Canto 1 - Boyhood
Bāla-kāṇḍa
Chapter 35: The History of Gaṅga
Text 1.35.18
अथ ज्येष्ठां सुराः सर्वे देवतार्थचिकीर्षया।
शैलेन्द्रं वरयामासुर् गङ्गां त्रिपथगां नदीम्॥
atha jyeṣṭhāṁ surāḥ sarve devatārtha-cikīrṣayā
śailendraṁ varayām āsur gaṅgāṁ tri-pathagāṁ nadīm
atha jyeṣṭhām = his elder daughter; surāḥ = the demigods; sarve = all; devatā-artha-cikīrṣayā = to execute the mission of the celestial; śaila-indram = the king of the mountain; varayām āsuḥ = requested that; gaṅgām = Gaṅgā; tri-pathagām = should traverse the three worlds; nadīm = as a river.
All the demigods requested the king of the mountains that his eldest daughter Gaṅgā should become a river crossing over the three worlds to execute the purposes of the Lord.
1 This will be noted later.
The demigods wanted people to take bath in the Gaṅgā, drink her waters and so on. Her birth would also be required for the birth of their commander-in-chief.1 Gaṅgā would also be required for worshipping the Supreme Lord. Therefore, Vālmīki did not state here that the demigods beseeched Himavān for their own purposes.