Ma Ganga - Jahnavi
Ma Ganga - Mythology
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गंगा माँ - जाह्नवी
देवि सुरेश्वरि भगवति गङ्गे त्रिभुवनतारिणि तरलतरङ्गे।
शङ्करमौलिविहारिणि विमले मम मतिरास्तां तव पदकमले॥१॥
Surrender to Ma Ganga
I come to you as your child really,
As an orphan, moist with love truly,
I have no refuge, give rest to me,
I have fallen – Mother please lift me;
I suffer disease, you the physician be,
I thirst and you the ocean of nectar be.
You my mother, doctor, saviour do be,
Ma Ganga, do what you will with me.
Birth of River Ganga
Ganga appears twice in Rig Veda clearly,
Later got importance as goddess only;
As per Vishnu Puran' she created be,
From the sweat of Lord Vishnu's feet;
. Hence, she is also called 'Vishmupadi',
The one flowing from Vishnu’s foot be;
Ganga, daughter of Parvataraja but be,
Sister of Lord Shiva's consort Parvati;
Ganga devoted to Krishna in heaven be,
This made his lover Radha jealous sadly;
Devi Radha then cursed Ganga angrily,
To go down to earth, flow as river only;
When Ganga was born, the holy cities,
Haridwar, Banaras existed not surely;
Still world was old, civilised sufficiently,
With kings, kingdoms, forests aplenty;
An angry, aging mother named Aditi,
Sat on fast, pray to Lord Vishnu plainly,
Asked aid from World Preserver truly,
In a moment of distress imploringly;
Her sons who ruled Universe many,
Had been beaten by King Bali mighty;
Who wanted to be the sole ruler only,
Of the complete celestial world solely;
As humiliated mother of beaten sons be,
Aditi refused to eat, closed her eyes fully;
She prayed to Vishnu for retribution only,
Who came after 12 penance days finally;
Moved by her devotion and purpose fully,
Vishnu assured kingdoms will restored be.
Vishnu disguised as a midget Brahmin only,
Answering to name of Vaman Deva only;
Appeared in famed court of Maharaja Bali,
Pleaded for lands within his steps three;
Amused, dulled by a sense of invincibility,
King agreed to the midget light-heartedly,
Vaman Deva expanded form to colossally,
In his first step, covered the Earth fully;
Thus kingdoms lost by sons previously,
Were got back by their mother Aditi;
But the second step of crucial import be,
He covered the heavens in their entirety;
Lord Brahma washed his feet respectfully,
Which flowed as Ganga river subsequently;
Ganga born from Brahma’s Kamandal be,
Dancing in heaven for delight of all truly.
Then Vaman questioned the great King Bali,
Where his third step should now placed be?
Following short of his promise – King Bali,
Bent his head to Lord – surrendering totally.
Ganga's dilemma
Ganga remained in universe heavenly,
Ever soothing and cooling all unendingly;
Once the loin cloth of revered Durvasa Rishi,
Was blown off with a breezy wind very gusty;
Ganga laughed too much embarrassing rishi,
The Rishi cursed Ganga to go to earth plainly;
But the great Ganga feared the earth clearly,
Where sinful would bathe in her waters surely;
Sullying her with bad karma who egoistic be,
Not knowing kindness, are selfishness sadly;
When they came into contact with her surely,
She would lose her pure state and sanctity.
Coming to Earth
On earth the great kingdom of Ayodhya be,
Ruled by the childless king Bhagirath wisely;
Who yearned for River Ganga desperately,
To come, wash sins of his forefathers fully;
King Bhagirath hailed from a royal family,
Family claimed Sun God be their ancestry;
Though he ruled over a peaceful country,
Where hardworking, honesty, happiness be;
Bhagirath was dejected, as childless he be,
No progeny to continue the eminent dynasty;
Also he under a very heavy burden did be,
Of bringing salvation to his very ancestry;
His ancestry cursed by great sage Kapil be,
Turned to ashes by his angry gaze totally;
And their salvation could be but got only,
With Ganga flowing over their ashes clearly;
His ancestry had been trying continually,
To bring Ganga to earth unsuccessfully;
Bhagirath handed kingdom to care simply,
Of counsellor and went to Himalayas firmly;
Doing for many years’ abysmal austerities,
To draw Ganga down from heaven actually;
Humbled Ganga then appeared eventually,
Agreed to purify ashes of Bhagirath's ancestry;
However to come down to earth it vital be,
To get the consent of Brahma unfailingly;
As she resident within the kamandal be,
Of Lord Brahma – her father certainly.
