Flowing into Indian folklore

Sai R Vaidyanathan

Rivers are lifelines of every civilisation but our epics have given them a life of their own. Let’s look at some of them.

Descent from heaven

Ganga, the daughter of King Himavaan, lived in heaven. During the Ashwamedha sacrifice conducted by demon King Mahabali, the Vaaman incarnation of Lord Vishnu asked for three paces of land measured by his feet.

When the King agreed, Vaaman claimed the whole of Earth in his first step. When he put his foot on the world above, his big toenail punctured heaven and the Ganga flowed out of it. For the third step, Mahabali offered his head.

Then, with the efforts of King Bhagirath of the solar clan, Ganga came to the Earth with Lord Shiva’s help. In time, she married King Shantanu of Hastinapur of the lunar race. They had a son called Devvrat who later became renowned as Bhishma.

The sun’s daughter

Yamuna is regarded as the daughter of Surya, the Sun-god, and Sanjna, celestial architect Vishwakarma’s daughter.

One day, Lord Krishna and Pandava Arjuna were hunting at the banks of the Yamuna.

A dark, lovely, young woman approached them. She said, “I am Kalindi (Yamuna), the daughter of Surya. I am performing austerities to marry Lord Vishnu.” She turned to Krishna and said, “As you are his complete incarnation, accept my hand in marriage.”

Krishna gave his ascent and the wedding was solemnised in the presence of Yudhisthira and Kunti.

Brahma’s son

As the celestials needed a place to bathe, Creator Brahma brought forth a son in the form of a lake (sarovar) out of his mind (man). It became known as Mansarovar (in Tibet).

Later, Lord Parashuram took a holy dip at Mansarovar. With his axe, he cut a channel through which the water flowed out. This became known as Brahmaputra (son of Brahma).

The Kuru battlefield

Once, the kingdom of the Bharatas was reeling under famine and disease. Sensing an opportunity, the neighbouring Panchal army decided to attack it.

Taking along whatever he could, Bharata ruler King Samvarna, an ancestor of the Kauravas and Pandavas, fled to the bank of the Indus and camped there.

One day, sage Vashisht came there. He exhorted Samvarna to rally his forces and regain his kingdom.

At the battlefield, Samvarna fought like a man possessed and won his kingdom back...and a lady’s heart who was watching from the top.

After having secured his realm, the king went hunting. In the forest, he saw a maiden with glowing skin. She was river Tapti, the daughter of Surya and Chhaya. After having lost her heart to him, Tapti had been waiting for Samvarna there to have a quiet word with him. “Ask my father for my hand,” she said.

Samvarna sent sage Vashisht to the Sun-god with the proposal which was accepted. From the wedding of Samvarna and Tapati was born Kuru who lent his name to the greatest battlefield in India — Kurukshetra.

India is indeed blessed to have so many rivers to irrigate our fields and quench our thirst.

(The author can be contacted at author.sai@gmail.com)