gaṅgāsahasranāmastotram

The thousand names of Gaṅgā from the Kedāra Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Purāṇa, set inside the story of Bhagīratha and the bringing down of the river, and framed as Pārvatī asking Śiva which names that great king had used. His answer calls it more secret than the secret and says that by the mere remembering of it a man attains the state of Śiva. The names then trace her course as a genealogy rather than a geography: Gaṅgā, best of rivers, born from the lotus feet of Viṣṇu, supreme; dwelling on Śiva's crest; standing in Brahmā's water-pot; moving in the sky, Bhadrā, of four natures, flowing; arisen from the aperture at the crown. Its closing verses return to the frame and promise the one who wants a son a son like Bhagīratha — the reward named for the king whose austerity brought her down in the first place.