Shantanu Meets and Marries Ganga Under Her Conditions
While hunting, King Shantanu encounters a woman of impossible beauty by the Ganga and is instantly smitten. He proposes, but she will only agree on one terrifying condition: he must never question anything she does.
King Shantanu, a famous archer, loved to hunt. Wandering alone along the banks of the Ganga, he came to a place frequented by siddhas (perfected beings) and charanas (celestial bards). There he saw a woman whose beauty dazzled like the goddess Shri. She wore sheer, beautiful garments and divine ornaments. The king was astounded; the hair on his body stood up in rapture. He gazed at her, unable to look away.
The woman, seeing the radiant king, also felt love and affection stir within her. Shantanu approached and spoke gently. “O beautiful one! Are you from the race of gods, demons, or are you human? You seem born of the gods. Whoever you are, please be my wife.”
Hearing his words, the woman—who was Ganga in human form—remembered the promise she had made to the vasus and to Pratipa. She spoke to gladden his heart, but her terms were absolute. “O lord of the earth! I will be your queen and will obey your words. But you must not interfere in my acts, regardless of whether they please or displease you. You must never try to stop me or speak to me harshly. As long as you act in the way I have asked you to, I will be with you. But I will certainly leave you whenever you try to stop me or speak to me harshly.”
Shantanu, the best of the Bharata lineage, was so captivated that he agreed. The lady was delighted to have obtained that supreme king as her husband, and their union under these strict, silent terms began.