Ganga didn't know what to do with
this child that she hadn't drowned. She was not aware of this sudden
twist in the prophecy. She was under the impression that she was put on
Earth for a brief time to give to the eight children, and then she would
return to her watery environment.
She had
already done her part in giving birth to Devavratha, her eighth infant, and was
already on her way to delivering him back to heaven when Shantanu
stopped and questioned her actions. As she was nearing the river's shore,
Shantanu broke through the brush calling her name. Nearly breathless he
asked for an explanation of her actions. Ganga replied," My loving
husband, you have done as I've asked for so long, but today you have questioned
my actions." As a side note, when Ganga and Shantanu met she requested
that he never question her actions or she would leave him forever. The
goddess continued, "Today I will take your youngest child,
Devavratha, to heaven with me in order to teach him humanly ways. He was
supposed to return to heaven, and was born only of godly matter, but since this
was interrupted he must live an adult life here." With
this last statement Ganga took her infant and descended into the river's water.
As they descended Ganga was contemplating how she could teach a
half mortal to be completely mortal.
She decided that she should have her son be a holy man and brought him
to Brahma. It was known among the gods that Lord Brahma was the father of
Manu, who then became the father to all human beings. She traveled to
heaven and bowed before the Lord with her infant in her arms. He knew why she
was there, and gave her instruction on what she would do with her last son. She
was to bring him to her river home, for she was free now that she
had fulfilled what was asked of her in regards to the curse. While
there, Devavratha would serve and tend to her home. Devavratha would also
learn about the human way of life through prayer and meditation. Through
serving in Ganga's home, Devavratha would become a wise and disciplined young
man who will be human once returned to his father. While back on
Earth, though, he would be a loyal servant to whoever rules over his father's
throne, because he would not be able to rule himself. Devavratha would not know
this, since he is an infant, but he would be cursed and have taken an oath of
celibacy throughout his human life. This seems dreadful to a mother, but this
will keep Devavratha's heart pure and he would ascend to heaven when final peace
has been granted to the kingdom that was once his father's (foreshadowing the
quarrels of the future Pandavas and Kauravas). The Creator had made his
declaration, and Ganga returned home to the river.
She was very happy to finally return home and once
Devavratha was old enough, she set him to work on his spirituality and discipline
as Brahma had instructed. When the day came, and Devavratha had grown in
to handsome and wise young man, Ganga brought him to the river shore that they
had left behind. She had sent word to Shantanu, who was eagerly awaiting
their arrival. Ganga said her goodbyes to her son and previous husband,
and then descended back to her home. Ganga had faith in Brahma and
Devavratha, and was always watching her son from afar though she knew better to
ever meddle with human relations.
Author's Note:
I chose this story since I had literally so many avenues that
I could pursue. The epic only introduces
the background of the curse, and when Ganga brought (the future) Bishma back to
his father. While reading the epics, I’ve
noticed that many great men of have spent a lot of time meditating or serving
another for a period of time. This was
done in order to obtain their wisdom and discipline. I chose Lord Brahma for Ganga, to visit for advice,
since he is The Creator and grandfather of all humans. I tried not to leave any important details
out that we were introduced to in the reading, but at the same time I didn’t want
to take away the focus of Bishma’s childhood.
So far, we have not read of any intervention of Ganga, in regards to
Bishma’s adulthood, but I wanted to give her some motherly instinct and have
her watch over him from a distance. I
also included why she would never intervene if Bishma were to encounter
trouble.
Bibliography:
Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata.
Hi LizAnn!
ReplyDeleteIt is great how you put two pictures in your story to give the eyes a break. I like how you describe how Ganga didn't know she would be taking care of the last child. You used great creativity to describe the sequence of events about what happened when she took the last child back to her original environment. It helps to explain why he behaves the way he does when he comes back to the King. Great job writing!
LizaAnn,
ReplyDeleteI appreciated that you told this story from the point of view of Ganga. Not only is it interesting because she's a woman, but also because she's a mother. The mothers of Indian Epics actually seem to play a really big role in the stories, but are never described or given enough attention (think of Rama's mothers, for instance). Anyways, I liked that you expanded on Ganga as a mother. I think what you're story lacked was structure/style. I wasn't really sure how I was supposed to read it. The way you wrote it was very casual (as seen by your use of "Sidenote..." and parentheses).
Edits:
"...birth to Devavratha, her eight infant, and was..." - should be "eighth infant"
"...he must live and adult life..." - should be "an adult life"
"She was decided that..." - you don't need "was" here. It should just be "she decided..."
"....what she would do with her..." - should be "what she should do with her...". "Would" implies a different kind of action than "should"
"...of her in regards of the curse..." - should be "in regards to"
"Devavratha will become a wise and disciplined young man who will be human once returned to his father" - here you use the future tense "will", but throughout the story you used the imperfect future "would", so try and stick to the same tense and use "would" here. The rest of the story from this point down, you change to the present tense "is" and future tense "will". I suggest changing them so they are consistent with the rest of the story. Switching tenses can be confusing to the reader.
In your author's note, you said that many of the men in epics spend a lot of time mediating; do you mean meditating? If not, then what do they mediate?
"...anything important details out..." - should either be "any important details out" or "anything important out"
"So far, we have not read of any intervention of Ganga, in regards of Bishma’s adulthood..." I don't really know what you mean here by intervention of Ganga? Also, should be "regards to", not "regards of"
I am glad that you chose to write about this! I was interested in how this story would have been told. I believe you did a great job of bringing it to life. You made Ganga’s reason for making the boy live a normal life very believable. I like how in your story you brought many of the different prophecies together in your story. I love reading your stories keep up the good work!
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