Episode 49
In the
last episode we saw sage Agastya devouring the ocean waters in one gulp for the
common good of the society. Then how to fill the ocean with waters? The gods
went to Lord Brahma and sought his help in filling the ocean depths. Brahma thought
for a moment and told the gods that it would be filled with the waters of Ganga
by the efforts of one king by name Bhagīratha.
Dharmaraja
wanted to know the story of Gangavataranam and Bhagīratha’s efforts; and Lomasa Maharshi started
telling the story.
Sagara
and his sons
Once upon
a time king Sagara of Ikshwaku dynasty was ruling Bharat with Ayodhya as his
capital. Vaidarbhi and Saibya were his queens[ii]. He did
great tapas in Kailasa mountaintains and Lord Shiva appeared before him to
bless him with boons.
Sagara
bowed before Lord Shiva and urged for children. ‘Oh, king!
One of your wives will have sixty thousand warrior princes and the other lady
will have one son who can take on your lineage’, Lord Shiva proclaimed
and disappeared from the place.
In due
course of time Vaidarbhi delivered a bottle guard and Saibya delivered one son
who was named as Asamanjasa. The king was disappointed on seeing the bottle
guard and intended to throw it into forest. But there was a celestial voice
from the sky. ‘Oh, king! Lord Shiva’s word will never
go waste. Preserve the seeds of the vegetable in ghee pots.’ Sagara
ordered for preserving the seeds in ghee pots and appointed separate maids to
take care of the pots. Sixty thousand children emerged out of the pots after a
long gestation and all were very powerful.
It was
unfortunate that all the children of Sagara were cruel and wicked. Asamanjasa
had the habit of catching hold of small children of the kingdom and drowning
them into waters of lakes and ponds. He used to enjoy
and rejoice on hearing the screaming sounds of children. The citizens found him unbearable and the king ordered for the
exile of Asamanjasa from the kingdom. The sixty thousand children were
proved to be most unwieldy and started troubling even gods and gandharvas. The
gods approached Lord Brahma and urged to find a solution for their
annihilation. But Brahma told, ‘Oh gods! Don’t get frightened. Due to their own sins they die on their own in due course of
time’. The gods left the place.
King
Sagara’s performance of Aswamedha Yaga
Sagara
wanted to perform Aswamedha Yaga and the horse was let loose to wander the
places of its choice. Since it was protected by all sixty thousand warrior
sons, no king on earth had the courage to capture it. It so happened that Lord
Indra stole the horse and he had taken it to Pātāḻa loka and
kept it near the hermitage of sage Kapila.
The sons of
Sagara roamed through all directions of the earth but in vain. Without horse, the
Yaga could not be accomplished. What to do? They started digging the earth much
to the inconvenience of all habitants of the earth and Pātāḻa. At last
they reached Kapila’s Ashrama and found their horse.
अस्माकं त्वं हि
तुरगं यज्ञीयं हृतवानपि |
दुर्मेधस्त्वं हि सम्प्राप्तान् विद्धि नस्सगारात्मजान् ||[iii]
Meaning- Oh! bad
man! This is our Aswamedha horse! You have stolen this horse. Know that we are sons
of Sagara.
Then they
rushed towards Kapila. Kapila got angry and hissed at
them. In no time all the sixty sons of Sagara caught up with flames and turned
in to sixty thousand heaps of ashes.
As his
sons did not return for many years, Sagara was worried. He could not afford to
leave the Yaga which was started by him. He asked his grandson, Amsumantha (son
of Asamanjasa) to go out and trace the horse.
Amsumantha’s
adventure towards Pātāḻa loka
Amsumantha
followed the path strewn by his parents and reached Pātāḻa loka. On
the way he saw four mighty elephants shouldering the earth over their backs. He
prayed to them and passed on till he reached the hermitage of sage Kapila. He saw
the celebrated sadhu, Kapila and sixty thousand heaps of ashes and the horse
nearby. Immediately he sat and intended to perform the last rites, but he did
not find any water. By that time Garutmantha reached the place and told, ‘My
dear Amsumantha! Don’t grieve for the death of your stepparents. The tried to
harm the sage Kapila and scorched to death by his anger. ‘As per convention, they are not deserved for last rites (सलिलं
नार्हसि प्राज्ञ दातुमेषाम् हि लौकिकम्) [iv]
They
get relieved from this stage only when the last rites are performed with the
waters of Ganga’. Amsumantha obliged the words and prayed to sage Kapila. The
sage was pleased and was ready to bestow a boon to Amsumantha.
Amsumantha
sought two boons – permission to take the horse and
higher abodes of heaven to his sixty thousand parents.
Kapila smiled
and told, ‘My dear boy! Your stepparents were very cruel and died of my anger.
Your grandson shall fulfil your second wish. Now you take the horse and let
your grandfather perform Aswamedha Yaga’. He further added:
त्वयि
क्षमा च धर्मश्च सत्यं चापि प्रतिष्ठितम् |
त्वया
कृतार्थ: सागरः पुत्रवांश्च त्वया पिता || [v]
‘In
you all the characteristics- patience, righteousness and truthfulness are well
established. Sagara’s wish is fulfilled because of you. Your father has become ‘father
of a son’ because of you’. Then he blessed him.
