ORIENTAL SERIES.

272
SA GARASAHA-DE VA.
father abandoned him. The other sixty thousand sons followed
the courses of their brother, and their impiety was such that
the gods complained of them to the sage Kapila and the god
Vishnu. Sagara engaged in the performance of an Aswa-medha
or sacrifice of a horse, but although the animal was guarded by
his sixty thousand sons, it was carried off to Patala. Sagara
directed his sons to recover it. They dug their way to the
infernal regions, and there they found the horse grazing and the
sage Kapila seated close by engaged in meditation. Conceiving
him to be the thief, they menaced him with their weapons.
Disturbed from his devotions, " he looked upon them for an
instant, and they were reduced to ashes by the (sacred) flame
that darted from his person." Their remains were discovered
by Ansumat, the son of Asamanjas, who prayed Kapila that the
victims of his wrath might be raised through his favour to
heaven. Kapila promised that the grandson of Ansumat should
be the means of accomplishing this by bringing down the river
of heaven. Ansximat then returned to Sagara, who completed
his sacrifice, and he gave the name of Sagara to the chasm
which his sons had dug, and Sagara means c
ocean/ The son of
Ansumat was Dilipa, and his son was Bhaglratha. The devo-
tion of Bhagiratha brought down from heaven the holy Ganges,
which flows from the toe of Vishnu, and its waters having laved
the ashes of the sons of Sagara, cleansed them from all impurity.
Their Manes were thus made fit for the exequial ceremonies and
for admission into Swarga. The Ganges received the name of
Sagara in honour of Sagara, and Bhaglrathi from the name of
the devout king whose prayers brought her down to earth. (See
Bhagirathi.)
The Hari-vansa adds another marvel to the story.
Sagara's wife Su-mati was delivered of a gourd containing sixty
thousand seeds, which became embryos and grew. Sagara at
but afterwards each one had
first placed them in vessels of milk,
a separate nurse, and at ten months they all ran about. The
name of Sagara is frequently cited in deeds conveying grants of
land in honour of his generosity in respect of such gifts.
SAHA-DEVA. The youngest of the five Parc^u princes,
twin son of Madri, the second wife of PaWu, and mythologically
son of the Aswins, or more specifically of the Aswin Basra.
He was learned in the science of astronomy, which he had
studied under Dro?ia, and he was also well acquainted with the