Table of Contents
Liberation of the sons of Sagara
Recap
The last post was about when Ganga had turned northwards. At that spot a bone of a sinner fell. The moment that happened, all the sins of the sinner vanished. Messengers of Yama had come to take the sinner away but attendants of Vishnu took the sinner away from them. Hearing this, Yama went to Vishnu, who told him about the greatness of Ganga. In this post, we continue Ganga’s journey till the sons of Sagara are liberated.
Ganga reaches the ashrama of rishi Kapil
.png "Confluence of Ajay and Ganga with Indra and Devas")
After the brahmin Kandara was liberated, Ganga followed Bhagiratha till they came to the land of the Gaura. There, an interesting thing happened. A rishi named Padma was taking the name of Hari. Such was his voice that Ganga could not control herself and the rishi’s devotion pulled a portion of her away from the path that Bhagiratha was travelling on. The rishi was travelling east, and Ganga began flowing eastwards. Not sure what to do, she called out to Bhagiratha.
Hearing the call of the river, Bhagiratha came and said to her, “Mother, our path is not eastwards. If you travel that way, I will never be able to liberate my ancestors. Please return.”
Ganga followed Bhagiratha, but a portion of Ganga refused and followed the rishi. That portion of Ganga got the name Padma. Seeing that Padma had chosen a different path, Ganga cursed Padma saying, “You are restless and volatile. No one will ever get salvation by taking a bath in your waters.”
After cursing Padma, the river that had originated in heaven (Suradhuni) then retraced her path and travelled with Bhagiratha. From that spot they went north-east and a part of Ganga took the course of a river which got the name Bhairav. The remaining river followed Bhagiratha, travelling towards the ashrama of rishi Kapil. On the way, the waters of river Ajay merged with Ganga. Seeing this wonderful scene, the devas in heaven began blowing their conch shells. This spot, which marked the confluence of the river Ajay and Ganga, got the name Sankhadhwani. Indra took a bath here; the spot where he had taken a dip became known as Indreshwar. Old brahmins came there riding carts drawn by rams (meda) and the place also got the name Meratala.
Passing this place, they reached the delightful place, Nadiya. Here was the beautiful place, Nabadwipa, supposed to be foremost amongst the seven islands of the earth. Having come to this holy place, Bhagiratha and Ganga rested there for a night.
The next day, Bhagiratha, on his chariot, led the way, Ganga following him. They reached the place called Saptagram. This place had the same spiritual potency as the same holy spot of Triveni where Ganga had met Yamuna and Saraswati rivers. After passing this, they passed the towns of Akna and Mahesh till they reached the town of Bihorod.
Stopping at the place, Ganga asked Bhagiratha, “Are we on the right track? Where are the ashes of your ancestors? How far do we need to travel? It has been a year since we have been travelling on earth.”
Bhagiratha said, “O holy one, I have never visited that spot. I am following the directions that I had heard from my mothers. If I am correct, my ancestors had travelled south-east and we should be travelling in that direction. Somewhere there is the ashrama of Rishi Kapil. There one will find the ashes of my ancestors.”
As soon as Ganga heard this, she spread herself out and formed hundreds of streams. The streams spread around and found the ashrama of rishi Kapil. As soon as the waters entered the ashrama, it touched the ashes and the sons of Sagara got salvation. Ganga then showed Bhagiratha his ancestors, who were going to heaven. One son remained behind there to preserve the sanctity of the place.
Seeing this, Bhagiratha became emotional and began dancing with joy. Ganga then said to Bhagiratha, “Your journey here is over. Please return to your kingdom while I go and meet the great ocean.”
That place where Ganga met the ocean became a supreme pilgrimage site and became known as Gangasagara. Bhagiratha returned back home.
Such was the greatness of Ganga, who still flows on earth, in this age of Kali.
Analysis
Geography of Bengal as mentioned in the text
This text shares a picture of the geography of Bengal.