Amsumantha
presented the horse to his grand father and saw that Aswamedha yaga was
performed by Sagara. Sagara bestowed the kingdom to his grandson Amsumantha and
reached heaven.
Amsumantha
ruled the country for a few years and later his son Dileepa inherited the
kingdom. Dileepa tried his best to redeem his forefathers but could not
accomplish the task. Later, Dileepa’s son, Bhagīratha came
to the throne.
Bhagīratha’s tapas and descendance
of Ganga
Bhagiratha
heard from his ministers as to how his forefathers were turned into ashes by
Kapila and how they were not destined for higher lokas in the absence of
oblations. He felt sad and decided in his mind to
earnestly do tapas, please the goddess Ganga and must get her blessings in
redeeming his pitru runam (for details of pitru runam- please see the
analysis of the story).
Bhagīratha entrusted the kingdom to his trusted
ministers and proceeded to the Himalayas. For thousands of years he did penance.
Ganga was pleased by the determination of Bhagīratha and
appeared before him. She was willing to drench the sixty thousand ash moulds
and redeem them from Preta loka to higher abodes of heaven. But she was afraid whether the earth can withstand her
kinetic force. She suggested that he should please Lord Shiva who alone
could hold her force when she falls from heavens to earth.
Bhagīratha immediately started doing penance invoking
Lord Shiva. After a few years Lord Shiva appeared before Bhagīratha. The intentions of Bhagīratha were matching with the intentions of
gods. In fact, the gods had requested Brahma to fill the ocean with waters once
they were devoured by Agastya. The descendance of Ganga
to the earth is to relieve the sins of thousands of humans upon the earth.
Lord Shiva agreed to his request.
Shiva
reached the Himalayas and unfurled his plait of hair to hold the speed of the
Ganga river. Bhagīratha prayed
to the Goddess Ganga with all devotion and sincerity. On
seeing Shiva ready with his unfurled hair, Ganga just slipped from heaven and
started falling with all force into the web of his matted locks.
Initially
Ganga thought that she would carry Lord Shiva to Pātāḻa with her
force (विशाम्यहं हि पाताळं स्रोतसा गृह्य शङ्करम्)[vi]
Shiva
could see the pride of Ganga and he wanted to teach her a lesson. When she fell
with force into his matted her, Shiva just held her in his hair only; and not a
drop of water ever fell upon earth. She struggled to come out but in vain. Bhagīratha was anxious as he could not see Ganga
anywhere.
Bhagīratha sat for tapas again propitiating Lord
Shiva. All gods, Gandharvas and other celestial beings who came to witness the
descendance of Ganga were amazed at the strength of Shiva and started praying. Shiva was pleased and he released Ganga into Bindu Sarovara
which was built by Lord Brahma. The Ganga started flowing with burbling
noise and it was full of fish, crocodiles, reptiles and other aquatic animals.
The earth
appeared beautiful by decorating with the flurrying flow of river in curves in
some places, gorgeous fall in some places and babbles, ripples or trickles in
certain places. At some places she was moving with
dignity like a chaste woman; in some places going directions like a prostitute,
in some places jumping like a dancer and in some places forward and backwards
with arrogance like a lady who acquired riches suddenly (Bala Kanda 43.24).
All the living beings upon earth felt very happy and they started performing
pujas with flowers and petals.
Ganga
and the sage Jahnu.
Bhagīratha sat on a celestial chariot and Ganga
followed his chariot. While they were travelling, they passed throw near the
hermitage of sage Jahnu. Ganga drowned the entire ashram with arrogance. The sage felt angry and with his power of penance devoured
the entire water of Ganga in one gulp. The gods prayed to Jahnu to
release the water. Bhagīratha
turned back and sat for praying to Jahnu. Jahnu released all the waters from his
ear in a flow. From that day Ganga is considered the
daughter of Jahnu and she is also known to the world as Jāhnavi.
Ganga
redeeming the sons of Sagara
Ganga
followed the chariot and filled all the oceans and ultimately reached Pātāḻa and
drenched the sixty thousand heaps of ashes. Sagara’s sons were relived and
reached the higher abodes of heaven. Lord Brahma appeared before Bhagīratha and told, ‘Oh king! All your forefathers
are now relieved from PRETATVAM[vii] and they
have now reached heaven. You have done yeoman services to the society and
brought waters of Ganga to the doorsteps of all common people. Ganga, from henceforth will be your elder daughter and will
be called as Bhāgīrathī. You have
attained name and fame and your name will remain upon earth forever’.
Bhagīratha felt happy and he could see his
determined efforts bore fruit at the end. He ruled the country with all
happiness and contentment for thousands of years and left for heavens.
Analysis
of the story
The theme
of the story revolves around two issues predominantly discussed in Hinduism.
