Ganga agrees to bear and drown the eight Vasus as her sons
Leaving Brahma's assembly, Ganga encounters the eight Vasus — radiant gods now dark with despair, cursed to be born as mortals. They make her a terrible proposal: become a woman, marry a king, bear them as sons, and drown each one at birth. Ganga agrees, but demands a price.
After leaving the assembly where Mahabhisha was cursed, Ganga was thinking of the king when she saw the eight Vasus along her path. These divine beings, normally radiant, were crestfallen and dark with despair. They had been dislodged from heaven.
The great river asked them, "O residents of heaven! Why are your forms destroyed? Why are you in despair?"
The Vasus replied. They had committed a minor transgression. Not seeing the great-souled sage Vashishtha, who was engaged in his twilight rites, they had crossed his path in their folly. In his anger, Vashishtha had cursed them: they would be born in a womb. "It is not possible to negate what the brahman-knowing one has said," they told her. The curse was absolute; they had to endure a mortal birth.
But they could not enter the womb of an impure woman. So they made their request: "Therefore, become a woman on earth and bear the Vasus as your sons."
Ganga agreed. She asked, "Which supreme man will be your father?"
The Vasus had already chosen. "In the world of men, a son will be born to Pratipa. He will be King Shantanu, devoted to dharma, and he will be our father."
Ganga said this was exactly what she had been thinking. She would do what brought pleasure to Shantanu and also satisfy their wishes.
Then the Vasus made the grim core of their proposal clear. "O revered one who dwells in the three worlds! You must hurl your sons into the water as soon as they are born, so that we are quickly freed and don't suffer for a long time."
They wanted a swift return. Be born, be drowned immediately, escape the mortal experience entirely.
Ganga accepted this too. But she set a condition. "I will do what you wish. But so that my union with him is not completely fruitless, let one son remain with him."
The Vasus consented. They offered a solution. Each of them would contribute one-eighth of their respective energies. From that combined essence, a son would be born to Ganga. He would live according to her desires. But there was a catch, a final term to their bargain: "He will have no children on earth. Therefore, this valorous son of yours will remain without a son."
With this agreement made, the Vasus happily went away to the place where they dwelt. Ganga, the river-goddess, now carried a plan within her: a future marriage, eight births, seven drownings, and one son destined for greatness and solitude.