Goddess Ganga

Quick Facts

About Goddess Ganga

The divine river goddess who married King Shantanu. She drowned her first seven sons to free them from a curse, and spared the eighth, Devavrata (Bhishma).

In Their Words

You must never try to stop me or speak to me harshly.

Goddess Ganga

Traits

• Divine
• Uncompromising
• Mother of Bhishma

Stories Featuring Goddess Ganga

48 tales on this site name Goddess Ganga, in canonical reading order.

• Ancient BeginningsThe Earth's Plea, the Descent of the Gods, and the Sages Who Began the TellingAdi Parva ‧ 22 min
• Shantanu and the River GoddessThe Marriage That Began the Kuru DynastyAdi Parva ‧ 24 min
• The Terrible VowTrue love is not possession but sacrifice. Devavrata gave up his kingdom, his future, and his chance at family - all so...Adi Parva ‧ 20 min
• The Terrible VowThe Sacrifice of DevavrataAdi Parva ‧ 23 min
• Bhishma's VowThe Terrible Oath of DevavrataAdi Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Niyoga of VyasaThe Birth of the KurusAdi Parva ‧ 21 min
• Kunti Knows Her SonThe mother who recognised Karna in the arena and stayed silentAdi Parva ‧ 14 min
• The Lineages of Gods and DemonsVaishampayana recites the descent of every creature from Brahma and the daughters of DakshaAdi Parva ‧ 22 min
• Ganga Beyond the RiverThe mother who shaped BhishmaAdi Parva
• The Curse of the Eight VasusHeaven's theft, earth's long sentenceAdi Parva
• Ganga, River of the KurusThe goddess who carries the dynastyAdi Parva
• Mahabhisha's GlanceOne unguarded look in Brahma's court sets a dynasty movingAdi Parva
• The Lake Called BinduWhere Maya found Bhima's club and Arjuna's conchSabha Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Descent of the RiverBhagiratha and the Sons of SagaraVana Parva ‧ 11 min
• The Mountain That Answers SpeechWhere a sage's temper made silence the price of passageVana Parva ‧ 16 min
• Sakamvari and the Ford of GoldThe goddess who fed the sages on herbs, and the tirtha where Vishnu knelt to RudraVana Parva ‧ 21 min
• Garuda's Map of the WorldThe four directions described from a bird's backUdyoga Parva ‧ 18 min
• Twenty-Three Days on the SaraswatiBhishma fights his own preceptor and neither man can winUdyoga Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Pillow of ArrowsBoth armies lay down their weapons for one eveningBhishma Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Herb in the Grandsire's HandA wounded Duryodhana asks Bhishma for reassurance and is given honesty, a pledge, and medicineBhishma Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Grandsire Chooses His HourBhishma remembers Santanu's boon and refuses to die in the wrong seasonBhishma Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Shield Around BhishmaNinth day: Satyaki trades darts with the grandsire, Abhimanyu unhorses Chitrasena, and Duryodhana orders a wall of men built round BhishmaBhishma Parva ‧ 14 min
• The Evening After Bhishma FellBoth armies stop the war for a night, and Arjuna gives the grandsire the only pillow he will accept.Bhishma Parva ‧ 19 min
• Sanjaya Describes the EarthThe blind king asks what the earth is worth, and his charioteer answers with the whole of itBhishma Parva ‧ 24 min
• The Islands Beyond JambudvipaSanjaya measures the seven islands, the world elephants and the sunBhishma Parva ‧ 17 min
• Karna Takes the FieldThe vow that kept him out of ten days of war, and the grief that brought him into itDrona Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Anointing of the War GodEvery god brings a gift to a six-day-old commanderShalya Parva ‧ 21 min
• What Gandhari SawThe blind queen, given sight for one afternoon, walks Kurukshetra naming the dead of both armiesStri Parva ‧ 21 min
• Bhishma on the Bed of ArrowsFifty-Eight Days of Teaching, and a King Crowned at His FeetShanti Parva ‧ 24 min
• The Sweat That Became FeverA drop from Shiva's forehead, and the disease scattered through the worldShanti Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Son Struck From the Fire SticksA hundred years of penance, a parrot on a branch, and a child born of frictionShanti Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Horse-Headed Voice in the DeepHow the Vedas were sung back out of the hands of thievesShanti Parva ‧ 17 min
• What Is Owed to Mother, Father and TeacherAsked which duty matters most of all, Bhishma names three people and calls them the three sacred firesShanti Parva ‧ 13 min
• Krishna's Gift to the Dying GrandsireThe Boon That Took Away Pain, Hunger and Thirst So Bhishma Could SpeakShanti Parva ‧ 19 min
• The Sudra Who Gave a Hundred ThousandBhishma sets out the duties of the four orders, and names the servant whose sacrifice is still rememberedShanti Parva ‧ 19 min
• The Seven WindsVyasa halts a recitation on the Himavat and names the winds that move the worldsShanti Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Thousand Doors to HeavenA guest who cannot answer counts the ways men have got in, then names one serpent worth askingShanti Parva ‧ 14 min
• The Three Born of the FireBhrigu, Angiras and Kavi rise from a libation, and three gods claim themAnushasana Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Savitri Mantra of SalutationsBhishma gives Yudhishthira the roll of names to be said at dawnAnushasana Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Names That Cleanse SinAsked what destroys sin, Bhishma answers with a litany of gods, rivers, mountains, sages and kingsAnushasana Parva ‧ 15 min
• The Three Sages Who Saved the GodsAgastya burns the Danavas, Vashishtha brings down the Sarayu, and Atri becomes the moon and the sunAnushasana Parva ‧ 13 min
• The Two Bowls of RiceHow a mother's swap made a brahmana of one line and a warrior of the otherAnushasana Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Wind Answers the Thousand-Armed KingKartavirya boasts, and an invisible voice begins to argueAnushasana Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Hand That Rose From the GrassBhishma's own memory of Shantanu's shraddha at the gate of GangaAnushasana Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Elephant the Sage Called SonGautama argues his way through every heaven for a stolen calfAnushasana Parva ‧ 20 min
• The Departure of BhishmaThe sun turns north, and the grandsire lets goAnushasana Parva ‧ 17 min
• Ulupi's Long DesignThe wife who arranged her husband's death to save himAshvamedhika Parva
• The Return of the PortionsWho everybody turned out to have beenSvargarohana Parva ‧ 17 min

Places in Goddess Ganga's Story

Drawn from the stories Goddess Ganga appears in.

• Hastinapurहस्तिनापुर
• Banks of the Gangaगङ्गा तट
• Yamunaयमुना
• Banks of the Yamunaयमुना तट
• Gandharaगान्धार
• Kurukshetraकुरुक्षेत्र
• Indraprasthaइंद्रप्रस्थ
• Brahmalokaब्रह्मलोक
• Naimisharanyaनैमिषारण्य
• Chediचेदि
• Gangaगङ्गा
• Himavatहिमवत्

Related Characters

Others counted among the Divine Beings.

• ❉Krishna
• ◭Hanuman
• ❧Kacha
• ★The Eight Vasus
• ॐSage Vyasa
• ✶Sage Durvasa