If one sees the route of the river Ganga, Bengal plays an important part there. It is in Bengal that Sundarbans exist, where Ganga along with the rivers Brahmaputra and Meghna flows in the Bay of Bengal. Gangasagar is an island located at the mouth of the river where it meets the Bay of Bengal, situated on the western edge of the Sundarban delta. Because the liberation of Sagara’s sons happens where Rishi Kapil’s ashrama is said to have been located (the present-day Gangasagar), Krittibas painted a vivid picture of Ganga’s travel through Bengal (I am not using the term West Bengal or Bangladesh here, given that there was no division in that era).
The first reference to Bengal can be seen when Krittibas mentions that Ganga enters the land of Gaur. The region of Gaur or Gaura is what Bengal was known as then. In today’s geographical terms, it should be the Malda and Murshidabad districts.
The breakaway of Padma is visible even today; Ganga flows east as river Padma. As the text says, the river Padma is then cursed. The foundation of the curse would have come from the behaviour of the river itself. Padma is notorious for its riverbank erosion. Satellite data and geographical studies over the last few decades show that the Padma constantly remodels its bed.
As Bhagiratha leads Ganga through the western part of Bengal, several specific rivers are mentioned which exist even today.
- The Bhairav River: Bhairav is classified as a distributary of the Ganga; it is a branch that takes water away from the main river rather than feeding into it. This river originates in the Murshidabad district of West Bengal, India. It traditionally branches off from the Ganga and flows into present-day Bangladesh.
- The Ajay-Ganga Confluence (Sankhadhwani): Ajay (meaning the invincible) is a river which originates in present-day Bihar. It flows in to Bengal and in a place which is called Katwa today. This place lies in the East Burdwan district. This was the place where Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa and renounced his life of a householder.
- Nadiya (Nadia): The text talks about Ganga resting in Nadia. It is at this place that Ganga gives rise to three distributaries – Bhagirathi, Jalangi and Churni rivers. The distributaries form alluvial islands (nine of them) from which the name Nabadwipa / Navadwipa (nine islands) comes. There are two distinct rivers with the same name – Bhagirathi. One is the river Bhagirathi, which starts its journey from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. The river gets its name from Bhagiratha. The second Bhagirathi is the one in Nadia district, which cuts through the land, forming Nabadwipa.
- Before I talk about Ganga’s southwards journey, I want to talk about river Hooghly, the name of Ganga near the city of Kolkata. Ganga, geographically, does not flow into the Bay of Bengal as a single stream. It branches into Padma, which flows into Bangladesh and Bhagirathi which flows through present-day West Bengal. While the upper part of the river is called Bhagirathi, the southern part gets the name Hooghly. There are some theories about the name Some say the Portuguese established a town called Hoghli, which later got the name Hooghly, and the river flowing there got the name. Another theory says that the banks of the river in this area were covered with a specific type of reed called Hogla and from that, came the name Hooghly.
There are some more places that are mentioned by Krittibas in his work.
- Saptagram: Historically, Saptagram (Satgaon) was an important town in Bengal, before the rise of Kolkata. It was located in the modern Hooghly district and was a centre of trade. This is a place where Ganga is joined by two rivers. These are Saraswati and Jamuna. While they have same or similar names, they are different rivers. Saraswati is a south west flowing river and Jamuna, a south-east flowing river. This is located near present-day town called Bandel. It was considered the Triveni of the east. Later the rivers shifted tracks and while Bhagirathi exists and flows today, while the rivers Saraswati and Jamuna are like canals.
- Akna and Mahesh: The river then passes Akna and Mahesh. Mahesh (near Serampore) is famous for its Jagannath temple and the Ratha Yatra festival. Akna is located close to Mahesh. Both are on the western bank of the river. Akna at one point was a centre for producing superior quality textiles.
- Bihorod: In the inscription of King Lakshmana Sena (11th / 12th century), this region on the western bank of the river was referred to as Vetadda. The name gradually morphed in local spoken dialects into Bihorod or Viharad. This later got further simplified and today, it goes by the name of Betore.