Life of Ganga
Bhagirath disciplined with his austerities,
Please Brahma enough to help finally;
Brahma had no objection to release truly,
Except Bhagirath first must please Shivji;
Shiv must accept to hold Ganga’s force fully,
Lest she but overwhelm the Earth entirely;
So Bhagirath further pleased Shiv sincerely,
And Ganga descended from heavens finally;
Lord Shiv captured pious Ganga river fully,
Released a small part of Ganga's force only,
Then he instructed the river Ganga plainly,
To follow Bhagirath on his journey earthly.
Rishi Jahnu
When Ganga on earth released be,
From the locks of Lord Shiv finally,
Her torrential waters wreaked swiftly,
Rishi Jahnu's fields, penance sadly.
Angered, the great sage drank fully,
All her waters to punish her clearly,
Gods prayed to sage to free wholly,
So she could go ahead assuredly,
On her mission to release unfailingly,
The souls of Bhagirath’s ancestry.
Jahnu relented and released finally,
Ganga from his ear subsequently,
So Ganga is also known as Jahnavi,
Jahnu’s daughter of Amavasu Dynasty.
Jahnu ancestor of Vishwamitra be,
A great, true and honourable Rishi.
Rishi Janu swallowed her as lesson only,
Released Ganga pitying Bhagirath clearly.
Ganga the Purifier
As Ganga flowed following Bhagirath truly,
People came, bathed and obtained purity;
Ganga reached Sage Kapila ashram finally,
Freed 60.000 souls from their ashes surely;
Even today river Ganga purifies continually,
Those who bathe in her, offers salvation fully
River Ma Ganga considered sacred clearly,
Personified as a goddess Ganga certainly.
Goddesses Ganga
As Ma Gauri (Parvati) is, so the Ganga be,
Who worships Gauri worships Ganga surely,
As I am so Vishnu be, as you are, so I do be,
As Uma so Ganga be, the form same be,
And whoever says that there difference be,
Between Vishnu and Rudra, Sri and Gauri,
Between Ganga and Gauri are but lost fully,
They are very foolish persons undisputedly,
Ganga, may your water bless world fully,
Shiv’s treasure, lord of earth, essence be,
Of scriptures, embodied goodness truly,
May you soothe our troubled souls totally,
Ma Ganga split into seven streams initially,
As she emerged from Shiv’s hair clearly,
Three flowing to east, three to the west be,
To the south flowed the mighty Bhagirathi,
The Ganga, the supreme image does be,
With water form, essence of Shiv’s soul be,
She is the nature – the supreme Prakriti,
And basis of countless universe surely,
For world protection, Ganga upheld be,
She world mother, Brahman’s epithet be,
Ganga is Shakti, not Shiv’s eternal energy,
Which has taken the form of water truly,
She who the embodiment of Vishnu be,
The very image of Brahma certainly,
She the form of Rudra, Shankar be,
Embodiment of gods, healing surely,
She the essence of the scriptures be,
Embodied goodness of gods actually,
She more than just a plain river be,
She is Ganga Ma - the Mother Holy,
She saviour of Sambhu’s world be,
Filled with wine compassion sweetly,
Shankar - yoga, Upanishads crux truly,
Created Ganga for all creatures’ mercy,
She celestial stream on earth flowing be,
With mythic origins in Veda world truly,
She in myth of Vaishnavas, Shaivas be,
She the consort of Vishnu, Shiv both be,
Even Brahma keeps her close company,
Carrying Ganga in His water pot surely,
She the healer, saviour gives prosperity,
The purifier, the ridder of troubles, sins be,
Banaras the largest and most visited be,
Of the thirthas, presenting itself as Kashi,
Abode that rests Shiv’s trident clearly,
Liberates all dying within its boundaries.
