Aum Gangayai Namaha!

19

Ganga

Adharabhuta jagatastwameka,

Mahiswarupena yata sthitasi,

Apam swarupasthitaya twayaitat,

Apyayate, krithsnam alankhyaveerye.

You have become the sole support of the world,

For you abide in the form of the earth.

By you, who exist in the form of water,

All this [universe] is filled up,

O one of inviolable valor!

Indian mythology is mixed with fact and what the modern world calls fiction. But to the Indian, the Puranas are more real than the so-called realistic fiction of the modern world. The Puranic stories were based mostly on observance of terrestrial bodies and planets and the lives of great saints and kings. Laypeople came to know much of geography and science from these stories. Some of the stories have since been proved to be based on an acute observation of scientific data that has been discovered by modern science only with the turn of the twentieth century.

Many stories are connected with the birth of the river Ganga, better known as the Ganges. One of them is connected with the great sage Agastya. At one time some Brahmin ascetics were being constantly harassed by a group of demons. The Brahmins would chase the demons as far as the ocean, but the next day they would return, having had their strength renewed by being submerged in the sea. At last in desperation the Brahmins appealed to Agastya, who was renowned for his proverbial ability to digest anything. He solved their problem by the simple expedient of swallowing the entire ocean. Vishnu and the other gods were able to kill the demons that had lurked in the depths of the now dry ocean, and the sages could then carry on their fire sacrifices without impediment.

When they approached Agastya and asked him to disgorge the water that he had swallowed, he smiled and told them sweetly that he had already digested it all. So even though he had solved their particular predicament, it led to a host of other problems. Rivers ran dry and the land was barren due to lack of water. The celestials were filled with distress. At last Brahma comforted them by promising to bring down the waters of the heavenly Ganga and thus fill the ocean. This task was fulfilled by the saintly king Bhagiratha, who undertook the challenge to give liberation to his ancestors.

At one time the celestial Ganga was what we know as the Milky Way. It was a stream of souls, of subtle essences. It ran from one end of the sky to the other and then flowed to the earth. Earth and sky were the two banks of this great river of stars. Where was the point at which the river passed from the celestial to the terrestrial bank? The disparity of force between earth and heaven is so great that it would have been dangerous to go directly from one to the other. The river had to break her fall on those mountains called the Himalayas that lift the earth to the heavens. Thus the Milky Way became the Ganga and Shiva caught her as she fell. If left to herself, her waters would have flooded the earth and washed it away into space. The impact as she charged down shattered the mass of water so that it came down to earth in many small streams. Life on earth became possible only because Ganga flowed unceasingly over Shiva’s head, like the water that is kept in a pot suspended above the stone lingam. Theirs was a perennial love, renewed at every instant by a stream that knew no end. In fact, Shiva’s seed, which even Agni, the god of fire, could not contain, was kept and cooled in Ganga’s womb. Here the seed took on the embryonic form that was later nourished by the Krittikas (see chapter 18). Thus Ganga was not only Shiva’s consort but also the mother of the war god Kartikeya (Skanda).

The Puranas vividly describe these three stages in the evolution of the Ganga. First she was a river of stars—Akasa Ganga or the Milky Way— that fell as snow on Mount Meru on the high plateau of Pamir and on the ridges and ranges that surround it. Here she was a river of snow. As the snow melted she became a river of water, divided into the four main rivers of Asia: the Huang in China, the Oxus or Amu Dar’ya that flows from Pamir Lake to the Aral Sea; the Ob in Siberia; and the Alaknanda in India, one of the headstreams of the Ganga (Ganges) river. It is said that Ganga will forsake this planet ten thousand years after Kali Yuga has passed. When she leaves, all other holy rivers will also leave.

There are many other accounts of Ganga’s origin in the Puranas. The Brahma Vaivarta Purana says that at one time Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Ganga were all consorts of Lord Vishnu. But due to some misunderstanding, they cursed each other and had to take birth on earth in various forms. Saraswati suspected that Vishnu loved Ganga more than her and spoke harshly to Ganga. Lakshmi, who tried to calm her, received the brunt of Saraswati’s wrath; Saraswati cursed her to take birth on earth in the form of a river and a plant. Lakshmi did not display any anger, but Ganga was furious with Saraswati and cursed her in turn to a similar fate of becoming a river on earth. In retaliation, Saraswati promptly swore that Ganga would get the same fate and would be forced to come to the earth in the form of a river. Very soon all three repented their bad behavior and begged Vishnu to release them from each other’s curses. Lord Vishnu pacified the three goddesses and told them that all this had happened only to accomplish the divine plan. He said, “Calamities are really a cause of happiness to human beings. Without sorrow no one can understand the true nature of joy.”

