Ganga the Goddess of Forgiveness and Purification

Ganga is the River Goddess and is the personified version of the Ganga River. She is also worshipped as the goddess of forgiveness and purification, as she carries the souls of the dead closer to liberation from the cycle of life and death. Ganga is personified in The Mahabharata as a beautiful woman who appeared by the river. Ganga is often seen with her vahana, known as Makara. Makara is a creature with the head of a crocodile and the tail of a dolphin, but oftentimes Makara is depicted as just a crocodile. The crocodile symbolizes growth, strength, and beauty, as well as pushes us to outgrow fear in facing problems. In this story from The Mahabharata, Ganga marries King Santanu.

Once there was a beautiful woman whose hair flowed like a river. She always had a lovely white water lily in her hair as well as all over her clothes. During the day, she loved spending her time on the side of the river looking for more lilies to add to her collection. Makara would be there beside her, searching for fish to eat while protecting his goddess. At the end of the day, she would return to the water and sit upon Makara and he would take her away towards the sunset. This woman was Ganga.

One day while she was performing her lily hunt, a handsome young man appeared from out of the woods. He was immediately in love and begged for her hand in marriage. She agreed, but only if he would allow her all of the freedom in the world and that he never question her motives. He agreed without second thought and they become married. This man, we discover, was actually a king! His name was Santanu. Santanu, however, did not know of Ganga's identity.

They lived a very happy life, as she was a perfect spouse. Santanu wondered what freedom she possibly could request that he needed to question. She was spectacular in every way. Eventually, his wife and Santanu have a beautiful baby boy, who he loved very much. However, his wife took the baby down to the river and drowned him. Then, Ganga would speak to Makara to ensure that his soul would go on.

"Makara, please ensure that this baby knows peace. Give his soul the strength to carry on."

Makara would then take the baby's soul and return it to the heavens, returning to Ganga only after he had successfully completed his mission.

Santanu was heartbroken and shocked, but he did not want to question his wife, as he did not want to lose her too. Each time they had a child together, she performed the same ritual and returned to the palace as happy as she could be with a new handful of lilies.

Once the eighth child was born, Santanu could not handle it anymore. He followed her to the river and begged her to stop before she reached the water's edge. The wife was calm and agreed to spare the baby; however, she had to leave him. Santanu begged for her to explain.

His wife was indeed very beautiful and special, but not entirely human. She was in fact the deity of the river: Ganga. She told him that she had taken human form in order to give birth to the babies that only Santanu was worthy to give. However, these were no ordinary babies. They were actually human forms of Indra's attendants that had been cursed for stealing a sage's cow. She had gently returned the babies to the river so that their souls could be carried by Makara and return to the heavens to be with Indra.

After hearing this explanation, she told Santanu that she must take the child with her. However, she will return him in his youth. She then took the baby and headed towards the river where Makara awaited her. She sat down on him and he swiftly and gently took her and the child under the water.

Santanu was shocked as well as heartbroken, as he also lost his beautiful wife. He sat by the river for many hours until sunset. While he sat there with his feet dangling in the water, lilies surrounded him.