Hearing the dreadful words spoken by Aṃśumat, King Sagara, with a heavy heart, completed his grand sacrifice according to all the prescribed rites and procedures. Yet, even after performing the sacrifice he so desired, the illustrious king returned to his city, still unable to find a solution to the descent of the sacred Ganga. The question of how to bring the river down to deliver his sons remained unresolved. Thus, after ruling his kingdom for thirty thousand years, the great king Sagara, unable to fulfill this wish, departed for heaven in due course, as ordained by time. When Sagara had passed away, the people, seeking a righteous ruler, chose Aṃśumān, who was supremely virtuous, as their king. Aṃśumān, renowned for his greatness, had a son of illustrious fame named Dilīpa. After entrusting the kingdom to Dilīpa, Aṃśumān retired to the beautiful peak of the Himalaya, where he performed severe austerities. Dwelling among ascetics in the forest, Aṃśumān spent thirty-two thousand years in penance, gaining great merit and eventually attaining heaven. Dilīpa, endowed with energy and splendor, ruled the kingdom after his father. Upon learning of the destruction of his ancestors, he was overcome with grief and became absorbed in thought, pondering how he might bring about the descent of the Ganga, perform the funeral rites with water for his forefathers, and deliver their souls. Though he remained self-controlled and devoted to righteousness, Dilīpa could not find a solution. In time, a supremely virtuous son named Bhagīratha was born to him. Dilīpa performed many sacrifices and ruled for thirty thousand years, but despite his efforts, he too was unable to achieve the deliverance of his ancestors. Eventually, overtaken by disease, he met his end according to the law of time, and by the merit he had accumulated, ascended to the world of Indra. Before departing, he anointed his son Bhagīratha as king. Bhagīratha, the royal sage and righteous ruler, was a great king, but he had no offspring and was desirous of progeny and subjects. Entrusting the kingdom to his ministers, he became intent on bringing down the Ganga to deliver his ancestors. Determined, he undertook long austerities at Gokarna, practicing the fivefold austerity with raised arms, subsisting on food only once a month, and mastering his senses. For a thousand years, he stood in terrible penance. At last, when Bhagīratha’s great austerities were complete, the blessed Lord Brahmā, the master and ruler of all beings, was greatly pleased. He appeared before Bhagīratha and said, “O King Bhagīratha, I am pleased with you. Through your well-performed austerity, choose a boon, O steadfast one.” Standing with joined palms, the radiant and mighty-armed Bhagīratha addressed the Grandsire of all worlds: “If you are pleased with me, O Blessed One, and my austerity has borne fruit, may all the sons of Sagara receive water from me. May all those great souls, whose ashes are moistened by the waters of the Ganga, attain the highest heaven, along with their ancestors. I ask this for the sake of my lineage, so that our race does not perish. Let this supreme boon be granted to me in the line of Ikshvaku, O Lord.” Brahmā, the Grandsire of all worlds, replied with auspicious and sweet words: “Great indeed is your desire, O Bhagīratha, mighty chariot-warrior. So let it be; welfare be upon you, enhancer of the Ikshvaku line. Yet, this eldest daughter of the Himalaya, Ganga, is to be sustained. Let Hara, Shiva, be appointed to bear her. The earth cannot endure the descent of Ganga; I see no one but the trident-bearer Shiva fit to sustain her.” Having spoken thus to the king and addressed Ganga, the creator of the worlds departed to heaven with all the gods and hosts of Maruts. When the Lord of gods had departed, Bhagīratha pressed his thumb upon the earth and performed worship for a full year. At the completion of that year, the revered Lord of all beings, Umāpati, Paśupati—Shiva himself—spoke to Bhagīratha: “I am pleased with you, best of men. I will do what pleases you. I shall bear the daughter of the mountain-king upon my head.” Then the eldest daughter of Himavat, honored by all the worlds, assumed a most immense form and an unbearable speed. From the sky, Ganga descended, landing upon Shiva, upon the head of the great Lord. The goddess, difficult to restrain, considered her course. In her descent, she entered the netherworld, seizing the stream and Shiva; but recognizing her arrogance, the blessed Lord Hara became angry. The three-eyed one resolved to conceal her. The sacred river fell upon the holy head of Rudra, and in the cavern of Shiva’s matted locks, resembling the Himalaya itself, she strove but could not manage to reach the earth. She found no exit from the mass of matted hair and wandered there for many years. There, again, one performing supreme austerity saw her and was greatly pleased by her presence. Thus unfolded the wondrous tale of Bhagīratha’s quest, the descent of Ganga, and the blessings of the divine, as told in the glorious Bālakāṇḍa of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa.