This week, we’re going to learn about Ganga. Yes the river Ganga is a goddess and she has a very interesting story. You’ll hear what happens if you pierce the fabric of the universe. And if your pet cow wanders off why it’s best not to accuse a meditating stranger of having stolen her.
You might recall the story of Vaman, the avatar of Vishnu we covered recently in Mini-Episode 37.5
If you haven’t, here’s a quick summary. The Asur king Bali had taken over all the three worlds – the Earth, the Heavens and Hell. Who could possibly restore these to the Devs? It had to be someone from the Holy Trinity of Shiva the Destroyer, Vishnu the Preserve or Brahma the Creator, since they were the ones who were not defeated after all. If you said Shiva the Destroyer destroyed Bali or that Brahma simply created a parallel Universe for the Devs, you’d be totally wrong.
It fell to the preserver to not upset the balance of power. He disguised himself as a Rishi of short stature and asked Bali for enough land to cover 3 small steps. The moment Bali agreed, Vishnu burst into his regular size and easily covered the entire universe in 3 steps. That’s how he won it back for the Devs.
There was one unintended consequence though. As Vishnu was expanding into a gigantic person capable of covering the entire universe, his little toenail scratched against the very fabric of the Universe. Now the science minded folk amongst you might suggest that that is the real explanation for Black holes. Not so. As everyone knows the Universe is surrounded by….. Water! Yes pure old water! So when there was a tear in the fabric of the Universe, water from the surrounding ocean burst through.
“Congratulations! There’s a happy little accident!” said Shiva and Brahma shaking Vishnu’s hand, “It’s a girl….river!”
And so that’s how Ganga was born.
But then when saw Ganga rushing towards the Earth, Brahma got a little worried. “Is it time for the next flood already?” he asked
“Nope”, said Shiva and he dived into action. You might expect him to have patched the fabric of the Universe. But no. He trapped Ganga. In his hair!
As Vishnu and Brahma looked at him surprised, Shiva said “What? Why are you staring? Trust me this will work. Besides, it’ll keep my hair moist and glossy with a nice texture”
“Whatever,” said Brahma and Vishnu as they walked off.
So there wasn’t a flood on Earth then. Actually it was quite the opposite. There was a drought all over the country.
In the middle of a drought and famine, there was a King, Sagara, who was worried about what was to him a bigger problem. He had two queens Sumati and Keshini but no heirs. He did what several others in these podcasts have done before. He prayed. Instead of praying to Brahma the creator to, you know, create a baby for him. The King and queens went to the Himalayas and prayed to Shiva the destroyer! Shiva appeared, and granted his wish! He’d asked for one son, he was about to get several. Sumati and Keshini looked worried! They’d wanted child or two, not several!
“Relax,” said Shiva. “You, Keshini will have one son!” Keshini sighed with relief.
Shiva continued “and your wife Sumati will have 60000!” At that, Sumati fainted.
“That is a bit of an imbalance,” said Sagar.
Shiva replied, “I suppose so I could do one small tweak! Alright, so Sumati’s 60000 kids will die childless but Keshini’s one son will carry on your dynasty. Bye now. I can’t stay! I have another praying rishi three mountains over”. And with that Shiva, the destroyer disappeared, leaving the King and Queens speechless.
In no time, the kids were born. Sumati set the world record for most births at the same time. But thankfully it was a painless process because this was by divine interference.
The kids grew up all strong and intelligent and everything. Meanwhile, Keshini’s son was quite the brat! He was downright evil. Thankfully though his son was the perfect gent.
Once King Sagar did the Ashwamedha. That’s a ritual to try and expand the kingdom. The idea is that the horse is let loose. Wherever it wanders the King of the land either gives up his land, or fights. We had previously prominently featured this in Episode 7 – Kingdom by Horse.
The horse wandered off a long distance. It was followed by Sumati’s 60000 sons. The horse eventually wandered next to a meditating Rishi. If you’ve been listening to these podcasts, that should not surprise you. Since Rishis was the #1 profession in Ancient India and meditating was the #1 pastime. This rishi, whose name was Kapil, was a particularly powerful one. But Sumati’s sons did not know that. They made a big mistake. They accused Kapil of having stolen the horse. A completely baseless accusation. Kapil looked like he hadn’t moved at all. He even had creepers growing on him.
But the boys persisted, they poked at Kapil, until Kapil suddenly opened his eyes. And that was a mistake. Kapil was like Cyclops from the X-Men. When he opened his eyes, there were optic blasts destroying all 60000 of Sumati’s sons. Strangely the horse was spared.
When Sagar’s kids did not return, he sent his grandson after them. Well, all he found were 60000 ghosts wandering about, suffering. There’s nothing he could do about it. He prayed to the gods but there was no answer. Ultimately on his deathbed he made his son promise him that he would do everything in his power to find a solution. Well, the son didn’t, but he did the next best thing. He made his son promise him the same thing. The son Bhaghirath, had an idea. He prayed to Shiva just like his ancestors. But this time it worked! Shiva appeared and heard Bhaghirath. Shiva had an elegant solution. “I can fix that! And what’s more I can also solve your drought problem”
“What drought problem?” asked Bhaghirath, who like his ancestors was quite oblivious to the suffering of his people.
But Shiva was busy loosening his hair “I think it’s moist enough by now,” he said. He let out a tiny bit of Ganga and she trickled out and burst through the land. She flowed right over all 60000 wandering ghosts, and that liberated those souls. People all over the country rejoiced. Not because their poltergeists had been exorcised, but because they now had water for drinking, for irrigation and for their cattle.
That is how the Ganga came to Earth. She had a purifying element and that is how she could liberate Sumati’s sons. It is this purifying element that people look for when they visit the Ganga.
That’s all for now
Next Time
In the next mini-episode we’ll meet the wife of someone we’ve met before. Ancient India is not typically known for gender equality, but this character is an exception! But the equality only lasted during her life. When 7 rishis who were her equals were commemorated in the sky as the constellation Great Bear or the Big Dipper, she’s only represented by a tiny companion star.
I’ll see you next week!