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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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…
