Ganga carries Baby Bhishma away from King Santanu (by Raja Ravi Varma).
"Happy Bhismastami."
According to the legend, Shantanu, the youngest son of the king Pratipa and the king of Kuru kingdom, was on a hunting trip, when he saw a beautiful woman on the banks of the river Ganga. He fell in love with her and asked her hand in marriage. The lady agreed to his proposal but with one condition that he will never question her actions; and if this condition was broken, she would abandon him.
Shantanu accepted it and lived a happy marital life with her. However, when a child was born, the queen used to drown him in the river Ganga. One by one, seven sons were born and drowned, while Shantanu remained silent because of his commitment. When she was about to throw the eighth child into the river, Shantanu, unable to control himself, stopped her and confronted about her actions. After hearing Shantanu's harsh words, the woman revealed herself to be the goddess Ganga and justified her actions and narrated the following story.
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Once the celestial Vasus and their wives were enjoying themselves in the forest, when the wife of Dyu spotted an excellent cow and asked her husband to steal it. The cow was Nandini, daughter of the wish fulfilling cow Surabhi, and was owned by the sage Vashishtha. With the help of his brothers, Dyu tried to steal it but Vashishtha caught them and cursed them to be born as mortals and suffer a miserable life.
Upon their pleading, Vashishta showed mercy and told the other seven Vasus that they will be liberated soon after their birth. However Dyu being the ring leader protagonist of the theft was cursed to endure a longer life on the earth. Before the birth of her sons, Ganga was requested to kill the seven children soon after their birth.
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Hearing this, Shantanu was filled with grief and regrets and Ganga decided to abandon him as her condition was broken. Before disappearing, she promised Shantanu to return his heir.
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