Vishnu commanded Ganga to go down to the earth to help King Bhagiratha and eventually to help fill up the ocean that had been drunk by the sage Agastya. Part of her would take refuge in the locks of Lord Shiva, and thus she would become his consort. Vishnu further blessed her, “You will be able to release thousands of souls from their sins and give them liberation.”

Ganga asked, “O Lord! But what will happen to me? Will I not be tainted with the sins of so many wicked people who are constantly shedding their impurities in me?”

The lord answered, “Fear not, O dear one! Even if one pure soul washes his feet in you, all your impurities will be washed away. Such is the glory of my devotees. You shall be the cause for the redemption of thousands of souls.”

Vishnu commanded Saraswati also to accept the curse and go to the land of Bharata Varsha (India) in the form of a river. Later she would go to the abode of Lord Brahma and become his consort. Only Lakshmi was allowed to remain with Vishnu in her complete portion, for her nature was peaceful. But the curse of even a pure soul could not be gainsaid, and in the course of time she also would have to go to the earth and become the river Gantaki. Furthermore, she would become the sacred tulasi plant, which would be loved by Vishnu.

The Brahma Vaivarta Purana describes how the Ganga came out of Brahma’s kamandalu (water pot). After the wedding of Shiva and Parvati, in which all the gods took part, Lord Shiva is said to have extracted the sacred essences of the earth and created a water pot. He poured all hallowed waters into this pot and consecrated it with mantras. Since this pot was made out of the essence of earth and water, it became the cause of creation, maintenance, and destruction.

Lord Shiva handed this pot to Brahma and said, “All dharma is established here. Sacrifice, enjoyment, and salvation are all to be found in this. All the sins of one who bathes or drinks or performs offerings with this sacred water will perish. O Brahma, take this kamandalu that I have consecrated with divine mantras and continue with your work of creation.”

Another story of Ganga’s descent is connected with the avatara of Lord Vishnu as Vamana or the dwarf. Vishnu had taken on this particular incarnation in order to subdue the demon king Mahabali. The demon had promised to give Vishnu, in his role as Vamana, three steps of land. But when the time came for the demon to offer the gift, Vamana took on his universal form and measured the whole earth with his first step. His second stride stretched up to the heavens, where his foot pierced a hole in the shell of Brahma’s world. Brahma was amazed to see this phenomenon, but he immediately took the opportunity to wash the sacred foot of Vishnu with the water from his kamandalu. The water that fell from the pot was the heavenly Ganga that fell on Mount Meru, as described above. Hence Ganga is also known as Vishnupadi, or the one who has come from the feet of Vishnu.

The most popular account of Ganga’s descent to the earth is given in the epic poem the Ramayana. It tells the story of Sagara, a king of the solar dynasty (Surya Vamsa). He had two wives; the elder wife had one son, called Asamanjas; the second wife had sixty thousand sons. Sagara held a grand horse sacrifice known as the Aswamedha Yajna. In this sacrifice the consecrated horse was left to wander all over the earth. The king’s sons had to follow and defeat anyone who tried to stop the horse. Indra, the king of the gods, became jealous of Sagara’s sacrifice. He stole the horse and took him to the nether regions, tethering him next to the great sage Kapila, who was immersed in meditation. The heroic sons of Sagara, who had followed the horse, suspected the sage to be the thief and spoke harshly to him. When he didn’t open his eyes, they thought he was pretending and gave him a good kick. The sage opened his eyes and looked at them. Immediately they were burnt to cinders by the concentrated power of his austere gaze.

The king was desperate at the disappearance of his sons. Nobody knew where they had gone, and the king sent his grandson, Amsuman, to find out the fate of his uncles. He discovered their whereabouts and was told that the only way to reprieve them from the heinous sin of having kicked such a great soul and disturbed his tapas was to bring the heavenly Ganga down to the spot where their ashes lay and allow her waters to wash over them. Amsuman started his austerities but died before he could complete them. His son Dileepa performed more austerities, but he also passed away before he could complete them.

