| Ganga | |
|---|---|
Personification of theGanges River Goddess of Forgiveness and Purification | |
 17th-18th-century sculpture of goddess Ganga | |
| Other names |
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| Affiliation | |
| Mantra | Oṁ Śrī Gaṅgāyai Namaḥ |
| Weapon | Kalasha |
| Symbol | Ganges River |
| Mount | Makara |
| Festivals | |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | Himavan and Maināvati (in some texts) |
| Siblings | Parvati,Mainaka (in some texts) |
| Consort | |
| Children | Bhishma and 7 other sons of Shantanu |
Ganga (Sanskrit:गङ्गा,IAST:Gaṅgā) is the personification of the riverGanges, who is worshipped byHindus as the goddess of purification and forgiveness. Known by many names, Ganga is often depicted as a fair, beautiful woman, riding a divine crocodile-like creature called themakara.
Some of the earliest mentions of Ganga are found in theRigveda, where she is mentioned as the holiest of the rivers. Her stories mainly appear in post-Vedic texts such as theRamayana,Mahabharata, and thePuranas.
TheRamayana describes her to be the firstborn ofHimavat, the personification of theHimalayas, and the sister of the mother goddessParvati. However, other texts mention her origin from the preserver deity,Vishnu. Legends focus on her descent to earth, which occurred because of a royal-sageBhagiratha, aided by the godShiva.
In the epicMahabharata, Ganga is the mother of the warriorBhishma in a union with theKuru kingShantanu.
In Hinduism, Ganga is seen as a mother to humanity. Pilgrims immerse theashes of their kin in the river Ganga, which is considered by them to bring the souls (purified spirits) closer tomoksha, the liberation from the cycle of life and death. Festivals likeGanga Dussehra and Ganga Jayanti are celebrated in her honour at several sacred places, which lie along the banks of the Ganges, includingGangotri,Haridwar,Prayagraj,Varanasi andKali Ghat inKolkata. AlongsideGautama Buddha, Ganga is worshipped during theLoy Krathong festival inThailand.
Ganga is mentioned in theRigveda, the earliest and theoretically the holiest of the Hindu scriptures. Ganga is mentioned in theNadistuti (Rigveda 10.75), which lists the rivers from east to west. In RV 6.45.31, the wordGanga is also mentioned, but it is not clear if the reference is to the river. RVRV 3.58.6 says that "your ancient home, your auspicious friendship, O Heroes, your wealth is on the banks of the Jahanvi". This verse could refer to the Ganga. In RV 1.116.18–19, the Jahanvi and theGanges river dolphin occur in two adjacent verses.[4]
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Ganga is described as the melodious, the fortunate, the cow that gives much milk, the eternally pure, the delightful, the body that is full of fish, affords delight to the eye and leaps over mountains in sport, the bedding that bestows water and happiness, and the friend or benefactor of all that lives.[5]
Since the Vedic period, the Ganges river has been considered the holiest of all rivers byHindus. Ganga is also personified as a goddess and worshipped as Goddess Ganga. She holds an important place in theHindu pantheon. Ganga is represented as a fair-complexioned woman, wearing a white crown and sitting on a crocodile. She holds a water lily in her right hand and a flute in her left. When shown with four hands she carries a water-pot, a lily, and a rosary, and has one hand in a protective mode. TheRigveda mentions Ganga but more of her is said in thePuranas.
Ganga is depictedfour-armed and mounted on a crocodile or enthroned surrounded by crocodiles. In one of the iconography in Maha Virat-rupa, she holds a jar ofamrita, rosary,lotus and varada mudra. She may be depicted in other ways holding only akalasha (or 2 replacing lotus) and lotus, while other 2 hands invarada andabhaya mudra.
Another depiction popular especially inBengal shows her holdingshankha,chakra (discus),lotus and abhaya mudra, with thekalasha releasing her holy water.
InBrahma Vaivarta Purana, Ganga is often depicted with her divine mount, themakara – an animal with the head of a crocodile and tail of a dolphin.