They are- the concept of Pitru Runam and the second one is about ‘Purusha
Prayatnam’. Let us discuss both.
According
to Sanatana dharma every man born upon this earth is born with three debts- Deva
Runam (debt to gods for the boons that we receive from them), Pitru Runam (debt
to parents for our physical body and intellect) and Rishi Runam (debt to sages
and our ancestral Rishis for the wisdom that we receive from them). Sanatana
dharma expects every human being to propitiate gods to redeem deva runam; to
read and propagate the wisdom of vedic knowledge to redeem rishi runam; and to
give birth to a son and perform the last rites to redeem pitru runam.
It
is believed that if the last rites are not performed, the spirit of the dead
person is believed to wander with extreme thirst and hunger and will never
reach heaven till the obsequies are performed. ‘Pinda Pradanam’ has thus
gained lot of significance in Sanatana dharma. This belief is not restricted to
Bharata desa alone. The idea of forefathers loitering with extreme hunger and
thirst is prevalent in all south east Asian countries and in China.
In this
story when the sons of Sagara were scorched to death by Kapila, all the progeny
including Amsumantha, Dileepa and Bhagīratha put
all their efforts to bring the celestial Ganga for performing the last rites
and only Bhagīratha could succeed in his
efforts.
The question
is why did not Dilipa or Amsumantha perform the rites with normal water? Garutmantha cautions Asamanjasa that as per convention the
sons of Sagara are not entitled to receive Sraddha (Pinda pradanam) with normal
waters. As per Sruti (Veda), there is a restriction if a person is died
of certain reasons, he is not entitled for receiving obsequies. The
restrictions are as follows:
दण्ष्ट्रिभ्यश्च
पशुभ्यश्च, मरणं पाप कर्मणाम् ||
उदकं
पिण्ड दानं च, एतेभ्यो यद्विधीयते |
नोपतिष्ठति
तत्सर्वं अन्तरिक्षे विनश्यति || - (Govindarajeeya Vyakhya- Valmiki
Ramayana).
Meaning
- The obsequies given out to those sinners who died of Chandalas, water bodies,
thunders, Brahmins, animals and horny animals will evaporate in the skies
before reaching the dead persons.
In the
current story the sons of Sagara are cruel and sinners. Again, they are scorched
to death by Kapila, a Brahmin. Hence Garutmantha suggested that they are not entitled
for final rites with normal waters. Hence the necessity of bringing the
celestial Ganga waters. Precisely for this reason,
Hindus believe in immersion of the bones and ashes of the elderly persons in
the waters of Ganga to relieve them from Pitru loka.
The second
aspect of the story relates to Purusha Prayatnam- individual effort. Our ancient Indians gave lot of importance to individual
efforts to achieve the desired goals. Unfortunately, a few historians[viii] attribute
Indians as fatalists and hence they believe in the inevitability of happening of
certain events and negate individual efforts. If we investigate the history of
India, we find at no point of time our society is dormant showing signs of
fatalism and weakness. We have been rich in our philosophical moorings, potency
of language, architecture, grammar, art, music, medicine, engineering, science
& technology and what not. In the story, Bhagīratha is a person who
did not leave things to happen on their own. His determination was supreme, and
he put all his efforts to bring the celestial river to the earth. He performed tapas invoking Ganga, Shiva,
again Ganga, again Shiva and ultimately, he was ready for praying for Jahnu. In
Sanskrit language Bhagīratha Prayatnam
is synonym for supreme effort with dedication. The
story dispels the myth that Indians are fatalistic.
Kings of
ancient India ruled the country in the interest of its citizens. They were
ready to sacrifice anything for the sake of people. In Ramayana, Rama was ready
to exile his own wife. In the current story Sagara exiled his own son
Asamanjasa when he was proved to be a burden to the citizens. This is one of
the greatest aspects of Indian culture in ancient days.
Points
to ponder
- What
are the debts a human being has in his lifetime? How can he redeem them?
- How
can you justify that Indians are not fatalistic? How can you interpret the
famous sloka of Gita- Karmanyevadhikaraste…….?
Footnotes
[i] This
story is available both in Maha Bharata and Ramayana. The story is built based
on Ved Vyssa’s Maha Bharata and Valmiki’s Ramayana.
[ii] In Valmiki
Ramayana the two wives of Sagara are mentioned as Kesini (daughter of Vidarbha
king) and Arishtanemi (sister of Garutmantha)
durmedhastvaṃ hi samprāptān viddhi nassagārātmajān || - Bala Kanda
40.28 (Valmiki Ramayana)
[v] – Vana Parva 107.55
[vii] Preta is the
spirit of any dead person, especially
before the obsequies / rites are performed by the progeny. Before reaching
heavens, the spirits are believed to wander till the last rites are performed. In
the present story, the last rites are not performed to the sons of Sagara till
the descendance of Ganga.
[viii] Romilla
Taper says that ‘Indian culture had been static, largely owing to the gloomy,
fatalistic attitude to life’ (Early India).
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