In the illustrious solar dynasty, there was a renowned king named Sagara, the lord of kings. Sagara was the very embodiment of truth—devoted to it in thought, speech, and action. His words were always truthful, and his mind ever dwelled on righteousness. Sagara had two wives. By one, he had a single son, who was exceedingly handsome. The other wife, longing for a son of her own, undertook devoted worship of Śaṅkara, Lord Shiva. After a hundred years of penance and prayer, she finally gave birth, but to her dismay, it was only a lump of flesh. At that moment, Śambhu—Shiva himself in the guise of a brāhmaṇa—appeared before her. By his divine intervention, that lump of flesh was transformed, and from it emerged many sons, all possessing great strength and valor. Yet fate turned grim. The sons of Sagara, in their pride and might, incurred the wrath of the sage Kapila. With a single angry gaze, Kapila reduced them all to ashes. To redeem his brothers and bring them salvation, Sagara’s son Asamañja performed severe austerities, seeking to bring the sacred river Gaṅgā down to earth. His own son, Dilīpa, continued these penances with the same purpose. After him, his son Aṃśumān also strove to bring the Ganges for the deliverance of his ancestors. In time, Bhagīratha, son of Aṃśumān, was born—a great devotee and a wise soul. Bhagīratha performed austerities for a hundred thousand years, all with the aim of bringing the holy Gaṅgā to earth to purify the ashes of Sagara’s sons. During his penance, Bhagīratha beheld a wondrous vision—a youth with two arms, holding a flute, dressed as a cowherd. This was none other than the supreme Brahman, sovereign and complete, who had manifested by his own will. He was unattached, a witness to all, beyond all qualities and the workings of nature. This divinity, pure as fire, was established in Śuka, adorned with jeweled ornaments. By the play of this supreme being, Bhagīratha at last attained his cherished boon—the salvation of his ancestors and the deliverance of the Sagara dynasty. With profound reverence, Bhagīratha bowed before the Lord and departed, his heart overflowing with devotion, singing divine praises, his body thrilled with spiritual joy. Then, Śrī Kṛṣṇa spoke to him: “By my command, let all the sons of Sagara be purified. They now possess divine forms and ride in celestial chariots. Having exhausted the fruits of their actions through many births, their liberation is complete. As the scriptures declare, by the touch and even the wind of the Ganges, all sins are destroyed. On the auspicious day of Mausalā, simply by bathing in the Ganges, people are cleansed of whatever sins they have committed—even the gravest, such as killing a Brahmin. All these are destroyed by bathing on Mausalā day. Some say, O goddess, that the results are as the scriptures declare. “But listen, O beautiful one, to the merits of bathing on other days. On ordinary days, bathing with meditation yields a hundredfold merit. On the day of the sun’s transit, the merit is thirty times greater. During Uttarayana, the merit becomes tenfold. On Akshaya day, the result is equal, though this is not established in the Vedas. On the bright seventh of Magha, and likewise on Bhishma Ashtami, the merit is especially great. Even more so on the rare Nanda day, where the merit is doubled. Varuni is equal to Nanda, and before that, the merit is four times greater. On these special occasions, the merit of bathing in the Ganges becomes ten million times greater than an ordinary bath. Even at partial sunrise, the fruit is a hundred times greater. “Those who are Vaishnavas, liberated while living, are without desire for any fruit. When the supreme Vishnu mantra enters the ear from the mouth of the guru, liberation is assured.” Thus, the story of Sagara’s line, the descent of the Ganges, and the supreme merit of holy bathing was revealed, shining with the glory of truth, devotion, and divine grace.