Varying myths of Ganga's birth is found in Hindu scriptures. According to theBhagavata Purana,Vishnu, in his incarnation asVamana, extended his left foot to the end of the universe, and pierced a hole in its covering with the nail of his big toe. Through the hole, the pure water of thecausal ocean entered this universe as the Ganges river. Having washed the lotus feet of the lord, which are covered with reddish saffron, the water of the Ganga acquired a very beautiful pink colour. Because the Ganges directly touches the lotus feet ofVishnu (Narayana) before descending within this universe, it is known asBhagavat-Padi orVishnupadi, which means emanating from the feet of Bhagavan (God). It finally settles inBrahmaloka orBrahmapura, the abode of the Brahma, before descending to the planet earth at the request ofBhagiratha, and held safely byShiva on his head, to prevent the destruction ofBhumi Devi (the earth goddess). Then, Ganga was released from Shiva's hair to meet the needs of the country.[6]
TheRamayana narrates a different version of the myth. Ganga is described as the eldest child ofHimavat, son of Brahma and the king of theHimalayas, and his wife Queen Menavati, the daughter ofMeru. Her younger sister isParvati, who latter marries Shiva. When Ganga attained youth, thedevas took her toSvarga, where she took a form of a river and flowed.[7][8]
A legend in theDevi Bhagavata Purana describes Ganga as originally being one of the three wives of Vishnu, together withLakshmi andSaraswati.[9] In the midst of a conversation, Saraswati observed Ganga playfully glancing at Vishnu. Frustrated, Saraswati launched a furious tirade against Ganga, accusing her of stealing Vishnu's love away from her. When Ganga appealed to her husband to help her, he chose to remain neutral, not wishing to participate in a quarrel between his three wives, whom he loved equally. When Lakshmi attempted to soothe Saraswati's anger by reasoning with her, the jealous goddess grew angry with her as well, accusing her of disloyalty towards her. She cursed Lakshmi to be born as theTulasi plant upon the earth. Ganga, now enraged that Lakshmi had been cursed because she had defended her, cursed Saraswati that she would be incarnated as a river on earth. Saraswati issued the same curse against Ganga, informing her that sinful men would cleanse themselves of their sins with her water. To prevent further conflict among the goddesses, Vishnu declares Lakshmi as his only wife and sends Saraswati to Brahma and Ganga to Shiva.[10][11][12]
TheMahabharata narrates that there was once a war between the devas and theasuras. The leader of the asuras,Vritra, was killed byIndra, and so his followers hid in the sea, causing the devas to be unable to find them. The devas requested SageAgastya to help. He used his divine powers and swallowed the ocean to reveal where the asuras were hiding. The devas defeated the remaining asuras, and asked Sage Agastya to restore the water. However, the sage was unable to release the water, despite trying several times. This caused drought conditions upon the earth, butVishnu assured that the ocean would be filled by the flow of Ganga on the planet.[13]
The story about Ganga's descent on earth through the efforts ofBhagiratha, a descendant ofKing Sagara, is narrated in the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and various Puranas.[14] Wanting to show his sovereignty, King Sagara performed a ritual known asashvamedha, where a horse was left to wander for one year. However, Indra stole the horse to prevent the ritual from being successful. Learning that the horse had disappeared, King Sagara sent his sixty thousand sons to look for it.[14] They eventually found the horse at theashrama of SageKapila, in the netherworld. Thinking that Sage Kapila had stolen the horse, the sons interrupted him while he was in a deep meditation. This infuriated Kapila, and with his ascetic's gaze, he burned all the sixty thousand sons to ashes.[15]
King Sagara sent his grandson,Amshuman, to ask the sage Kapila what could be done to bring deliverance to their souls. Sage Kapila advised that only the water of the Ganges, which flowed from Svarga, could liberate them.[15] Bhagiratha, Amshuman's grandson, undertook severe ascetic practices, and won the favour of Brahma and Shiva. Brahma allowed Ganga to descend on earth, while Shiva broke Ganga's fall in the coils of his hair, so that her force would not shatter the earth.[15] When Ganga descended, Bhagiratha led her to the sea. From there, the river reached thenetherworld, and liberated the sixty thousand sons of King Sagara.[13]
