washer of sin

The holiest river in India and considered by Hinduism is the Ganges River, which flows into the Indian Ocean. Every year, thousands flock to this river and bathe to wash their sins, so they can get released from the circle of life and reincarnation. Water of this sacred river is used for religious rituals and many other purposes. Most Hindus have their ashes deposited in this river so they can be purified before reaching heaven. The king of Ayodhya, Sarga eagerly desired children, but his wife was barren. His elder wife was Keshini and the second wife was Sumati, sister of the immortal Garuda who was the pet of Vishnu .With this problem in mind, he came to the Himalaya for an austere penance, hoping to please the gods. After a hundred years had passed, the rishi Brigu granted him his wish for an heir. "Thou shalt attain unparalleled renown amongst men," he said. "One wife of thine, shall bring forth a son who will perpetuate thy race; the other shall give birth to sixty thousand sons." Those wives were in pure bliss, and worshipping the rishi, they asked: "Who shall have which?" He asked their will on having a single perpetuator of the line, or sixty thousand sons, who yet shall not carry on their race. Keshini chose the single son and Garuda's sister chose to have many sons. Thereafter the king revered the saint with circumambulation and obeisance and returned again to his city.

In time, Keshini bore a son, to whom was given the name of Asamanja. Sumati bore a gourd, and when it burst open the sixty thousand sons came forth; the nurses fostered them in jars of ghee(purified butter) until they grew up to youth and beauty. The eldest son, the child of Keshini, loathed his brothers, and would cast them in the Sarayu River and watch them sink then be saved in the end by guards. For this evil disposition and for the wrongs he did to citizens and honest folk, Asamanja was banished by his father. Asamanja had a son named Suman, fair-spoken to all,