This particularly context is one of the most dramatic scenes of the grand epic of the Mahabharat.
Queen Ganga drowning her own newborn son into the waters of the Ganges river of which she is the personifying deity.
The concise story is that the celestial river Ganga has been cursed to take birth as a human being on earth. Simultaneously the Vasus, who were great yogis enriched with countless years of penances, incurred a similar curse. As the river goddess and the Vasus were sharing with each other about their common plight while still in their heavenly abode, both parties devised a plan of action. More details in the sections below.
In the meantime, we can ponder upon how Karma, or so-called destiny, is so mysterious and intricate!!
What we go through at any given time in our life is the result of our past actions and desires, from this life and the previous ones.
Goddess Ganga cursed!
After the Ganges personified was cursed by Lord Brahma to leave the heavens and be born as a human, she met the Vasus. They are the 8 demigods in control of the elements ie. 5 earthly elements as well as the sun, moon & stars.
These Vasus appeared to be in a very dejected mood. When Ganga inquired about the cause of their moroseness, the Vasus replied,
“We were cursed by the great Sage Vasishtha to be born on the Earth. O Ganga Devi, we are horrified at the thought of having to appear from the womb of an ordinary human being. Please be kind upon us and assume the form of a human female, so that you can beget us as your children.”
The Vasus then requested,“Ganga, as soon as we are delivered from your womb, please throw us into your water so that we will not have to suffer on Earth for very long.”
Ganga replied, “I will drown seven of you, since that is your desire. However, one of my sons must live a long life, so that the sexual union that I have with my husband may not prove to be entirely futile.”
(Adapted from the Mahabharat retold by Purnaprajna Prabhu)
Bhishma is therefore that one Vasu who wasn’t drowned and who lived a long life.
The birth of Bhishma
When Maharaja Shantanu asked Ganga to become his wife, she remembered her promise to the Vasus (see the post on •The origins of Bhishma•. Ganga Devi said, “I am willing to marry you, provided you agree to fulfill my conditions: You must never interfere with whatever I do, whether it is agreeable or disagreeable, nor should you ever address me unkindly. Indeed, if you ever speak to me reproachfully, I will leave you at once.”
Having become completely under the sway of Ganga’s celestial beauty, Maharaja Shantanu agreed to her demands, without giving the matter proper consideration, or even knowing her actual identity.
Thereafter, the newly wedded couple began to enjoy life with great pleasure. In fact, Maharaja Shantanu was so enraptured by his wife’s feminine charm that he could not even discern how time was passing. As a result of his conjugal engagement, Maharaja Shantanu begot seven sons, one after the other. However, each time, Ganga threw the newborn baby into the river while saying, “This is for your good, my little child.”
Although Maharaja Shantanu certainly became very disturbed each time Ganga drowned their newborn son, he dared not object. Remembering his promise to her at the time of his marriage, the King remained silent, fearing that his wife would leave him. However, when Ganga was about to drown their eighth son, Maharaja Shantanu could not restrain his anger and so he exclaimed,
“Hard-hearted woman! Desist from this cruel act!”Hearing this, Ganga spared the child but said, “O King, I am the celestial goddess, Ganga, and the children that we conceived are the eight Vasus, who had been cursed to suffer human births. Your reproachful words have also freed me from a curse and so I shall now return to heaven.”
(Adapted from the Mahabharat retold by Purnaprajna Prabhu)
Thereafter, Ganga took little Bhishma (then named Devavrat) with her and later returned him to his father after having been trained by the best of teachers on the heavenly planets.
Here, as Ganga Devi goes to drop her baby into her own waters, she stays focused on the bigger picture and the ultimate reason behind her seemingly horrendous act. How else could a mother kill her own child!
I wanted to depict the celestial beauty with a sterile, almost expressionless but still delicate face. Airbrushes in my opinion render that feeling of glamour yet hollowness…if that makes sense?!
As for the baby, it is said that from the time he was born, his mother Ganga took him straight out of the nursery and walked towards the Ganges river. So I pictured him still coated with the waxy uterine fluids. At the same time, due to his previous life of austerities, there is that glow emanating from underneath his skin.
All in all, it would be quite a peculiar sight which I tried to represent through this particular choice of style and brushes.
Here’s a little animation that I did on my Instagram account using the Northern Lights and the ‘Show Yourself’ song from Frozen 2 as the background:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CQPzj27hEdV/?utm_medium=copy_link