"Narada said, 'Even king Bhagiratha, O Srinjaya, we hear, was dead. He
caused the shores of Ganga, called after his name Bhagirath to be covered
with flights of steps made of gold.These were ghats for facilitating access to the sacred stream. Surpassing all kings and all
princes, he gave unto the Brahmanas a thousand times thousand damsels
decked with ornaments of gold. All those damsels were upon cars. And unto
every car were yoked four steeds, and behind each car were a hundred
kine. And behind each cow were (many) goats and sheep. King Bhagiratha
gave enormous presents at his sacrifices. For that reason a large
concourse of men assembled there. Afflicted there with Ganga was much
pained. 'Protect Me,' she said and sat down on his lap. And because Ganga
thus sat upon his lap in days of old, therefore, she, like the celestial
dancer Urvasi came to be regarded as his daughter and was named after his
name. And having become the king's daughter, she became his son (by
becoming like a son, the means of salvation unto his deceased
ancestors).Both 5 and 6 are difficult slokas. But for Nilakantha I could never have understood their sense. The reading Jalaughena, occuring in both the Bengal and the Bombay editions, is a mistake for Janaughena. The construction of 5 is this: Dakshina Bhuyasirdadat: tena hetuna Janaughena akaranta. The story of the salvation of Bhagiratha's ancestors is a beautiful myth. King Sagara (whence Sagara or the Ocean) had sixty thousand sons. They were all reduced to ashes by the curse of the sage Kapila, an incarnation of Vishnu himself. Bhagiratha, a remote descendant, caused the sacred Ganga to roll over the spot where the ashes of his ancestors lay, and thus procured their salvation. Sweet-speeched Gandharvas of celestial splendour,
gratified, sang all this in the hearing of the Rishis, the gods, and
human beings.The correct reading is Valguvadinas, and not the form in the genitive plural. Thus, O Srinjaya, did that goddess, viz., the
ocean-going Ganga, select lord Bhagiratha, descendant of Ikshvaku, the
performer of sacrifices with profuse gifts (to the Brahmanas), as her
father. His sacrifices were always graced with (the presence of) the very
gods with Indra at their head. And the gods used to take their respective
shares, by removing all impediments, to facilitate those sacrifices in
every way. Possessed of great ascetic merit, Bhagiratha gave unto the
Brahmanas whatever benefit they desired without obliging them to stir
from the place wherever they might entertain those desires. There was
nothing which he could withhold from the Brahmanas. Every one received
from him everything he coveted. At last, the king ascended to the region
of Brahman, through the grace of the Brahmanas. For that object on which
the Rishis that subsisted on the rays of the sun used to wait upon the
sun and the presiding deity of the sun, for that very object they used to
wait upon the lord Bhagiratha, that ornament of the three worlds. When he
died, O Srinjaya, who was superior to thee, as regards the four cardinal
virtues, and who, superior to thee, was much superior to thy son, thou
shouldst not grieve, saying 'Oh, Swaitya, Oh, Swaitya,' for the latter
who performed no sacrifice and made no sacrificial present.'"