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“You see,” Ganga continues, “Shiva’s embrace slowed me down but did not dismantle my rampant pride. I required more lessons to become the woman and the river you see before you. I want to tell you about the path I followed when I finally touched the ground.”
Raising her arm in a smooth, uninterrupted motion Ganga gestures to a fork in the river as you float along at a leisurely pace. Your eyes follow the path of her hand and fall upon a derelict temple in between the two branches a few hundred yards downstream.
“There wasn’t always a temple there, but this has been holy ground since long before I cleansed it with my currents. I suppose I should start from the beginning, though. When I finally escaped Shiva’s locks, he asked me to follow Bhagiratha in order to find and purify his ancestors. Though I was still displeased by my role in all the grand scheme of this plot, Shiva’s presence had calmed my heart and soothed my displeasure.”
“I agreed to follow Bhagiratha, but warned him that I would slow for no man.”
Ganga’s eyes close and her body trembles with the power of a light, warm chuckle as she reminisces on the exchange. You see a spark of ancient mischief glint in her eyes as she reopens them to continue the story.
“I’ve never seen a man’s face fall from triumph to pallor so quickly. But my dear Shiva noticed his horror and quickly set to persuading me to follow him more slowly than I would normally travel. He convinced me that it would be more pleasurable to frolic and take my time exploring my new abode.”
She looks at the temple, which is now almost directly to your left.
“This is where I met the sage Janhu. He was a holy man, but very spiteful, and he, for one, did not care that I was a holy river nor fear me because of it. I followed Bhagiratha towards Jahnu’s camp at my leisure, tearing a bed through the countryside on which my waters could rest.
As I passed by Jahnu’s camp, I saw my first human objects. I was thrilled to finally have something with which I could entertain myself. All of the forests and such thus far had been exceedingly boring, and I was quite ready to toy with some men. After all, Shiva had persuaded me that there was something interesting about them so I was determined to ascertain what quality could possibly ensare him in this manner.”
Ganga looks directly towards you for a moment, her eyes sparkling with a conspiratorial fire. She leans in as if she means to tell you some great secret. Her voice dropped to a bright murmur, she continues the story in this manner.
“I saw Jahnu’s pots and pans and tools strewn in various places throughout his hermitage, and I thought to myself that they must have been the most peculiar and delightful little antiquities I had ever seen. Accordingly, I had to have all of them.”
She begins to giggle as she tells the story, and for a moment you see her features seem to melt into those of a younger woman. The boat begins to pick up its pace and dance on the river a bit more dangerously as Ganga’s mischievous side takes over at the change in her story’s tone.
“I ran through his hermitage and tossed everything about! I hung pans from the trees, cast his idols to the ground, tore his tent to minuscule shreds! Bhagiratha was horrified at the carnage!”
Suddenly, Ganga seems to recover her composure and age back to the woman you sat with at the start of the ride. The river begins to carry you more gently again, and her tone slows and smooths.
“Jahnu caught me in his mouth for my transgression against him.”
Her voice sobers further.
“I had never dreamed that a mortal could contain me for even a moment. Jahnu held me until Bhagiratha pleaded that I be allowed out in order to purify his ancestors’ bones. Jahnu relented only after Bhagiratha’s persistent supplications appeased his wounded pride.
After this, I was allowed to flow out of Jahnu’s ears and begin following Bhagiratha once again, my path now split into two smaller streams as a product of my arrogance.”
Looking around, you notice that the river has narrowed significantly since you passed the fork.
“Shiva may have persuaded me not to destroy the earth, but Jahnu convinced me that I was not powerful enough to instill fear into her people. After that encounter, I was more demure and quiet in my pursuit of Bhagiratha. It was then I truly began to shed my immortal pride. I apologize for my earlier outburst. It’s sometimes tempting to fall into the fits of a younger woman again. There’s so much life in youth.”
She sighs softly.
“But in my vivacious nature I was shamed. Don’t worry, dear, I’ve learned my lesson. You need not fear me.”
Her voice takes on a light lilting, teasing tone.
“Not unless you make me jealous of course.”
Author’s Note: I chose to write about this story next for two main reasons. First, I felt that the flow from Ganga’s descent to earth would flow nicely into this exploration of her first major encounter with a human being. Secondly, I felt that this would be a good explanation of why Ganga stopped resenting the human race and began to respect them as individual beings with their own lives and hopes and strengths rather than the simple source of all her trials. I also felt that adding this story would be a fun way to show that Ganga is a multidimensional character who can change from time to time with the situation and such. For the most part, I stayed true to the source material, deviating only minimally in order to elaborate on what certain characters may have been thinking or feeling. This helped me to turn Ganga into the character I am writing her into. Establishing her as a character who can be somewhat more fickle than she originally led you to believe will also help to lead into the next story I have planned which an alternative tale about how Ganga became a river. I wrote the last line as I did because the tale I refer to observes Ganga as a jealous rival consort of one of the gods and illustrates how the two women were forced to become rivers for their incessant quarreling. I hope you enjoyed this tale!
Bibliography: The Ganges in Myth and History
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