King Mahabhisha is cursed to be reborn for staring at Ganga
In the assembly of the gods, the river-goddess Ganga's garments are blown away by the wind. While every other god lowers his gaze, King Mahabhisha, a mortal who earned heaven, stares unabashedly. For this single lapse in composure, Brahma pronounces a fateful curse.
King Mahabhisha of the Ikshvaku lineage had earned his place in heaven. He was a lord of the earth, truthful and valorous, who had pleased the gods with a thousand horse sacrifices and a hundred vajapeya sacrifices. His reward was a seat among the immortals.
One day, the gods went to pay homage to Brahma, the grandfather of the universe. Many royal sages were there, and so was Mahabhisha. Ganga, the best of rivers, also came to offer her respects. As she stood before Brahma, a wind blew and her garments, white as moonlight, were carried away.
Immediately, the masses of gods lowered their faces. It was the instinctive, proper response — a turning away to preserve decorum in the divine assembly. But Mahabhisha did not look away. The rajarshi, the royal sage, continued to stare unabashedly at the river-goddess.
Brahma saw this. The king had lost his composure in the highest of courts. For this, the illustrious grandfather pronounced a curse: "You will be born on earth and then you will again regain these worlds."
The curse was not eternal exile. It was a temporary return to mortality, a sentence to live another human life before he could reclaim his heavenly seat. Mahabhisha accepted it. He thought about all the kings and ascetics on earth and chose the immensely radiant King Pratipa of the Kurus to be his future father.
Ganga, having witnessed the king's transgression and his punishment, went away from the assembly. She was thinking about him in her mind.