Ganga

The Origin of Bhagavati Ganga and Bhagiratha's Devotion

Bhagiratha, great-grandson of the great King Sakara, was a child when he learned about the fate of his ancestors. On a journey to retrieve an important horse sacrifice, his ancestors had stumbled upon the underground retreat of a powerful sage, who was so angry at the interruption that he reduced all the intruders to ashes with a single glare. With their bodies trapped underground and unable to receive the proper disposal, their spirits were left dangling in between worlds. When Bhagiratha grew up, he devoted his entire life to help his ancestors attain salvation. He began to pray intensely for ten thousand years to Brahma, the creator, who advised him to seek the help of both the god Shiva and the goddess Ganga.

Only Ganga could provide the holy water that could wash and cleanse his ancestors' bones, but the goddess would descend from the high heavens with a force so unparalleled that it would shatter the earth into a thousand pieces, requiring the strength of Shiva to receive the blast. Thus, Bhagiratha prayed to Shiva for ten thousand years and Shiva, in response, guaranteed his help if Ganga agreed to descend.

Then, Bhagiratha prayed to Ganga for five thousand years, who eventually appeared to him in the form of an elegant and pretty little girl saying, "Should Ganga agree to descend, she will descend with her full force. Only Shiva could bear the force of the descent, and if he has agreed to help, find out what his intentions are. Pray to him again."

So Bhagiratha prayed to Shiva for another five thousand years, who confirmed his agreement a second time. "Let Ganga descend," he said. "I will help you and ensure that no drop is allowed to cause harm. Pray to Ganga again."

So Bhagiratha again prayed to Ganga, who again issued another challenge to Shiva, who issued a rebuttal to Ganga. All the while Bhagiratha was being tossed between god and goddess, undergoing severe austerities such as subsisting on dry leaves, sunlight, or just nothing except his own purpose and faith. This penance lasted for thirty thousand years.

At the end of Bhagiratha's penance, Ganga began her descent toward the earth from the realm of Brahma the creator. As the roaring deluge was about to hit and pulverize the earth, Shiva suddenly appeared with feet planted, arms outstretched, and head down. The torrent hit Shiva's tangled locks of hair and dissipated without a trace.

Bhagiratha, for all his penance, began to grow worried that his devotion and asceticism would produce nothing of value, but Shiva, sensing his anxiety, allowed one small trickle out of his hair. Bhagiratha seized upon this stream of water that quickly grew into a powerful river, leading it carefully underground over his ancestors' remains. Finally, after years of limbo, Bhagiratha's ancestors finally achieved salvation, but the river, now called the Ganges, also helped all of mankind achieve salvation. Now the Ganges bears countless holy shrines on its shores and nourishes millions of acres of farmland. Through Bhagiratha's asceticism and devotion, the Ganges now offers salvation to us all.

Author's Note: This page centers around the origin story for the Ganges river. Not only is this story culturally and religiously important to the people of India and Indian culture in general as the origin of the holiest river in India, but the story itself also had a great impact on me. The conflict between the goddess Ganga and the god Shiva using Bhagiratha as a middle-man was incredibly interesting to me, and it really shows how characters in the Indian epics can be taken advantage of by the gods. I was so impressed with Bhagiratha's devotion to his family and his purpose from the first time I read this story, that I knew I wanted to emphasize this story in some way. In fact, this story served as inspiration for this portfolio in general; this story gave me the idea to delve more into the epics through its language as a way to better understand the stories it tells. By researching the words for goddess (bhagavatī) and devotion (bhakti), with the accompanying mantra, I hope to show that this story plays no small role in the wider Indian literatures and culture. In fact, this story serves as a parallel to the difficulties that translators often face. Just like Ganga's force, words are loaded with meaning, context, and history, and translators are forced to be the Shiva to bear them all for the rest of us! Sometimes, translators do not let enough meaning through, and sometimes they try to let too much through. It's certainly a difficult balance, and one that I hope to create a bit of understanding for through this project!