Ganga is Power, she Supreme Shakti,
Of Eternal Shiv, in the form of water be,
No child ever too dirty to embraced be,
By mother, Ma Ganga embraces all fully,
She clears all, good, bad – all things fully,
She not impure, mother never impure be,
Even a droplet of Ganga water surely,
Carried one’s way by breeze actually,
Erases all the sins but unquestionably,
Of many life times in an instant swiftly.
Ganga Slew Her 7 Children
In forest King Pratipa doing penance earnestly,
Approached by Ganga, submits himself fully;
She sits on his lap on his right side comfortably,
But King Pratipa says she cannot his wife be;
This side of his lap but belongs to his progeny,
Either son, daughter or daughter-in-law only;
So, he proposed that righteous path would be,
She be his daughter-in-law, Ganga agrees;
When Pratipa aged, son Shantanu the king be,
Pratipa told King Shantanu about Ganga clearly;
Advised him to take her as his wife unfailingly,
If she approaches him some day subsequently;
One day Shantanu in forest, Ganga did see,
Approached her with marriage proposal truly;
She agreed only if he never makes an inquiry,
Of what she does to her children subsequently.
King Shantanu agreed to her terms unthinkingly,
They go to his kingdom as husband, wife clearly;
She bore children but drowned them promptly,
She did this to her seven children repeatedly;
Shantanu, agonized by her behavior obviously,
Never objected due to fear of losing her only;
On eighth child birth, he could not resist clearly,
Inquired why she was doing so repeatedly?
Ganga said she delivering Vasus from curse be,
But due to his objection, must leave promptly;
This eighth child survived, known as Devavrat be,
Later on, he was renowned as Bhisma famously.
Why Ganga Slew Her Children
Vasus attendant of Indra, later Vishnu be,
They 8 elemental gods representing truly,
5 - Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space be,
Last 3 - Sun, moon, stars are accordingly,
They wanted to enjoy pleasures worldly,
So with their wives came to earth actually,
On earth outside ashram of Vashishta Rishi,
They saw Vasishta’s divine cow “Nandini”,
One of the wives was lost in her beauty,
Majesty of that cow – seeming heavenly,
She intreated Prabhas, her husband firmly,
To bring that cow Nandini to her unfailingly,
Prabhas replied “My Dear, we devas do be,
We have no use for cows, cows’ milk clearly,
Nandini’s milk gives everlasting life surely,
As Devas, we are enjoying immortality,
Sage Vasishta very fond of Nandini be,
It would be improper to violate his integrity,
Despite attempts by Prabhas repeatedly,
His wife did not yield even a bit slightly,
She made imploring requests evidently,
That melted the heart of Prabhas finally,
He agreed and the 8 Vasus took Nandini,
And her calf before advent of Vasishta Rishi,
When Vasishta returned, not finding Nandini,
With divine vision saw what ensued previously,
He cursed all the 8 Vasus to but born be,
As Mortal Men in this world subsequently,
When the Vasus did came to know finally,
They ran to Rishi Vasishta and pleading be,
They for Vashishta’s forgiveness imploringly,
But he said that this curse cannot lifted be,
This curse must follow its course actually,
But its effect can be reduced undoubtedly,
Appeal Divine Ganga to your mother be,
Relieve you of birth when you born be,
So you may return to the heavens swiftly,
Without years of suffering on Earth clearly,
This reduction effect I do grant but plainly,
To 7 of you who supported Prabhas only,
Since Prabhas stole mu cow actually,
The curse will remain in his effect fully,
He on earth will have to live completely,
His full lifetime, have a great life surely,
He regarded as one of the best souls be,
To have ever walked on this earth truly,
Relieved Vasus pleaded Ganga humbly,
To be their mother on earth assuredly,
Vasus turned to Ganga to deliver surely,
From curse they had incurred previously;
Devi Ganga agrees to deliver as babies,
Slay, shorten life, return to abode heavenly;
They requested her to throw them quickly,
Into river as soon as they but born be,
Ganga agreed and came to earth finally,
Became Shantanu’s wife to do this only,
Thus all her slaying makes sense totally,
She killed 7 sons – they be an act of mercy.
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