गङ्गावतरणम्
The Descent of the Gaṅgā and Bhagiratha’s Fulfilment
यतो भगीरथो राजा ततो गङ्गायशस्विनी।।।।जगाम सरितां श्रेष्ठा सर्वपापप्रणाशिनी।
yato bhagīratho rājā tato gaṅgā yaśasvinī |
jagāma saritāṃ śreṣṭhā sarva-pāpa-praṇāśinī ||
जहाँ-जहाँ राजा भगीरथ गए, वहीं-वहीं यशस्विनी गंगा भी चलीं—नदियों में श्रेष्ठ, समस्त पापों का नाश करने वाली।
Ganga, famous and foremost of rivers, destroyer of all sins, flowed in the direction king Bhagiratha moved.
A leader’s dharmic resolve guides powerful forces toward purification and welfare; steadfast righteousness becomes a ‘path’ that even sacred powers follow.
Gaṅgā continues to follow Bhagīratha’s route exactly as he leads her onward.
Bhagīratha’s guiding responsibility and single-pointed purpose in fulfilling an ancestral duty.