G for Gangavataranam (The Arrival of Ganga) - Mahabharata Mashup

Namaskar! 

So, this is my favorite post from the challenge. The first time I knew of the story of River Goddess Ganga arriving on the earth was through a Ramayana movie (at the end). It became my favorite scene ever. We have a similar version in Mahabharata, making it easy for me to share it for the challenge. 

Aranyaka Parva has many stories (even a summary of Ramayana) as the Pandavas learned from the rishis and went on a pilgrimage. 

Raja Bhagiratha of the Ikshvaku dynasty (an ancestor of Rama) did tapasya on the peaks of the Himalayas to please River Ganga. He requested her to cleanse his ancestors to help them attain a place in heaven. She agreed but said that none except Shiva could handle the force of her waters. Ganga told Raja Bhagiratha to find a way to break her fall from heaven and absorb the impact so that only a portion of her waters would reach the earth. Otherwise, it would have destroyed the earth. 

Bhagiratha did as ordered. He prayed to Shiva, who agreed to receive Ganga and neutralize the impact. He held her waters in his dreadlocks by forming a topknot well. Then he released a small (for him) stream of the river water to flow onto the earth. This source stream is called Bhagirathi (named after the king) and is in Uttarakhand. 

River Goddess Ganga had a crucial role in Mahabharata. She was the wife of King Shantanu and mother of Bhishma and ensured that Hastipanura flourished. 

Now, here’s the beautiful scene of Gangavataranam from Sita Kalyanam (1976), a movie by the Late Bapu Garu. Surprisingly (or not), the lyrics of the song describing Ganga’s journey to the earth are similar to how Vyasa wrote the scene in Mahabharata. Here’s an excerpt from P. Lal’s translation: 

Her frothing waters

Flapping like hamsas (swans)

Turning stumbling rushing 

In tortuous abandon 

Meandering like a drunken girl 

Wearing a dress of transparent foam 

At times roaring and 

At other times whispering

In various forms and 

In various moods reaching 

The earth where she turned to Bhagiratha

I feel happy (and go teary-eyed) each time I see the video. Such a blissful feeling, as if she is cleansing me too!

I’m participating in #BlogchatterA2Z.

The AI images are made on Bing.

No matter how much I tried, I couldn't get AI to understand that Ganga flows from Shiva's topknot.