The Myth of a River Part 1

There is a legend in India, not a very well-known one, woven around a river called Narmada: a river which has its origin at a place called Amar Kantaka in Central India. Most rivers in India have mysterious origins and as they flow down and enrich the soil on their banks, they merge with the lives of the people living around on their banks. Countless number of generations have watched them in awe and bowed down before the mystery of life which we call ‘river’. They give a life and a meaning to rivers in the legends and myths which they weave around them.

Narmada is an implacable, angry river. But to see her in the full-moon light when people dedicate little lamp-lights to her waters is incredibly beautiful. Endless treacle of small lights gives up to the silent river and flows with the current. The lights of the little lamps as they flow into the expanse of the waters flicker, tremble, as they are carried away by the river. The moon does not seem to take gently or kindly to them. The moon-beams seem to come down heavily on them. The lamp-lights get dimmer as they move up, unable to compete with the luminous moon-beams; they flicker and disappear on the expanse of the river. Far away, where the river bends, the moonlight is enchanting. It is remote and silent. Here, right in front of you, the expanse of the river is beautiful, the moonlight is beautiful, and everything is beautiful in itself. But there, where the river bends, life seems mysterious. The moon alone reigns there.

The legend of Narmada has lived in the minds of the peasants with an archetypal reality. It goes like this: Narmada: the present river was once upon a time, a princess, the only child of a king called Amar Kantaka who is now recognized as the place where the river Narmada originates. Her father had wanted to give her away in marriage to a powerful prince ruling on the other side of his kingdom, who was known as Shona. Today, Shona is the name of the male river which flows down from the opposite side of Narmada. In India the rivers which resemble the sea in their expanse are called male rivers. Shona is one such male river. Unfortunately, Amar Kantaka did not live to see his daughter get married to the prince of his choice. He died a little before the day on which the marriage was scheduled to take place. The mantle of kingdom fell on the shoulders of the young princess. She took up the rein as the new queen and thereafter she had no time to look up from her duties and responsibilities. She was just and fair to all and kind-hearted as a mother to all her people. But the responsibilities were weighing her down.