Editing Ganges (section)

===Consort, Shakti, and Mother===
Ganga is a consort to all three major male deities of Hinduism.<ref name=eck1982-p219>{{Harvnb|Eck|1982|p=219}}</ref> As Brahma's partner she always travels with him in the form of water in his [[kamandalu]] (water-pot).<ref name=eck1982-p219/> She is also [[Vishnu]]'s consort.<ref name=eck1982-p219/> Not only does she emanate from his foot as ''Vishnupadi'' in the ''avatarana'' story, but is also, with [[Sarasvati]] and [[Lakshmi]], one of his co-wives.<ref name=eck1982-p219/> In one popular story, envious of being outdone by each other, the co-wives begin to quarrel. While Lakshmi attempts to mediate the quarrel, Ganga and Sarasvati, heap misfortune on each other. They curse each other to become rivers, and to carry within them, by washing, the sins of their human worshippers. Soon their husband, Vishnu, arrives and decides to calm the situation by separating the goddesses. He orders Sarasvati to marry Brahma, Ganga to marry Shiva, and Lakshmi, as the blameless conciliator, to remain as his own wife. Ganga and Sarasvati, however, are so distraught at this dispensation, and wail so loudly, that Vishnu is forced to take back his words. Consequently, in their lives as rivers they are still thought to be with him.<ref name=eck1998-p146>{{Harvnb|Eck|1998|p=146}}</ref>

[[Image:Gangadhara.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Shiva]], as ''Gangadhara'', bearing the Descent of the [[Ganges river|Ganges]], as the goddess [[Parvati]], the sage [[Bhagiratha]], and the bull [[Nandi (bull)|Nandi]] look on (circa 1740).]]
It is [[Shiva]]'s relationship with Ganga, that is the best-known in Ganges mythology.<ref name=eck1998-p147>{{Harvnb|Eck|1998|p=147}}</ref> Her descent, the ''avatarana'' is not a one-time event, but a continuously occurring one in which she is forever falling from heaven into his locks and being forever tamed.<ref name=eck1998-p147/> Shiva, is depicted in Hindu iconography as ''Gangadhara'', the "Bearer of the Ganga", with Ganga, shown as spout of water, rising from his hair.<ref name=eck1998-p147/> The Shiva-Ganga relationship is both perpetual and intimate.<ref name=eck1998-p147/>  Shiva is sometimes called ''Uma-Ganga-Patiswara'' ("Husband and Lord of Uma (Parvati) and Ganga"), and Ganga often arouses the jealousy of Shiva's better-known consort.<ref name=eck1998-p147/>

Ganga is the ''[[shakti]]'' or the moving, restless, rolling energy in the form of which the otherwise reclusive and unapproachable Shiva appears on earth.<ref name="eck1982-p219"/> As water, this moving energy can be felt, tasted, and absorbed.<ref name=eck1982-p219/> The war-god [[Murugan|Skanda]] addresses the sage [[Agastya]] in the ''Kashi Khand'' of the ''[[Skanda Purana]]'' in these words:<ref name=eck1982-p219/> <blockquote>One should not be amazed&nbsp;... that this Ganges is really Power, for is she not the Supreme Shakti of the Eternal Shiva, taken in the form of water?<br />This Ganges, filled with the sweet wine of compassion, was sent out for the salvation of the world by Shiva, the Lord of the Lords.<br />Good people should not think this Triple-Pathed River to be like the thousand other earthly rivers, filled with water.<ref name=eck1982-p219/></blockquote>

The Ganga is also the mother, the ''Ganga Mata'' (''mata''="mother") of Hindu worship and culture, accepting all and forgiving all.<ref name=eck1982-p218/> Unlike other goddesses, she has no destructive or fearsome aspect, destructive though she might be as a river in nature.<ref name=eck1982-p218/> She is also a mother to other gods.<ref name=eck1998-p149>{{Harvnb|Eck|1998|p=149}}</ref> She accepts Shiva's incandescent seed from the fire-god [[Agni]], which is too hot for this world and cools it in her waters.<ref name=eck1998-p149/> This union produces Skanda, or Kartikeya, the god of war.<ref name=eck1998-p149/> In the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', she is married to [[Shantanu]], and the mother of heroic warrior-patriarch, [[Bhishma]].<ref name=eck1998-p149/> When Bhishma is mortally wounded in battle, Ganga comes out of the water in human form and weeps uncontrollably over his body.<ref name=eck1998-p149/>

The Ganges is the distilled lifeblood of the Hindu tradition, of its divinities, holy books, and enlightenment.<ref name=eck1982-p219/> As such, her worship does not require the usual rites of invocation (''avahana'') at the beginning and dismissal (''visarjana'') at the end, required in the worship of other gods.<ref name=eck1982-p219/> Her divinity is immediate and everlasting.<ref name=eck1982-p219/>