And the king, while thus enjoying himself with his wife, had
eight children born unto him who in beauty were like the very celestials
themselves. But, O Bharata, those children, one after another, as soon as
they were born, were thrown into the river by Ganga who said, 'This is for
thy good.' And the children sank to rise no more. The king, however, could
not be pleased with such conduct. But he spoke not a word about it lest
his wife should leave him. But when the eighth child was born, and when
his wife as before was about to throw it smilingly into the river, the
king with a sorrowful countenance and desirous of saving it from
destruction, addressed her and said, 'Kill it not! Who art thou and whose?
Why dost thou kill thy own children? Murderess of thy sons, the load of
thy sins is great!'" His wife, thus addressed, replied, 'O thou desirous
of offspring, thou hast already become the first of those that have
children. I shall not destroy this child of thine. But according to our
agreement, the period of my stay with thee is at an end. I am Ganga, the
daughter of Jahnu. I am ever worshipped by the great sages; I have lived
with thee so long for accomplishing the purposes of the celestials. The
eight illustrious Vasus endued with great energy had, from Vasishtha's
curse, to assume human forms. On earth, besides thee, there was none else
to deserve the honour of being their begetter. There is no woman also on
earth except one like me, a celestial of human form, to become their
mother.
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