At last Amsuman’s grandson, Bhagiratha, who was a great devotee of Shiva, gave up his kingdom in order to concentrate entirely on achieving the purpose that had obsessed his family for four generations. He stood with hands upraised and performed terrific austerities in the place known as Gokarna. After Bhagiratha had performed a thousand years of tapas, Brahma appeared and promised to release the waters of the Ganga from his kamandalu. He pointed out to Bhagiratha that the earth would be unable to sustain her fall; only Lord Shiva would be able to do so. Bhagiratha was nonplussed. He knew Shiva to be the arch ascetic, sitting in splendid isolation on the solitary peak of the Himalayas, steeped in meditation, unconcerned with the petty worries of the world. It would be a Herculean task to induce him to cooperate in this endeavor. But Bhagiratha was determined. He performed another thousand years of austerities in the Himalayas at the place known as Gangotri. At last Lord Shiva appeared to him and agreed to accommodate Ganga in his matted locks.

This story glorifies the greatness of those who acquire ascetic willpower. By enduring self-inflicted suffering, the yogi accumulates a vast amount of psychic and physical energy. The universal life force becomes so concentrated in him that it melts the resistance of the cosmic powers and forces them to give in to his demands. This is true even of demons; they too can force these powers to bend to their will by the accumulated strength of their ascetic fire. The heat generated by tapas is like a laser beam that can cut through every type of resistance. Bhagiratha, by the enormous power of his tapas, coupled with his determination to bring salvation to his ancestors, was able to drag the heavenly Ganga down to the mundane world. In fact, his name has come to be a synonym for any task that needs superhuman effort.

It is said that Ganga was rather proud of her celestial status. She looked down upon the snowy peaks of the Himalayas from the Milky Way. She saw the bluish, tangled mass of Lord Shiva’s head where she was told to break her fall before touching down on earth. She was scornful of anyone’s ability to hold her.

“I’ll sweep him away like a straw,” she thought.

Even gods like Agni (god of fire), Soma (god of the moon), and Surya (god of the sun) were nothing to her. Was she now to be frightened of that motionless figure on the peak of Kailasa who thought he was powerful enough to break her fall? She laughed scornfully and plunged down with a mighty crash onto his head. She would sweep him off and carry him on her way over the beautiful earth. But no sooner had she touched Shiva’s hair than she was lost. She was enmeshed in a labyrinth of darkness through which there was no exit. Shiva’s locks were a forest of thick trees through which she turned and twisted in vain to find an outlet, but she found herself to be totally enfolded in his tresses. Through it all she was aware of a strange mocking laughter that echoed in her ears.

Ganga felt desperate. “I’ll never see the light of day again if I go on like this,” she thought. She had been cut up into tiny streams and made to squirm and wriggle through the maze of Shiva’s hair. She felt cheated and humiliated. She had been a spoiled princess in the heavens, but now she felt her force was nothing compared to the mighty power emanating from this strange ascetic.

In the meantime, poor Bhagiratha was frantic. He performed more tapas and begged Lord Shiva to allow Ganga to come down to the earth and thus purify his ancestors. At last his efforts bore results. Having curbed Ganga’s pride, Lord Shiva relented and released from his locks a trickle that formed the mighty lake known as Bindusaras (lake of drops). It is from here that Ganga flows down the Himalayan terrain as the mighty river that we see today. Mounted on a splendid chariot the royal sage Bhagiratha went ahead to lead her to the place where his ancestors lay. Unfortunately, as Ganga meekly followed the chariot, she happened to cross the sacrificial arena of the great sage Jahnu, who calmly drank up all her waters, since she was disturbing his penance. Bhagiratha now had to appease the irate rishi, who eventually released Ganga through his ear. She thus received the name Jahnavi, or daughter of Jahnu.

Ganga then resumed her course behind Bhagiratha’s chariot. They were followed by a host of celestials, heavenly nymphs, demons, giants, sages, and snakes. As Ganga hurried onward in the footsteps of the royal sage, the whole multitude of created beings bathed in her sacred waters and washed away their sins. Very soon Bhagiratha and the goddess arrived at the dry bed of the ocean. From there they made their descent to the netherworld where his ancestors had perished. Bhagiratha’s long penance was now approaching a successful conclusion. Ganga’s purifying waters flowed over the ashes of his ancestors and redeemed them. Thus after superhuman efforts Bhagiratha succeeded in delivering his ancestors and taking them up to heaven. Nor was this the only benefit. Ever since the sage Agastya had swallowed the waters of the ocean, it had remained dry. But now with the coming of the Ganga this defect in nature was remedied and the ocean was replenished to the furthest shore. Ganga now had the name Bhagirathi (daughter of Bhagiratha) because Bhagiratha was the one who had brought her down to Earth.