Because of Bhagiratha's efforts, the river is also known asBhagirathi. She is also known as Tripathaga because she flows in the three worlds, heaven, earth, and the netherworld.[14] Another epithet that Ganga is known by is Jahnavi, because she flooded the ashram of SageJahnu while being led by Bhagiratha. Her waters extinguished the ritual fire there, which angered the sage Jahnu, so he drank up all of Ganga's waters. Sage Jahnu later released the water out of his left ear after Bhagiratha explained his mission for Ganga's descent. Due to this incident, Ganga is known asJahnavi, which means daughter of Sage Jahnu.[13]
In theMahabharata, Ganga is the wife ofShantanu as well as the mother of the eightVasus, includingBhishma.[16][17] Ganga and Shantanu were cursed byBrahma to be born on earth. Shantanu met Ganga on the banks of the Ganges and asked her to marry him. She accepted the proposal on the condition that Shantanu would not question any of her actions.[17] Shantanu agreed and they married. They lived together peacefully and had eight sons who were the incarnation of the eight Vasus.They too had been cursed and had asked Ganga to end their life when they were born to her on earth. Due to their request, Ganga began drowning each son upon birth while Shantanu watched without questioning. However, when she was about to drown their eighth son, Bhishma, Shantanu stopped her.[17] Ganga later leaves with Bhishma but gives him back to Shantanu when he is ten years old.[17]
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The Ganga is also called theGanga Mata (Mother), and is revered in Hindu worship and culture, venerated for her forgiveness of sins and capacity to cleanse mankind.[18] Unlike various other goddesses, she has no destructive or fearsome aspect, destructive though she might be as a river in nature.[18] She is also a mother to other gods.[16]
On this day, Ganga is regarded to have been reborn. According to legend, the goddess is regarded to have accidentally destroyed the hut of SageJahnu during her descent upon the earth. In retort, the sage drank the entirety of the river's water. At the request ofBhagiratha and Ganga herself, he released the river from his ear, and she earned the epithet Jahnavi.[19] Ganga Jayanti falls on theseventh day of the month ofVaishakha'sfirst fortnight.
Ganga is worshipped duringNavaratri as all the forms ofAdishakti during the duration of the festivities.
Thais use the Krathong to thank the Goddess of Water known as Phra Mae Khongkha and who represents theHindu goddess Ganga.[20]
The worship dedicated to Ganga is of great importance in theTriyampawai ceremony. An image of her in the form of a Nang kradan (นางกระดาน) along with aPhra Mae Thorani, Surya and Chandra are invited at the beginning of the festival for three days which is considered to symbolise the beginning of the Triyampawai festival.[21][22][23][24][25]
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Ganga is respected inNepal as a guardian water goddess, worshipped together with another river goddessYamuna. Her sculptures are found inPatan Durbar Square[26][27] andGokarneshwar Mahadev temple is a municipality inKathmandu District in theBagmati Province.[28]
InSri Lanka, Ganga with other Hindu deities assumes a Buddhist persona. Her sculpture is seen inKelaniya Raja Maha Vihara.[29][30]
InBalinese Hinduism, she is worshipped together with thegoddess Danu. Her waters are considered holy inBali. Her maternal association with Bhishma is known in Bali. Religious sites associated with her in Bali areTirta Gangga,Pura Taman Mumbul Sangeh, andKongco Pura Taman Gandasari.[31]
Ganga Talao in Mauritius is considered by theMauritian Hindus equivalent to Ganga. In 1972, the thenPrime Minister of Mauritius,Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam brought Holy water from the Ganga's source –Gomukh in India and mixed it with the water of theGrand Bassin and renamed it as Ganga Talao.[citation needed]
Ganga is invoked with Hindu deities Shiva,Bhumi,Surya andChandra inThailand's royalTriyampawai ceremony. She is worshipped together with goddessPhra Mae Thorani withinThai Budhhism and goddessPhosop inTai folk religion. The four sacred pools ofSuphan Buri Province have waters from the Ganga and the Yamuna rivers and are used for rituals.[32][33][34]
Ganga has been revered inCambodia since theKhmer empire. In Shiva's iconographical formUma-Gangapatisvarar (Khmer:ព្រះឧមាគង្គាបតិស្វរ), Shiva is depicted with Ganga and his wife Uma (Parvati). Ganga's images are located inBakong,Lintel inThommanon and exhibit inInternational Council of Museums.[35][36]
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