The Daughter from a Wishing Tree Read online

  Ganga realized her petty sin and apologized to Durvasa, who had by then calmed down. He said, ‘I can’t change the curse—you will flow on the earth—but I will give you a special power. Whoever takes a dip in your pure waters will be immediately cleansed of any sins they have committed.’

  That is why people visit the Ganga in places, such as Haridwar, Prayag, Rishikesh and Kashi even today to absolve themselves of their sins.

  There once lived a king named Bhagiratha who wanted Ganga to descend from the heavens to the earth. The king’s ancestors had been reduced to ashes, and the only way for them to obtain salvation was for the River Ganga to flow over their ashes. After much prayer and penance to the gods, Ganga was allowed to flow on the earth, but she flowed with such force that she could have easily submerged the entire planet. So, Shiva decided to direct only a fraction of her flow to the earth by holding her in his jata, or hairdo, thus earning him the name Gangadhara. Yet, her force was so strong that when she reached earth, the gush of the water flooded the ashram of the sage Jahnu. Jahnu became so livid at the destruction that he drank the river. Ganga was then unable to proceed further. Seeing that the river had stopped flowing, Bhagiratha prayed again, and soon, the river emerged through Jahnu’s ears, thus earning the name Jahnavi.

  A story about Ganga also speaks about Nandini, a wish-fulfilling cow and the daughter of the sacred Kamadhenu, who was given to the great Rishi Vasishtha’s ashram to help him perform his prayers and to take care of his guests. One day, eight vasus, or minor gods, experienced Nandini’s hospitality at Vasishtha’s ashram, and came back and told their wives about her. The wives immediately wanted to possess the holy cow and insisted that their husbands catch Nandini and bring her to them. Prabhasa, one of the eight vasus, took the lead. He stole the cow and then directed the other cows out of the ashram. Vasishtha became furious when he learnt of the robbery and cursed the eight vasus. ‘You will all take birth as mortals on earth as the punishment for your actions!’ he thundered.

  The vasus begged Vasishtha for forgiveness until he agreed to reduce the potency of his curse. ‘May you all be born out of the holy River Ganga and be immersed in her immediately after birth. Then your sins will be cleansed. But Prabhasa, who stole Nandini, will remain on earth for a much longer time.’

  This is why Ganga, who was married to a king named Shantanu in her human form and became the queen of Hastinapur, immersed her first seven children in water, freeing them from their human form and their lives as mortals. The last one, however, stayed on earth for a long period of time as Bhishma, the respected warrior in the Mahabharata.

  Shantanu’s story, however, goes back to times of yore. In that time lived a frog in a forest. This frog heard about the River Ganga and how people yearned to go on a pilgrimage to her to take a dip in her waters. So, the frog also decided to travel to the river.

  Sadly, he got caught in a stampede during his journey and was crushed to death under a man’s foot.

  In his next birth, the frog took the form of a man who was employed by Indra, the king of the gods. Indra was very appreciative of his work and gave the man a cart full of gold.

  Now that he had more than enough money to make the trip, the man again started his journey to the River Ganga. However, his bullocks died on the way and he was at a loss for how to continue further. He requested Surya, the sun god, for help. ‘Lord, if you help me now, I will give you half of this gold.’

  Surya assisted him and the man managed to make his way to the Ganga. Once he was there, he took a dip in the waters and donated all the gold he had by immersing it into the river.

  A short time later, when Surya asked him for his share, the man was unable to pay. Surya, now angered, turned the man into a jackal as punishment. With no place to go, the jackal lived near the river and had a dip in the waters every day.

  Time passed until one day Ganga showed up in the form of a beautiful maiden. Fascinated, the jackal followed her. Ganga, afraid of the animal, threw a stone at the jackal, which hit him and blinded him in one eye. Still, the jackal continued to follow her. She ran to a sage nearby and hid behind him, telling him about the stalking jackal. Upset, the sage ensured that his disciples killed the animal, burnt him and immersed his ashes in the river.

  A few years later, the same ashes transported the seeds of a sal tree to the banks of the river. Eventually, a huge tree grew there. The sage, through his yogic powers, realized that the jackal’s ashes were responsible and were a part of the tree. He immediately instructed his disciples to cut the tree down. So, they fell the tree until only the dry trunk remained. The sage then ordered his students to burn the trunk. Out of this fire emerged a handsome young prince, whom the sage named Shantanu. The sage said, ‘Young man, for years you have tried to meet and be a companion to Ganga in different forms. I bless you with all my heart—you will marry her, even if it is for a short period.’

  Much later, Shantanu met Ganga again, now in her human form, and became enchanted by her beauty. She agreed to marry him on the condition that he must never question her actions. Deeply in love with her, Shantanu accepted this condition. In time, she gave birth to seven children, whom she immersed in water after they were born. On the birth of the eighth child, Shantanu questioned her, fearing the fate of the newborn. This questioning broke the condition upon which Ganga had agreed to marry Shantanu. She abandoned him but left the eighth child with him—this child was none other than the glorious Bhishma.

  That was how Vasishtha’s prophecy came true.

  Usually, Ganga is represented in temples by a stone statue of a woman standing atop a crocodile and holding two pots of water. She is related to the Trinity very closely, since she was born from Brahma’s kamandalu, washed over Vishnu’s feet and emerged from Shiva’s hair.

  The point where other rivers meet the Ganga is termed Prayag. For instance, you will find Rudraprayag, Karnaprayag and Devprayag in Uttarakhand. Ganga also merges with the River Yamuna in Allahabad, and this point of confluence is known as Prayag Raj.

  The Perfect Revenge

  Shurpanakha, the sister of the powerful king Ravana of Lanka, was very beautiful.

  When she came of age, she fell in love with Vidyujjihva, the prince of a different clan of asuras. She knew that her brother would not approve of this alliance, and so, she married Vidyujjihva in secret.

  When Ravana learnt of her marriage, he was furious and wanted to punish her. However, his wife Mandodari encouraged him to respect his sister’s choice, and Ravana finally came to accept Vidyujjihva and Shurpanakha as husband and wife. Little did anyone know that Vidyujjihva had married Shurpanakha only to get close to Ravana and murder him.

  One day, Ravana went to visit his sister in her new home. To his disappointment, Shurpanakha was not there. Vidyujjihva seized the opportunity and attacked his brother-in-law, but he was no match for Ravana, who killed him quite easily.

  Shurpanakha become a widow at a young age, and the incident created a gigantic misunderstanding between her and her brother. She refused to listen to Ravana’s side of the story. She truly believed that Ravana never really accepted her marriage and had punished her by killing her husband.

  Shurpanakha began spending her days in the forests of Lanka. Time passed, but her thirst for vengeance against her brother only grew greater. The princess was part-asura and knew Mayavi Vidya, or the magic of illusion. She could transform into any form she chose.

  One day, when Shurpanakha was on the banks of the River Godavari in Panchavati (or today’s Nashik), she saw Rama, the exiled prince of Ayodhya, from a distance and lost her heart to him.

  When she approached Rama and confessed her love for him, Rama instantly refused. When she insisted, Rama directed her to his younger brother, Lakshmana, who insulted her and cut off her nose.

  The injured Shurpanakha backed away from the brothers but saw Rama’s wife, Sita, standing nearby. She found Sita stunning. That was when it occurred to the asura princess that this was her chance—her un