It was as if Shantanu had struck her with an arrow. Ganga turned toward him in shock, a soft moan escaping her lips as she stood frozen while he ran up to her. Before he could snatch the child from her arms, she handed the baby to him willingly.
Shantanu was beside himself with rage. "What is this dreadful thing you do over and over again? How can a mother take the lives of her innocent children?"
Ganga smiled sadly and said, "You have broken your oath to me. It seems you need this son more than you need me. So be it; the curse has ended."
"What curse? What are you talking about, you murderer?" he shouted, pain and confusion evident in his voice.
A flash of hurt crossed her heart, but she gently took his hand and said, "My lord, please hear my story before you judge me." Stroking his face tenderly, she whispered, "Look, Shantanu, see who I truly am."
In that moment, she transformed before his eyes. She became a being of pure light and flowing water—the very essence of time and nature contained within her. She was more radiant than the rising sun, exuding a purity beyond belief. She was a goddess. Shantanu stepped back in awe, realizing that the woman who had been his wife for ten years was, in fact, divine.
"I am Ganga," she said softly, "the sacred river of heaven and earth. I wash away the sins of mankind."
Shantanu stood speechless, overwhelmed by the revelation. He wanted to kneel and worship her, but the child in his arms and the whirlwind of emotions kept him rooted to the spot.
A moment later, Ganga returned to her human form. She looked into his eyes and continued, "Now you will believe me and understand the story of two curses."
She continued, "The first curse is why I came to you as a mortal woman. Long ago, in a time you cannot remember because you are now bound to this mortal body, you were a different king. Your name was Abhishek."
As Ganga spoke, memories from another life stirred within Shantanu's soul. He saw vivid visions of what she described.
"Once, Abhishek sat in the great hall of Indra, the king of the gods. It was a time when heaven and earth were close to each other, and earthly kings could visit the realms of the gods. I, too, was in that hall, as I often was. The moment Abhishek saw me, he desired me. And when I looked at him, I felt the same longing."
As she continued her tale, Shantanu relived that celestial moment, feeling the intense emotions and the charged atmosphere.
"The gods saw the desire between us," Ganga continued, "and they were not pleased. In their anger, they cursed us. They said we were forbidden to love each other in their sacred presence. Because of our desire, they cursed us to be born as mortals, to live as husband and wife for a time, and to fulfill our love in the human world."
Shantanu's heart pounded as he listened. "So, that day by the river…" he whispered.
"Yes," Ganga replied. "That day, I came to you, fulfilling the curse."
"But what about our children?" Shantanu asked, his voice trembling. "What curse made you take their lives?"
Ganga spoke in a voice as calm as a flowing river, "Once, the eight attendant deities of Indra, who are heavenly beings, came down to Earth with their wives."
Invisible to human eyes, these immortals roamed the Earth and came upon a mountain where the sage Vasishta had his ashram. They saw Nandini, the sage's divine cow, grazing with her calf. The cow's brilliance lit up the entire mountainside.
One of the deity's wives pleaded with her husband, insisting she must have the cow.
Prabhasa laughed and said, "Nandini belongs to the sage Vasishta, who is the master of this mountain. Drinking her milk can save a human from death, but we are already immortal. Angering the sage is unwise."
But his wife wouldn't listen. "It's not for me; it's for a dear mortal friend. I don't want her to ever die."
Pressured by their wives, who taunted them for fearing a mere sage, the deities decided to take Nandini and her calf from Vasishta's ashram, descending like comets on the mountain.
However, Nandini was like a daughter to Vasishta, and he couldn't bear to lose her. Vasishta, who could see the future, knew the deities had stolen his cow. When he saw Nandini and her calf being taken away, his eyes blazed with anger. Using the power of his deep meditation, he cursed the Vasus.
"Arrogant gods, you will be born as mortal men!"
In their distant heavenly world, the deities felt the curse and trembled. The thought of being bound in mortal flesh terrified them. They rushed back to Vasishta, returned Nandini and her calf, and begged for his forgiveness.
But a sage's curse cannot be easily undone, and there was a deeper purpose behind this curse. Although Vasishta's anger had cooled, he could only soften the curse, not remove it entirely.
He said, "I cannot take back the curse, but for seven of you, it will be brief. You will spend nine months in a mother's womb, but as soon as you are born, you will die and be free again."
The eighth deity, Prabhasa, who had actually taken Nandini, hung his head in shame. Vasishta spoke kindly to him, "Since you led the others into this sin, your punishment will be greater. You will live a full life as a human on Earth, but it will be a great life. Now, go and find a woman who can be your mother in this world."
Exhausted from casting the curse and its softening, Vasishta took Nandini and her calf and left to continue his meditation.
The deities, left alone on the mountain, saw a sparkling spring that flowed from a cleft in the rocks. They recognized it as the source of the Ganga River. Realizing that Ganga, the river of heaven and Earth, was the perfect mother for them, they worshiped her.
Surprised by their presence, Ganga appeared before them. The deities, already feeling like children, fell at her feet and told her their story. Prabhasa then pleaded, "O Ganga, please take human form, marry a king on Earth, and become our mother. When we are born, cast the first seven of us into your waters. But I, Prabhasa, must live out a full human life."
Ganga finished her story softly, "With the other curse already upon me and my deep love for you, Shantanu, how could I refuse?"
Shantanu now understood that Ganga was pure and that her actions had a purpose. He knelt before her, asking for her forgiveness for doubting her. Then, without a word, he handed her the glowing infant in his arms—Prabhasa, the eighth god. Tenderly, she took the child from him.
Ganga said, "When he is sixteen, our son will return to Hastinapura and one day, he will rule the Kuru kingdom."
Shantanu realized that it was time for Ganga to leave him. He cried, "And you, Ganga? Will I never see you again? What if I come to the river? Won't you meet me here in secret, away from the eyes of men and gods? How will I live without you?"
For a moment, Ganga looked sad. Then she stroked his face and said, "Nothing can be hidden, nor ever shall be. Our time together has come to an end."
With the child in her arms, she vanished. Shantanu's cries echoed through the sky, the forest, and the river. Again and again, he called out her name, but she was gone. After a while, knowing his old life was truly over, he climbed wearily into the chariot in which she had driven here and turned home.