The Story of Ganges

Bhishma’s Story

 “I was born the son of the river-goddess, Ganga Devi. Rivers run deep. As all rivers, Ganga Devi had more than one dark secret. She had come to the earth to wash us free of sin, but she dwelled in the heavenly planets as the daughter of the creator, Brahma himself.

Indian Traditional Miniature Painting, Brahma the 4-headed Creator rides a swan.

“One day one a heavenly courtier and friend of Indra came to visit. His name was Mahabhishana. He was a guest in the court of King Indra, god of rain. Now, Indra had arranged for a night of entertainment from the heavenly nymphs, called Apsaras. They danced for the pleasure of all. Lord Brahma was also seated there with his daughter Ganga Devi. But during the dance a light breeze lifted the silken sari of Ganga Devi, revealing her supple limbs. All averted their eyes in decency. All but Mahabhishana, who could not help staring.

Apsara dance at Angkor

“Ganga Devi gave Mahabhishana a sidelong glance and smiled slightly. Mahabhishana was enchanted with her beauty and smiled back.  When Lord Brahma noticed the looks exchanged between his daughter and Mahabhishana, he cursed both of them to take birth as mortals. And so my mother came to earth to live as a mortal and walk among us.

Gupta Era Terracotta of Ganga Devi, National Museum, New Delhi

“Not only had she been cursed, but her children had also been cursed. They were the heavenly stars of the Vedic constellation of the seven Vasus, doomed for a time to walk the earth for a crime they committed against a great holy man. They were my brothers. 

We Vasus, being mischievous brothers in our former lives played a trick on the great Vasistha Muni and stole his magic wish-fulfilling cow, I was told. So we were to pay for our karma: my brothers were born to the goddess for a short time, then to return to the heavens to shine immortally.  I learned I was a greater criminal in my former life. It was I who had planned and carried out the theft of Vasistha cow. It was I who insulted the great saint. So my punishment was greater.

Indian Miniature of Kama Dhenu

            “As you see now, I was cursed to live a long life, to die only after the destruction of a dynasty which was never mine. I was cursed never to marry, never to have children, never to see the joy of having my children play in the courtyard of my castle. But I lament nothing. It was my destiny, my karma, as you shall see.

“My mother was a beauty and a goddess.

“And my father, the great Shantanu, king of all the Indias and greater Bharata, seeing the Ganges in the form of a nubile maiden, was struck by love. He was enchanted by the river queen and ready to sacrifice his kingdom and his life for her. He knew nothing of her past, or the curse that she bore, or the dark secret of my brother’s misfortune. He asked for her hand. And so, my mother the river Ganges married the great King Shantanu. Before she gave herself to him in carnal love, she made him swear to honor a terrible promise.

            “My mother made Shantanu promise never to challenge any of her actions, word or deed. Of course, my great father, a proud warrior, was deeply in love with my mother and her fair skin, her round breasts and curved hips, her enchanting lotus eyes, deep blue as the ice of the Himalayas. He had never seen a woman so fair. So, he promised never to challenge her word or deed. So it was they were married and lived with the joys of sweet romantic bliss in a great castle by the side of the river. My father was exceedingly happy when he saw she was with child, and noticed how her waist grew and she became pregnant with my first brother.

             “My father doted on her, expecting that the fair Gangadevi would produce many heirs for him. He looked forward to the day when his heirs would become proficient in the art of war, learn the Vedas, and rule the kingdom as generously as he had, expanding her lands, chastising miscreants, and creating an even greater dynasty. But one day, when her time was near, she went to the banks of the river. Unbeknownst to her, my father followed her to the river to observe her without being seen. He saw her lie down in the tall grass where the tigers hide in the summer heat and wait for elephants. How curious that she had chosen such an unusual manner of childbirth.

             “But he remembered his vow. Hadn’t he sworn never to question her in word or deed?

“So the great king Shantanu, from his hiding place, heard the sobs of joy and pain of that great river goddess in child-birth. He could hear the cry of a newborn child and was ready to rush from his hiding place, when he saw Gangadevi, cradling a small boy, emerge from the tall grass. Just when he was about to rush from his hiding place and congratulate the new mother, he saw her take the child into the waters of the river. 

“He struggled with his emotions.  Again remembering his vow, his realized that he would lose his wife if he offended her. He forced himself to continue observing from behind the tamarind tree where he was hidden. All at once, after dipping my little brother three times in the stream, and repeating a strange mantra in Sanskrit,  my fair mother drowned my little brother in the cold waters of the River Ganges.

            “She laid his fresh body in the water, and the river claimed him returning him to the sky in heaven where he shines as the brightest star in the constellation of Krittika.

            “My poor father was shocked and filled with misery - he couldn't sleep remembering the face of the drowned infant. Silently, he cursed my mother, and then blamed himself for having cursed her. Perhaps she had some higher purpose in her actions that he could not see? Even so, the sight of the tiny infant screaming as he entered the river haunted him. The sound of the innocent child’s cries burned his very heart. But he said nothing, always remembering his promise.

“When again my mother was with child, again she drowned the poor infant in the cold waters of the river Ganges, just as she had done before. One after the next, the fourth and the fifth, the sixth and the seventh infant son perished by drowning at my mother’s hand.

“One day, when the fair Gangadevi, my mother, was ready to give birth, she left my father’s bed in the castle on the hill, and went early in the morning to the riverside. Suspecting something, Shantanu followed her.

            “He took up his position beside the old tamarind tree and watched as my mother repeated her ritual. She entered the muddy waters waist deep. She smiled and held me close to her breast. She held me above her head and then dipped me three times in the river.  As soon as she began saying the holy mantra which would seal my fate before plunging me into the dark waters, my father, the great King Shantanu, Lord of all the Indias and greater Bharata, emerged from his hiding place behind the old tamarind tree. Seeing my golden hair and my innocent laughing eyes, my father had compassion for  me.

Not this one.

            “Horrified by the sinister deeds of his fair wife, he approached her, his sword drawn. His eyes were cold with the grim cast of war. "Not this one!" He said, his jaw fixed, his voice firm. “I have seen enough, O foulest of beasts, O ghoul among women. Leave me at least this one fair child, accursed, tiger-hearted fiend! His eyes are blue and his hair as golden as the sun. He is as fair as his mother, lovely as a goddess. Leave me this one boy to carry on the line of Kings, you wretched, stone-hearted murderess!"

            “At this, Gangadevi my mother was furious. "You have broken your sacred word as King, my Lord Shantanu. When we married, I thought I had married a prince. A man who knows how to keep his word. A sacred oath was sworn and a man’s word must be kept. So say the immortal Vedas. You call yourself a King, but yet your word is meaningless. Your son shall be cursed.  He shall be cursed never to carry on your line, never to have his own children, and to live long enough to see his dynasty destroyed."

            “She explained to Shantanu that in his former life he had been Mahabhishana, and that they had both been cursed by Lord Brahma to take birth as mortals. Since their love was deep, they had found happiness as husband and wife for a time. But now the curse had been fulfilled and it was time for her to move on.

            “And so, my mother the river goddess, gathering me up to her breast, took me away down the river. In the distance I could see my father crest-fallen and heart-broken. One should never see a warrior’s tears. The great King Shantanu, childless, having lost his lady and his newborn son sat down by the river Ganges desolate.  He wept for his fate and the fate of his dynasty, the sons of Bharata.”

Ganga Devi

To be continued…