We have already heard the story Parvati, Shiva’s consort. But the story of his wives cannot be complete without the story of Ganga. Parvati and Kaali were countercorrelates and stemmed from the same source, but Ganga was a different personality altogether. She was a part of Shiva. Nothing could separate them. Shiva was never alone, even when he was doing tapas, for Ganga was always tucked away in his locks. From his long black hair she dripped constantly. Parvati was always a bit jealous of Ganga. Though she never actually saw them speak to each other, she knew that Ganga was a constant witness to all Shiva’s doings. Sometimes, immersed in Shiva’s cosmic embrace, Parvati would be totally lost to all mundane thoughts. However, her consciousness would come back when she was disturbed by the steady drip falling from his locks, flowing over her face and trickling to the ground. She would twist her face away from his chest and look up to meet Ganga’s steady, unwavering gaze, looking at her with compassion and never with jealousy. Even though all she did was flow, Parvati was always suspicious of her.

“When Shiva has me wrapped in his embrace, he is still continuing an affair with Ganga,” Parvati thought. “How can I ever immerse myself in him if I’m constantly meeting her eyes telling me of a pleasure greater than my own?”

Ganga’s body remained always twisted around her lover’s head in a constant caress. Parvati could not bear it. When questioned about her, Shiva told Parvati that he had allowed Ganga to break her fall over his head so that the world would not be swept away. She is turn served the world by cooling Shiva’s head so that his tapas would not scorch the earth. With this Parvati had to be content.

Just as the sons of Sagara were redeemed from their sins and given an entry to heaven by having Ganga’s waters flow over their ashes, so all pious Hindus believe that having their ashes or bones thrown into the Ganga is a sure guarantee of a safe passage to heaven. Thus she is known as the ladder to heaven: swarga-sopana-sharani. The Skanda Purana says that the forefathers are always singing this song: “May someone take birth in our family who will bathe in the Ganga and redeem all of us.”

The Ganga is a bridge between the worlds of the living and the dead. Any of the rites of tarpana (libations to the manes and the sun god) are supposed to be more effective when done with Ganga water. Using Ganga water nourishes the ancestors, since she also acts as a means by which the rest of the offerings will reach them. Every devout Hindu household will always keep a pot of Ganga water. People come all the way from the south of India to have a dip in the holy waters of the Ganga and carry a pot of water back to their homes. This water keeps forever without any decay. At the time of death a few drops are placed on the tongue of the dying person in order to assure him or her of a safe passage to heaven.

The word thirtha means “crossing,” and Ganga is known as a punya thirtha (holy river), for she is the one who aids the human soul in its crossing from the land of the living to the land of the dead. “Ganga herself is all the thirthas, Ganga is a grove of penance. Ganga alone is the holy place of supernatural powers. No one need doubt this,” says the Skanda Purana.

Ganga water is said to be totally pure, and it is a fact that it can be kept for years without becoming putrid. The East India Company discovered this strange phenomenon in the seventeenth century; on voyages between London and Calcutta, ships found that Thames water became quite undrinkable by the time they reached Calcutta, but on the return journey the water they took from the mouth of the Ganga, though apparently polluted, remained drinkable until they reached England and even came back to Calcutta.

From Vedic times all water has been regarded in Hinduism as a tangible manifestation of the divine essence. Just as copper is the best conductor of electricity, so water is known to be the best conductor of divine energy. An important part of every ritual in India is to worship a pot of water representing the power of the divinity and sometimes even serving as a sacred object in lieu of an image. For the duration of a ritual, this pot containing water is considered to be the seat of the deity. Normally ordinary water is consecrated and made sublime by the chanting of mantras and by the addition of sacred herbs. But in the case of Ganga water, no such sanctification is necessary. It is already pure. As the Agni Purana says, “One becomes purified of all sins just by seeing, touching, or drinking Ganga water.”

“One who touches the Ganga attains an eternal spiritual form,” says the Narada Purana. Indeed, Ganga water has the magical effect of purifying the devotee who touches it, sublimating the base metal of the devotee’s earthly nature. The Ganga flows from the highest eternal realm and carries the celestial essence of all three primary deities: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. He who bathes in these waters becomes an embodiment of that celestial essence. This divine essence is not something remote from our life but the very core of our existence and the source of every moment of our life. The Ganga, which flows directly from that mystical realm, takes the devotee back along its blessed course to the place of our beginning and forward to our final goal, which is the ocean of existence.

