world and the horse will be sacrificed in the yagna . The horse was freed to wander and all the kings of the earth accepted Sagara as their king but the Gods in heaven were scared with Sagara ’ s empire touching ocean to ocean . They thought eventually he will reach the heaven so they stole the horse and tied him near the ashram next to the sea of great hermitage Kapila who was under deep meditation . When the horse did not return Sagara told his sons to search the horse and bring it to the place of yagna . As a result Sagara ’ s sons haunted every place on earth from jungles to the mountain , rooting up the earth . And lastly they found the sacrificial horse tied near Rishi Kapila next to sea . They thought Rishi Kapila is responsible and they accused the great sage hurling imprecations for stealing the sacrificial horse . The ascetic ’ s fury was roused and with his anger the fire of his glance turned the Sagara ’ s sons into ashes . When they were not returned king sent his Grandson Anshuman and he brought the sad news and also Rishi Kapila ’ s promise that they will attain heaven when the waters of Ganga were brought from heaven to purify their ashes . Sagara grew old and died unable to bring Ganga from heaven . Anshuman and his descendents lack the single minded devotion to bring the celestial river from heaven . At last a descendent of the royal family ; Bhagiratha become king . A seeker of the truth handed over the rein of the kingdom to his counselors and retired to Himalayas . There he spent years in penance and ascetic practices . The Gods were pleased and his wish was granted . Lord Shiva agreed to hold Ganga when it fell from heaven to check it ’ s tumultuous fall which will rock the earth . Shiva standing on the Himalayas commended Ganga to descend . Ganga with her pride thought “ who this God calls me down ? I shall sweep him away ”. And with her current circling the moon she jumped over Shiva . Shiva understanding Ganga ’ s thoughts , angered , caught the river in his dense matted hair like forest of time and held her there . Ganga wandered in that dense hair again and again but could not found way out . But Shiva out of kindness to Bhagiratha released the river from her lock which entered lake Manasaovar dividing into seven streams flowing different corners of the earth and the seventh the Alokananda ( the river ’ s name as it passed Badrinath ) followed Bhagiratha on his long journey down the Himalayas a thousand miles across plains , through the jungles and then delta to Kapila Rishi ’ s ashram , and there at the end of the world , graced the ashes of the sons of Sagara , lifting them to paradise .
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Integrated River Basin Management Society