Reading Diary B: The Story of the Great War: Some Lessons from the Mahabharata by Annie Besant Week 12

I am reading The Story of the Great War: Some Lessons fromthe Mahabharata by Annie Besant.  One of my favorite stories from the reading was the story of Ganga and Bhishma.  I found that the history behind the reason Ganga was on earth was interesting.  The fact that Ganga chose to marry Shantanu was interesting because he was the reason that she was reincarnated on earth.  Possibly the reason that she did this is because she seemed to be a kind goddess.  The reason for this believe is because she did not place the curse of Shantanu instead Brahma placed the curse on him.  Also another reason for this believe is that she was killing the children so that the Vasus could return to heaven.  In addition, in her explanation of why she did it she explained that gods did not like to be born on earth because it felt like a prison to them.  Something odd about the story is that the curse of the Vasus from the Rishi also affected Shantanu.  I think this because the eighth child was Vasu Dyau who was cursed to live on earth for a long time and when Shantanu finally breaks his promise with Ganga it is with the eighth child.  When he asks her to stop she tells him she will not kill the child but leaves him instead because he broke the agreement.  So in this story two different curses are affecting one another and it seems like Brahma new it was going to happen like that because of how he spoke the curse.

Ganga and Bhishma leaving Shantanu (Source: wikimedia)