After leaving the earthly regions, the Ganga is said to become a river of punishment, known as the Patala Ganga, which traverses the seven lower planetary systems and is dedicated to the ultimate purification of all lost souls. Then she becomes the river Vaitarini, which encircles the city of Yama, the lord of death. Here she has a fearsome aspect. She is thick and slimy with blood and grime, and her waters crawl with strange and gruesome creatures. All mortals have to cross this river on their way to the abode of the god of death. Persons who have done good deeds in their lifetime and given gifts and charity can easily cross it. Sinners have to wade through the putrid blood and sediment, at the mercy of crocodiles and fish that pierce them with swordlike snouts. A person who has given the gift of a cow at the time of death, known as vaitarini, is rowed across by the boatman without difficulty.

The human form of the Ganga is visible only to the mystic eye. The Agni Purana says that she is white in color and adorned with ornaments. Like Maha Devi, she has three eyes and four arms. She holds a jeweled pot in one hand and a white lotus in the other. Her other two hands show the mudras (mystic signs) of fearlessness and blessing. Her vehicle is a makara (crocodile) that is white like jasmine. The crocodile is associated with both earth and water and has the power to both redeem and destroy. Yogis have perceived the figure of a crocodile in the swadhishtana chakra at the base of the spine. This chakra has water as its element, and it is a storehouse of our vasanas (innate tendencies). We carry these tendencies with us from life to life, and they impel us to various actions that bind us more tightly to the materialistic life. The goddess Ganga, however, has totally subdued this crocodile of the mind’s vasanas and stands on top of it, as if it were a domesticated animal.

The Ganga Mahatmyam (meaning “glorification of Ganga”), which is part of the Skanda Purana, offers this speech from Shiva to Vishnu:

Ganga is my own transcendental body in the form of water. Her substance is all auspiciousness. She is the transcendental source of creation and the foundation of countless universes. I carry this mother of the world, who is not different from the supreme truth, in order to protect the universe.

In Krita Yuga holy places are found everywhere. In Treta Yuga the only holy place is Pushkara. In Dwapara Yuga the only holy place is Kurukshetra, and in Kali Yuga the only holy place is the Ganga.

In Krita Yuga the cause of liberation is meditation. In Treta it is austerities, in Dwapara it is sacrifices, and in Kali the only cause of liberation is the Ganga.

O Hari (Vishnu)! One can take up residence on the banks of the Ganga only through the accumulated merit of many auspicious actions done in previous lives.

One may be competent, learned, virtuous, and charitable, but if he has never bathed in the Ganga, his life is wasted.

On the banks of Srimati Jahnavi (Ganga) all places are auspicious, all times are auspicious, and every person is a fit receiver of charity.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna, “Among sacred and flowing things, O Arjuna, know me to be the holy Ganga!”

Adi Shankaracharya wrote the famous eight slokas (verses) on the Ganga known as the Gangashtakam. The fourth verse gives the entire story of the Ganga: “At first you were the water used for rituals in the kamandalu of Brahma, the grandfather of the universe. Then you became the all-purifying water that washed the feet of Vishnu. Then again you became the jewel adorning the matted locks of Lord Shiva, and then you became the daughter of the rishi Jahnu. May you, O goddess Bhagirathi, who destroys all inauspiciousness, protect me.”

Let us conclude the glorious account of the divine Mother Ganga with the prayer of Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas (the sons of Pandu, representing the virtues of the evolved person), to Lord Krishna, which is found in the Bhagavad Purana: “O slayer of Madhu, just as the Ganga flows constantly to the sea without hindrance, so let my mind be relentlessly drawn to you without being diverted to anything else.”

The mountain trembles, the stones

In vast screes clattering pour;

The water, swelling and foaming,

In anger and tumult roar;

In their mighty exultation

They would rend the mountain asunder;

Mad with the morning’s rays,

Through earth they would crash and thunder.

And I—I will pour of compassion a river;

The prisons of stone I will break, will deliver;

I will flood the earth, and, with rapture mad,

Pour music glad.

With dishevelled tresses, and gathering flowers,

With rainbow wings widespread, through the hours

I shall run and scatter my laughter bright

In the dear sunlight.

I shall run from peak to peak, and from hill

To hill my leaping waters spill,

Loudly shall laugh and with claps keep time,

To my own steps’ chime.

—RABINDRANATH TAGORE IN “THE

AWAKENING OF THE WATERFALL”

Thus ends the nineteenth chapter of Shakti, known as “Ganga,” which describes the story of the goddess Ganga.

Aum Aim Hreem Kleem