from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- See Ganges.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- proper n. The river Ganges, especially in deified form.
- proper n. A female given name used in India.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. An old Catalonian name of the lesser pin-tailed sand-grouse, Pterocles alchata, and hence a name of the sand-grouse (Pteroclidæ) in general. See Pteroclidæ and sand-grouse.
- n. A South American vulturine hawk of the genus Ibycter, as I. americanus.
- n. Something that can be acquired or obtained without labor.
These rivers are sometimes called Ganga or Ganges, which is used as a general term for a great river.
The river is called Bhagirathi at the source and acquires the name Ganga from Devprayag onwards where it meets the Alaknanda.
The Ganga is the smaller river that meets the Ganges, and it’s a lot bigger than either the Mississippi or the Mekong.
The Ganges, often referred to as the Ganga, is another unspeakably polluted holy river and in some ways is similar to the Yamuna.
It is true that the erosion of land by the Brahmaputra and other rivers like the Ganga is a complex problem and there may be no ready answers available.
There also in the Ganga is the _tirtha_ famed over the three worlds, called _Ramaprapatana_, which conferreth the merit of ten horse-sacrifices, O son of the Kuru race!
_Pitrya_ vow, lived, O king, in the company of Munis in a delightful and sacred region, near the source of the Ganga, that is resorted to by the celestial Rishis and Gandharvas and the celestials themselves.
That sacred asylum which even gods and illustrious Rishis are not competent to behold, and which is known throughout the world by the name of Vadari, and situate by the source of the Ganga, which is worshipped by the Siddhas and the Charanas, was the abode, O Brahmana, of Vishnu and Jishnu.
And as Indra is the foremost of celestials, and as the Ganga is the best of rivers, so thou alone art, O king, the greatest of monarchs.
Once, O blessed one, that foremost of virtuous men, Bhishma, while in the observance of the Pitrya vow, lived, O king, in the company of Munis in a delightful and sacred region, near the source of the Ganga, that is resorted to by the celestial Rishis and Gandharvas and the celestials themselves.