The River that Ganga Formed

“Let us feast!” shouted King Shantanu.

King Shantanu was the ruler of an ancient kingdom in India many centuries ago. There have been no records of what Kingdom he ruled, yet oral stories and ancient writings provide limited details on the life of King Shantanu.

King Shantanu had just married this beautiful woman named Ganga. They were throwing a spectacular party in celebration for their marriage. King Shantanu and Ganga were joyful that evening. However, an elderly lady came to the kingdom asking for food. She saw the beautiful Ganga and went to her first.

“Oh beautiful lady, will you spare me some food please?” asked the elderly lady.

“Oh! Let me talk to my husband,” said Ganga.

“My King, my husband, can we spare the lady some food?” asked Ganga.

“Oh my sweet Ganga, you are kind, but this old woman asks for food on the day of our celebration. What a selfish old lady. She can eat with the pigs if she really wants food,” shouted King Satanu.

Everyone at the feast heard this and laughed alongside the king, everyone except Ganga.

The old woman, embarrassed and angered, then cursed them.

“Oh Ganga and King Shantanu, you both just wed, but your offspring will not live, for every offspring you have will drown in the water, just as you drown in your gluttony and selfishness,” exclaimed the elderly woman.

That statement quite angered the king. “How dare you threaten a King, you foolish hag!” said the King. “Kill her immediately, guards.”

The elderly lady was then put to death.

The curse scared Ganga for she did not know if it was real.

A few months later Ganga found out she was pregnant.

“Oh, I cannot wait for my child. If it is a boy he will be a fearless warrior. If it is a girl I hope she learns the art of dancing, nor would I complain if she became a warrior either,” thought Ganga.

One day as Ganga was walking along a pond she felt pains in her stomach. As she crouched down from the pain in front of the pond, she saw a reflection of the elderly lady laughing.

“The baby will be mine. It shall drown and be mine,” said the elderly lady.

Ganga then got up and ran back inside to her husband.

“I am scared for the well-being of our baby. I believe the curse is real for I just saw the elderly lady in the pond. Why were you so heartless? You should have gave that elderly lady the food,” stated Ganga.

The King thought Ganga was being a foolish and scared woman. He did not believe that the curse was real.

A few months later, Ganga gave birth to a baby boy. He had brown skin with black, curly hair. She wanted to show the baby to her family; therefore, a few weeks after giving birth she began traveling to her family who lived a few days away. Shantanu made sure Ganga traveled with a group of soldiers for protection. However, on the way to her family they were attacked by bandits. Ganga began running as fast as she could while the soldiers were fighting the bandits. Ganga ran with all the might for she wanted her baby to live. She ran through a forest but stopped for she was lost and thirsty. She reluctantly stopped by a lake to get a drink of water. She placed her baby down by the tree and walked to the lake. As she began collecting water she heard an evil laugh.

“I see you are here to give me what I am owed,” sneered the evil lady’s reflection in the lake.

Ganga pleaded, “Oh please, leave me and my child alone. I am a mother who loves my child and will do anything for him. I am sorry you were denied food, but that was out of my control.”

“I shall never forgive you,” screamed the elderly lady.

The reflection of the elderly lady arose from the lake and quickly took Ganga’s baby into the lake.

“My baby, my poor baby! Please do not take my child from me. He deserves to live. He did not harm to anyone. Please take my life instead,” shouted Ganga.

Ganga then sat by the lake and began crying. Tears rained down her face. She cried for days and days endlessly. The tears Ganga cried flowed down the forest through the mountains through the kingdom forming what is now known as the Ganges River. Ganga was never seen again. It is said she went into the Ganges River she formed from her tears and if you bring a baby to the river you can see her reflection.

Author's Note: I was inspired by the reading from the Mahabharata by R. K. Narayan. Narayan does a great job explaining the vast amount of detail found in the original version of the Mahabharata and condenses it into a story making it easier for the modern day reader to access. In the first few pages of the reading I enjoyed reading about Ganga and her husband Santanu. I was completely thrown off as to why she would drown her babies, and it was interesting as I was further reading why she did. I wanted to change the aspect Ganga though. However, I was not a fan of how one-dimensional Ganga felt during the reading. I wanted to know more about Ganga and have her feel more human. Therefore, I sought to create a character who felt pain, but through her pain and loss formed something beautiful such as the Ganges River. I know the story was not have exciting and cheery, but another aspect I wanted to portray through this story is that not everyone is going to have a happy ending, even those who do not do wrong. Maybe Ganga will eventually have a happy ending, who knows, but for now this is the Ganga that I wanted to portray.

Bibliography: R. K. Narayan, "Mahabharata"

This is a picture of the water from StaticFlickr