Note 324 — Chapter I

According to the Purānas, the milky way or ākāsh-ganga is the celestial River Ganga which was brought down by Bhagīrath to the earth.324 King Sagar once performed an ashwa-medha325 sacrifice, when, according to custom, he let loose a horse, and sent his sixty thousand sons with it. Indra, jealous of the growing power of Sagar, stole the horse and concealed it in the hermitage of Kapila, when the sage was deeply absorbed in religious meditation. The sixty thousand sons of Sagar followed it to this asylum, where they taunted and insulted the sage, believing him to be the thief. Kapila, who was ignorant of the theft, opened his long-closed eyes in anger, emitting sparks of flame from them, and destroyed the sons of Sagar together with the whole of their army. Bhagīrath, the grandson of Sagar, propitiated the sage, and on his advice practised religious austerities in honour of Shiva for the purpose of bringing down the River Ganga from heaven. Through the kindness of God Shiva, Bhagīrath was at last successful in bringing the celestial river down to this world; and with the water of the river he revived the sons of Sagar. The River Ganga (i.e., the Ganges) in this world is therefore also known by the name of Bhāgirathi. It is this heavenly river which we see as the milky way.326 Like the sacred Ganges on the earth, the River Ganga in the celestial regions is held in great respect by the gods327 and purifies the heavenly bodies, just as the earthly Ganges washes away the worst sins of mortals.323