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[Full title: Informative stories; (A) Caritas of Eminent persons; (9) Death of the son of Sagara]

The story is narrated by Gautama after relating the establishing of Meghavahana as the first lord of Lankapuri and the emancipation of Ajitasvamin, the second Tirthankara (5.168-203). 1. See Visnupurana, 2.1.32.

148 A CRITICAL STUDY OF PAUMACARIYAM Sagara (the cousin brother of Ajitasvamin and the second Cakravartin) had sixty-four thousand wives and sixty thousand sons. Once his sons went to the Astapada mountain on a pilgrimage and on being advised by the ministers, they dug a ditch around the mountain and got it filled up with the waters of the Ganges for the protection of the shrines situated on the mountain. At this the lord of the Nagas bit all of them except Bhima and Bhagiratha. When their brothers were dead, Bhima and Bhagiratha returned to Saketapuri. The ministers prevented them from reporting the news to Sagara and themselves first explained to Sagara the ephemeral nature of the world and then broke the sad news. At this Sagara bewailed and after having enthroned Bhagiratha, the son of Jahnavi, he renounced the world and in due course attained emancipation. The Uttaradhyayana (18.35), and the Tiloyapannatti (4. 515) refer to Sagara as the second Cakravartin. The Paumacariya (5. 247-283) mentions 96000 wives of Sagara. There is no reference to the advice of the ministers to dig the ditch. The Harivamsha-purana of Jinasenasuri (13. 27-30) merely refers to the burning of the sons of Sagara. The Paumacariu (5. 10-14) states that Bhagiratha took intiative in digging the moat. The Vasudevahindi (I. 300-305) and the commentary of Devendragani on the Uttaradhyayana mention that at the advice of Jahnu, the moat was dug. At that time the Nagaraja was pacified. Then the Ganges was diverted to the moat. This caused hostility with the Nagaraja ferocious sight burnt the sons of Sagara to ashes. A Brah min is said to have tried to save Sagara from being afflicted with grief. He went to Sagara with the corpse of his son and requested him to cure his deceased son. Sagara called for a physician who demanded the ash from such a house where no one had died so far. At this Instantly the news of the demand Sagara realised the law of Karma. death of his sons was disclosed to him. Further it is stated that the waters of the Ganges over-flew the ditch and caused peril to the people. Bhagiratha, the grandson of Sagara then diverted the Ganges towards the eastern ocean. Thus the river was first called as Jahnavi and afterwards as Bhagirathi. The Trishashti Shalaka Purusha-caritra (II p. 33f) agrees with this account except that the Brahmin went to Sagara with a corpse and asked him to bring, as promised by a deity, the fire from a house where no one had died so far so that the dead could be revitalised. The Uttarapurana (ch. 48) and the Mahapurana (39) narrate that Mahabala and Manicula (as celestial beings) had decided mutually to enlighten one another whoever was born first in the mortal world. Mahabala was born as Sagara. Manicula then twice tried to enlighten

Sagara but in vain. Manicula assumed the INTERVENING STORIES 149 Sagara advised him life of his son. At When the sons of Sagara dug the moat, form of a snake and brought their end. Again he assumed the form of a Brahmin and reported to Sagara the death of his own son on account of the cruelty of Yama. to perform penances to kill Yama and save the this stage the Brahmin broke the news of sad demise of the sons of Sagara. Sagara developed aversion towards the world and renounced it. Manicula revitalised all the dead sons of Sagara. The Ramapurana of Bhattaraka Somasena. further (ch.3) adds to the above account that Manicula had deprecated the sons of Sagara for their dependence on the earnings of their father. Sagara then engaged them to the work of digging the moat. The Uttara-purana, the Mahapurana and the Ramapurana of Bhattaraka Somasena. mention that all the sons of Sagara afterwards renounced the world. Of the Brahmanical literature, the Valmiki Ramayana (1.38-44) states that Sagara had two wives, Kesini and Sumati. Once a sacrificial horse of Sagara was kidnapped by Indra. Sumati's sixty thousand sons dug out the earth in search of the horse. It enraged the Nagas, Asuras etc. When they complained to Brahma, he prophesied that Kapila (Vasudeva) would burn the sons of Sagara. Further in search of the horse, the sons of Sagara reached Rasatala and saw the horse there. When they ran towards Kapiladeva, he burnt them to ashes. Sagara sent his grandson Amsumat to trace out his sons. On reaching Patala, Amsumat was requested by Garuda to perform 'jala-kriya' of the deceased ones. He performed penances on the Himalayas but the Ganges did not descend. His grandson Bhagiratha observed penances for one thousand years and pleased Brahma. He pleased Siva also. Then the Ganges descended from the heaven on to the head of Siva and followed Bhagiratha on the land. In its course the river destroyed the hermitage of Jahnu, a rsi. Enraged Jahnu drank all the water of the Ganges. He released it from his ears only at the request of the Devas, Gandharvas and the Rsis. The stream followed Bhagiratha upto the Rasatala and the deceased ancestors of Bhagiratha attained heaven. Thus the river came to be known as Jahnavi as well as Bhagirathi The Visnupurana (4,4) does not contain the intervention of Garuda and the penances of Amsumat. Here Kapila had prophesied before Amsumat that his grandson would bring the Ganges on the earth. It does not contain the episode of Jahnu. The Bhagavatapura na (9.8-9), the Padmapurana (Uttarakhanda, 21-22) and the Mahabharata (3.106-109) agree with the Visnupurana. In the Mahabharata the names of the wives of Sagara are Vaidarbhi and Saibya, the latter having 60000 sons.