- Coming close to the sea, the river breaks into countless distributaries, and estuaries as it joins the Bay of Bengal. This delta is the largest delta on earth. Situated at the westernmost edge of this delta is an island which is called Sagar Island or Gangasagar. The island is completely surrounded by water: the Hooghly River flows along its western border, the Muriganga River (a distributary of Hooghly) along its eastern side, and the sea on the south. This is supposed to be the place where rishi Kapil is said to have his ashrama.
Influence of Vaishnavism in the Ramayana of Krittibas
There is a specific point I wanted to raise here. Krittibas’s original manuscript is not available today. There are some handwritten manuscripts in institutions such as the University of Calcutta, Visva-Bharati, and the Krittibas Memorial Library in Fulia. However, the earliest of these is dated around 17th century, two centuries after Krittiibas. Over time, local episodes were added and updated.
About a century after Krittibas, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born. With the influence of Vaishnavism in Bengal then, the manuscripts were adapted to suit that.
By staging a halt for Ganga in Nabadwipa (where there is a geographical split of the river), the river pauses to pay homage to the land that would host Chaitanya. As mentioned earlier, Katwa (confluence of the rivers Ajay and Ganga) is the place where Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa. Mahesh hosts a prominent Ratha Yatra.
One important point to note is Krishna worship in Bengal has been there for centuries in Bengal even before Chaitanya Mahaprabhu made it famous. There have been plates found that date back to the 8th century, which talk about temples dedicated to avatars of Vishnu in north Bengal.
King Lakshmana Sena, in the 12th century, took the title Parama Vaishnava (the greatest devotee of Vishnu). His court poet was Jayadeva, who composed Gita Govinda. Lakshmana Sena made Nabadwip his secondary capital and residence due to its position on the Hooghly/Bhagirathi River and its position as a seat of learning.
The last sentence in the text, of Bhagiratha dancing with joy, shows the ecstasy he feels.
The Vaishnava influence in these texts elevates the devotion factor (Bhakti) and gives these texts (the Ramayana of Krittibas and Mahabharata of Kashidas) a unique character, taking them beyond a regular translation.
Presence in other texts
The broad theme is present in the Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda (Book 1), Chapters 43 and 44. In Valmiki’s works, Bhagiratha leads the way, Ganga following closely behind him. Ganga splits into multiple streams and on reaching the ashrama of Kapil, floods the place, liberating the sons of Sagara. Ganga then flows into the ocean, which gets the name Sagara and Ganga gets the name Bhagirathi.
The event like the cursing of river Padma is found in Devi Bhagavata Purana (Ninth Book, Chapter 7) which talks about the curses of Ganga, Sarasvati and Lakshmi).
The text takes the local geography and makes it relatable to the people of Bengal. These do not exist in any scriptural texts and exist as mentioned.
What I am sharing here is a summary of that.
| Location | Context |
|---|---|
| Land of the Gaura | Refers to Gaur or Gouda, the region encompassing parts of West Bengal and Bangladesh. |
| Bhairav River | A real distributary of the Ganga in the Delta region. |
| Confluence of Ajay & Ganga | This refers to Katwa (in the Purva (East) Burdwan district of West Bengal). |
| Nadia & Nabadwipa | Nabadwipa was a seat of Sanskrit learning and culture in Bengal (and shortly after Krittibas, it became the centre of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Bhakti movement). |
| Saptagram (Triveni) | Located in the Hooghly district. |
| Akna, Mahesh, Bihorod | These are real historical localities along the Hooghly riverbank. |
Some terms and their meanings
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Suradhuni | A specific name for the river Ganga, translating to "the river of the gods" or "heavenly river." |
| Indreshwar | A name of Shiva, the deity that Indra worshipped. |
| Meda | A ram or male sheep (used as draft animals for carts). |
| Nabadwipa | Nine islands |
| Kali | Short for Kali Yuga, the current age characterized by spiritual decline. |
| Sankhadhwani | The Sound of the Conch Shell |
| Saptagram | Seven Villages. |
| Triveni | Triple braid |
| Gangasagara | Literally, the place where Ganga meets the ocean. |
Conclusion
This was about this chapter of Ganga, but the story of Ganga and its liberating qualities are far from over. Next week, a story of a king who got liberation because of Ganga.
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