The ties between Ganga and Shiva are well established through a range of stories in the epics and the Puranas. Not as popular, or commonly cited however, are stories that bind the river goddess and Krishna/Vishnu. These stories are found mostly in the Vaishnavite traditions and they indicate just how significant their role was in building a common way of life among diverse cultures that worshipped a vast pantheon of deities.

In one story, Ganga is shown to be a form of Radha and even that of Krishna, himself.

Ganga was seated next to Krishna, the two were looking deeply into each other’s eyes. Radha walked in on the two of them and she was enraged at the sight of an adoring Ganga gazing with such longing at her lover. Radha flew into a frenzy and threatened to drink Ganga up, thereby wiping her out of the heavens and eliminating her presence on earth.

Frightened, Ganga disappeared. She sank back into her original form and as the invisible water that flows below the earth, hid herself inside Krishna’s feet. But Ganga’s flight caused the earth to spin out of control. The waters receded and drought threatened life on the planet. The gods approached Brahma and he reached out to his counterpart Vishnu and his avatar Krishna.

Krishna however could do little because it was Radha that the gods would have to appease to bring Ganga back. The gods approached Radha and offered her their deepest devotion and sought deliverance. Radha finally relented after her fears over Ganga’s place in Krishna’s life were allayed. She backed off from her threat. And Ganga emerged from Krishna’s foot to water the earth and restore its balance.

Story collected by: Arundhuti Dasgupta

Source: Devi: The goddesses of India, Edited by John Stratton Hawley and Donna Marie Wulff

Primary source: Brahmavaivarta Purana, Devi Bhagvata Purana

Location: Pan India

Image Copyright: Rajrishi Singhal

We are all familiar with the popular myths around the birth of Ganesha and his elephant head, but here is one that is not often told.

One day, after her daily bathing ritual, Parvati threw the water used to wash herself in the river Ganga. This water was consumed by the elephant-goddess, Malini who, not aware of the power of Parvati’s bath-water, was unaware of the consequences of her action. But she soon realised when she conceived immediately after consuming the water and gave birth to a boy with five elephant heads.

The Ramayana has many versions, narrated by multiple authors in multiple voices. The multiple versions are evidence of the richness of the Ramayana narrative and the strong literary traditions that flourished in the country that allowed writers/poets to unfetter the imagination without fear.

The story begins with King Sagara after he loses his 60,000 sons to Kapila sage’s wrath. The sons were reduced to ashes and hence were not given the proper funerary rites that are a must for ascension to heaven and for a better afterlife. Sagara’s grandson, Anshuman goes out in search of his father and uncles and finally reaches the sage Kapila’s hermitage. When he asked him for a way to grant his ancestors the freedom of passage that is the right of every human being after death, the sage told him that there was only one way to do it. And that would be bringing the river Ganga to earth.

However this was easier said than done. Despite severe penance done by every king born into the dynasty, including Sagara, Ganga stuck to her place in the heavens. The crisis worsened when Dilip, one of Sagara’s descendants died without an heir.

Without an heir and their king dead, Ayodhya descended into chaos. In heaven, Brahma and Purandara became worried. They consulted Shiva who decided to ride to the palace that was now home to Dilip’s two widows. Shiva told them, “With my blessings, you will have a son.” The women were perplexed. “How,” they asked, “without a man can we conceive?”

Shiva told them that with his boon, they would have the power to bear a child without a man. The two women should copulate, he said, and leave the rest to the gods. The two women who shared a close friendship and upon the god’s assurance waited till they both knew the right time had arrived. Then they united sexually and in the tenth month, one of them conceived and a son was born. Since the child was born from the union of two women, from two bhagas (female organs), he was named Bhagiratha. And he was the son that finally brought the river down to earth and released the trapped souls of his ancestors.

Story collected by: Arundhuti Dasgupta

Source: The Ramayana culture: Text, Performance and Iconography, Edited by Mandakranta Bose, Primary text: Adi Kanda, Krttibasa Ramayana

Location: Bengal

Image: Wikipedia