyaṁ parāyaṇam
guṇā na hi mayā śakyā vaktuṁ varṣatairapi

You are refuge of all the kings. I am incapable of reciting your qualifications even in 100 years.

kulasya ye vaḥ prathitāstatsādhutvamathottamam
samayeneha dharmajña ācareyaṁ ya yad vibho
tat sarvameva putraste na mīmāṁseta karhicit
evaṁ vasantī putre te vardhayiṣyāmyahaṁ ratim
putraiḥ puṇyaiḥ priyaiścaiva svargaṁ prāpsyati sutaḥ

O virtuous man! Greatness and goodness of many celebrated kings of your race is unlimited, but O lord! This must be the term of me becoming your daughter in law, that your son should not be judging my acts. Living thus with your son, Ishall make him happy and do the good for him. He will finally ascend to heaven in consequence of his virtues and good conduct and of sons I shall bear for him.

vaiśampāyana uvāca
tathetyuktā tu sā rājaṁstatraivāntaradhīyata
putrajanma pratīkṣan vai sa tadadhārayat
etasminneva kāle tu pratīpaḥ kṣatriyarṣabhaḥ
tapastepe sutasyārtha sabhāryaḥ kurunandana

Vaiśampāyana said: O king! Having said this, celestial maiden then and there disappeared. King also waited for the birth of his son, so that he could fulfil his promise. Some time after, the best of Kṣatriyas, that light of Kuru race, Pratīpa, was engaged with his wife in ascetic penances with desire of a son.

tayoḥ samabhavat putro vṛddhayoḥ sa mahābhiṣaḥ
śāntasya jajñe saṁtānastasmādāsīt sa śāntanuḥ

When they grew old, a son was born to them and this son was Mahābhīṣa. He was called Śāntanu because he was born when his father had controlled his passions by asceticism.

saṁsmaraṁścākṣayāṁllokān vijātān svena karmaṇā
puṇyakarmakṛdevāsīcchāntanuḥ kurusattamaḥ
pratīpaḥ śāntanuṁ putraṁ yauvanasthaṁ tato ̍ nvaśāt

The best of Kurus, Śāntanu, knowing that the regions of indestructible hapiness could be gained only by virtuous deeds, devoted himself to virtue. When Śāntanu grew up to be youth, Pratīpa told him:

purā strī māṁ samabhyāgācchāntano bhūtaye tavā
tvāmāvrajed yadi rahaḥ sā putra varavarṇinī
kāmayānābhipāḍyā divyā strī putrakāmyayā
sā tvayā nānuyoktavyā kāsi kasyāsi cāṅgane
yacca kuryānna tat karma sā praṣṭavyā tvayānagha
panniyogād bhajantīṁ tāṁ bhajethā ityuvāca tam

O Śāntanu! Some time before a celestial damsel came to me for good. If you meet that beautiful celestial damsel in secret and if she solicits you to beget offspring on her, accept her as your wife. O sinless one! Judge not the propriety or impropriety of anything she does. Ask not who she is, whom she belongs to and whence she comes, but accept her as your wife at my command.

vaiśampāyana uvāca
evaṁ saṁdiśya tanayaṁ pratīpaḥ śāntanuṁ tadā
sve ca rājye ̍ bhiṣicyainaṁ vanaṁ rājā viveśa ha

Vaiśampāyana said: Having thus commanded his son Śāntanu and installed him on his throne, that king, Pratīpa, retired into a forest.

sa rājā śāntanurdhīmān devarājasamadyutiḥ
babhūva mṛgayāśīlaḥ śāntanurvanagocaraḥ

That greatly intelligent king Śāntanu, as effulgent as Indra, became a lover of hunting and passed much of his time in the woods.

sa mṛgān mahiṣāṁścaiva vinighnan rājasattamaḥ
gaṅgāmanucacāraikaḥ siddhacāraṇasevitām

That best of kings hunted many deer and buffaloes. Wandering along the banks of the Gaṅgā, he came upon a place frequented by Siddhas and Cāraṇas.

sa kadācinmahārāja dadārśa paramāṁ striyam
jājvalyamānāṁ vapuṣā sākṣācchriyamivāparām

There did that great king met one day with a lovely damsel of blazing beauty like Śrī herself.

sarvānadyāṁ sudatīṁ divyābharaṇabhūṣitām
sūkṣmāmbaradharāmekāṁ padmodarasamaprabhām

She was endowed with faultless beauty and beautiful teeth. She was decked with celestial ornaments. She wore garments as fine and beautiful as the filaments of lotus.

tāṁ dṛṣṭaromābhūd vismito rūpasampadā
pibanniva ca netrābhyāṁ nātṛpyata narādhipaḥ

King was surprised to see that damsel of great beauty and his hair all over his body stood up in rapture. His steadfast gaze drank her charms, but it failed to satiate him.

sā ca dṛṣṭvaiḥ rājānaṁ vicarantaṁ mahādyutim
snehādāgatasauhārdā nātṛpyata vilāsinī

Maiden also, seeing that king of great effulgence moved about in great agitation, felt for him affection and friendship. She gazed at him and longed to gaze at him more.

tāmuvāca tato rājā sāntvayañślakṣṇayā girā
devī vā dānavī vātvaṁ gandharvī cātha vāpsarāḥ
yakṣī vā pannagī vāpi mānuṣī vā sumadhyame
yāce tvāṁ suragarbhābhe bhāryā me bhava śobhane

King then addressed her in sweet words: O beautiful one! O beauty of slender waist! Be you a lady of Devas, Dānavas, Gandharvas, Apsaras, Yakṣas, Nāgas or of human race, become my wife!