ORIENTAL SERIES.

GANGA-DHARAGARUDA. 109
GANGA-DHAKA.
GANGA-DWAEA.
A name of Siva. See Ganga*
The gate of the Ganges. The opening
in the Himalaya mountains through which the river descends
into the plains, now known as Hardwar.
GANGA-SAGAEA, The mouth of the Ganges, a holy
bathing-place sacred to Vishnu.
GANGEYA. i. A name of Bhishrua, from his reputed mother,
the river goddess Ganga. 2. Also of Karttikeya.
GAEGA- An ancient sage, and one of the oldest writers on
astronomy.
He was a son of Yitatha. The Vishnu Pura?za
says, " From Garga sprang Siria (or Sim) ; from them were de-
scended the Gargyas and $ainyas, Brahmans of Kshatriya race."
The statement of the Bhagavata is,
" From Garga sprang $ina ;
from them Gargya, who from a Kshatriya became a Brahman."
There were many Gargas ; one was a priest
of Krishna and
the Yadavas.
GAEGAS, GAEGYA S. Descendants of Garga, who,
"
although Kshatiiyas by birth, became Brahmans and great
j&shis."
GAEGYA, GAEGYA BALAKL Son of Balaki. He was a
Brahman, renowned as a teacher and as a grammarian, who dealt
especially with etymology, and was well read in the Veda, but still
submitted to receive instruction from the Kshatriya Ajata-.satru.
GAEIJjDA. A mythical bird or vulture, half-man, half-bird,
on which Vishnu rides. He is the king of birds, and descended
from Kasyapa and Vinata, one of the daughters of Daksha.
lie is the great enemy of serpents, having inherited his hatred
from his mother, who had quarrelled with her co-wife and
superior, Kadru, the mother of serpents. His lustre was so
brilliant that soon after his birth the gods mistook him for Agni
and worshipped him. He is represented as having the head,
wings, talons, and beak of an eagle, and the body and 'limbs of
a man. His face is white, his wings red, anil his body golden.
He had a son named Sampati, and his wife was Unnati or
Vinayaka. According to the Maha-bharata, his parents gave
him liberty to devour bad men, but he was not to touch Brah-
mans. Once, however, he swallowed a Brahuxan and his wife,
but the Brahman so burnt his throat that he was glad to dis-
gorge them both.
Graurfa is said to Lave stolen the Amrita from the gods in