Gangā (Gangāṣṭakam)
GANGĀ
(GANGĀṢṬAKAM)
1
O BHAGAVATĪ GANGĀ! 1
Thou art the playful garland on the head of Hara; 2
Such as but touch a drop of the spray of Thy waters
Recline on the lap of the fan-holding women of the city of the immortals, 3
Freed of the fear arising from the sinful Kālī age. 4
2
(O Devī Gangā!) may you purify us,
Thou who separateth the earth from Heaven, 5
Gladdening the creeper-like matted hair on the head of Hara, 6
Descending from the region of heaven,
Oozing from out the cave of the golden mountain, 7
Falling upon the surface of the earth,
Purifier (as the River Mandākinī) of the city of the Devas,
Who art the powerful Destructress of the multitude of men's sins.
3
The trunks of elephants and their young make play with Thy waters,
Fragrant with ichor-maddened swarms of bees,
Trickling from the temples of elephants bathing therein.
Thy stream is browned with the sandal paste
Dropping from the breasts of Siddha women 1 who bathe therein.
And nigh the river bank Thy water is strewn with Kuśa 2 grass and flowers,
There thrown by sages 3 at morn and even. 4
May the water of the Ganges protect us!
4
This divine sin-destroying Bhāgīrathī 5 now on earth
Was in the beginning water in the vessel 6 of the Primeval Grandfather. 7
Then it was pure water from the feet of the Lord (Viṣṇu),
Who sleeps on the serpent. 1
Again it was the gem adorning the matted hair of Śiva, 2
And, lastly, the daughter of the great sage Jahnu. 3
5
May the entrancing 4 Gangā falling on the matted hair 5 of Hara, 6
Descending from the Lord of Mountains,
Moving sinuously like a serpent to the ocean,
Flowing by the city of Kāśī, 7
Dispeller of countless worldly fears, 8
Saviour of those who bathe in Her waters,
Be ever victorious.
6
How can he who has seen Thy wave be bound by illusion?
To him who has drunk of Thy water thou givest a dwelling in the city of the yellow-clad Deva. 1
O Gangā! what time the bodies of those who assume body 2 fall on Thy lap, 3
For such, O Mother, 4 even Shatakrīta's 5 grandeur 6 is but a small thing.
7
O Bhagavatī! 7 on Thy bank I drink Thy water only.
I worship Kṛṣṇa, all thirst for worldly enjoyment having gone.
Destroyer of all sin, Whose companionship is the stairway to Heaven, 8
O Devī! Gangā of lightsome, tremulous wave,
Be gracious to me.
8
O Mother! O Spouse of Śambhu! 9
Who art ever associated with Śambhu
At death, upon Thy banks, with my hands folded upon my head,
Remembering Thy name and the feet of Nārāyaṇa, 1
May my devotion to Hara and Hari 2 ever endure
At the time of the festival of life's departure! 3
He who of pure mind reads this sacred eight-versed hymn to Gangā
Will be wholly released of all sin
And will go the region of Viṣṇu. 4