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The story of Ganga - Viswamitra
 Once
upon a time, a famous King of Surya Vamsa by name Sakaran was ruling his
Kingdom with his two wives . Kesini had a son Asamanjan by name, while Sumathi
had sixty thousand sons. Asamanjan's son was Amsuman. Sakaran once started
performing the Ashwamedha Yaga. While the Yaga was being performed, Lord Indra
stole the horse, took it to the nether world and tied it to a post where Sage
Kapila was doing penance. The sixty thousand sons of Sakaran who came in
search of the horse saw it near sage Kapila, and started attacking the sage,
thinking that he was the culprit. The sage enraged at their insolent behaviour,
burnt them into ashes.
Sakaran when his sons did not
return with the horse, sent his Grandson Amsuman in search of them. Amsuman
found the Horse in the nether world and felt anguished when he saw the sons of
Sakaran in the form of ashes. Then he went in search of water to perform the
final rites but Lord Garuda appeared before him and told him that it would not
be enough if ordinary water was used for the ceremony and that the holy water
of Ganga in Heaven should be used for them to attain Moksha. He then advised
him to finish the Yaga first and then start making efforts to bring Ganga down
to Earth from Heaven. Amsuman took the horse and informed Sakaran about what
had happened. Sakaran accordingly finished the Yaga, ruled his Kingdom for a
long time and went to Heaven.
 Meanwhile
Amsuman and his son Dhilipan's efforts to bring Ganga to Earth failed and
after them Dhilipan's son Bhageeratha handed over the Kingdom to his
ministers, went to the forest to do penance .He did 'Panchagni Thavam' and
controlled all his senses once a month. Thus he continued to do for a long
time, till Lord Bhrama appeared and asked him for his wish. Bhageeratha asked
him to send Ganga to earth so that he can perform the rites for his ancestors
and expressed his wish to have a son. Bhrama granted his wishes, but told him
that the Earth would not withstand the impact when Ganga started flowing from
Heaven with great force and only Lord Shiva could withstand it's powerful
force. So he asked Bhageeratha to pray to Shiva and so saying he disappeared.
Bhageeratha heeded his advice
and started on his penance praying to Shiva. He stood on his Big toe, raised
both his hands together, lived on air alone, and thus like a pillar did severe
penance for a year. Finally, Lord Shiva before whom the three worlds bow,
appeared before Bhageeratha, expressed his happiness over his penance and
promised to bear the force of Ganga when she came down to Earth.
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