River Cauvery goes South

 

The Journey of Cauvery to the South

It was a time of great celebration. The entire universe was happy and rejoicing. What was the occasion? It was the wedding of Shiva and Parvati. The entire universe and all its inhabitants were going to the wedding. This resulted in an imbalance where the entire population from the South was going towards Kailash.

This meant that the entire the south of the Bharatavarsha were left unattended. Lord Shiva asked a few rishis and others to go down south and to take care of the affairs there. He called Sage Agasthya and told him also to go south and be there. Sage Agasthya was a little reluctant as there were no holy rivers in the south that were suitable for religious activities.

Sensing his hesitancy, Lord Shiva gave Sage Agasthya a little of the Ganga and told him to release it so that there is a holy river in the south not just for Sage Agasthya but for all the people who engage in austerities in south. Sage Agasthya collected the holy water in his kamandalu (water vessel).

While Sage Agasthya was a great devotee of Lord Shiva, he was a little hesitant to obey his command. Lord Shiva understood his hesitancy. He told Sage Agasthya “I know you are also eager to witness the wedding between Devi Parvati and me. Don’t worry. I will give you a boon. Wherever you are, you shall be able to witness the wedding.” Hearing this, Agasthya was relieved and happy and went on his journey south with his kamandalu.

(On the way, he met the Vindhya mountain and reduced its (https://bharatiyastories.blogspot.com/2024/03/agasthya-and-vindhyas.html) arrogance. Agasthya also met the feared Vilvala and Vatapi during his journey. These brothers were in the habit of killing brahmins by deceit. Sage Agasthya managed to trick the Asuras and killed both the brothers. Hearing the death of the brothers, the Kalakeyas got angry and kept attacking the brahmins and hiding in the ocean after that. Sage Agasthya drank the ocean, and facilitated the killings of these asuras also. (https://bharatiyastories.blogspot.com/2024/05/agasthya-drinks-up-ocean.html).)

After finishing his other adventures on the way, Sage Agasthya reached the Brahmagiri hills. He put down his kamandalu on the rocks. He was engrossed in the wedding celebrations of Lord Shiva and Devi Parvati. He forgot about the kamandalu and his duty of releasing the waters to create a holy river in the south.

Indra, the king of the devas was also hiding in the Brahmagiri region in fear of Asura Surapadhman at that time. Surapadhman was predicted to be killed by the son of Shiva. This was an eagerly awaited celestial event and Indra and the devas were doing Shivapuja daily praying for the same. Indra and the Devas used to do their prayers with local flowers but was finding it difficult due to the drought in the region.

One day, Narada happened to be passing through the region. He saw Indra and the Devas in hiding. He asked Indra what he was doing there. Indra replied “Sage, we had come here as we were unable to bear the torture of Asura Surapadhman. We are awaiting the birth of the son of Lord Shiva who is predicted to kill Surapadhman and restore our Devaloka to us. We were getting some peace by doing our daily ShivaPuja. Now even that is getting affected as the severe drought has wilted all the gardens here.”

Narada consoled Indra. He said “Don’t worry, Devaraja. The wedding of Shiva and Parvati has got completed. The divine birth of the son of Lord Shiva will happen at an appropriate time.”

Narada continued with a mischievous smile “As to your other problem of drought and flowers wilting, that can be solved immediately. Sage Agasthya is residing in the mountains in the South after coming with the sacred Ganges in his kamandalu. Lord Shiva has told him to bless the south with these waters that will flow into a divine river. But Sage Narada has been facing Kailash and has forgotten everything in his ecstasy of watching the divine wedding of Shiva and Parvati. He is in a deep meditation. The sacred water is in his kamandalu. If you can find a way for that water to be spilt, you will have fertility back in this region.”

Lord Indra was very happy to hear this. But he was scared to go near Sage Agasthya. He asked Narada for a way. Narada said “The water in the kamandalu will flow as the river Ponni or Cauvery. But first the kamandalau has to be tilted. You will incur the anger of Sage Agasthya if you do it. Get some help. Ask Lord Vinayaka to go to Brahmagiri and pour the water out of the kamandalu.”

Indra liked this idea better where he could solve the problem, without directly getting into trouble. He prayed to Lord Vinayaka. Vinayaka came in front of Indra and asked him why Indra remembered him. Indra told Lord Vinayaka everything and what Sage Narada had told him.

Vinayaka smiled and said “No problem. I will take care of this.” He then flew to the place where Agasthya was deep in meditation looking towards Kailash. Vinayaka took the form of a crow and kept flying around Sage Agasthya for some time. Eventually he went and sat on the kamandalu.

Sage Agasthya opened his eyes then. He was worried that the crow might dirty the holy water inside the vessel. Before he could shoo the crow, the crow flapped its wings and pushed its beak inside the opening of the kamandalu. The vessel lost its balance on the rocky surface and fell down and all the water started flowing out of the holy vessel. Ponni or Cauvery River was born giving life and nourishment to a large area in the south of the Bharatvarsha.

Sage Agasthya saw a boy running away from that place and suspected that some Asura had come as a crow and released the waters from his kamandalu. He chased after the boy who was none other than Lord Vinayaka. After giving chase for a long time, Sage Agasthya was tired. He sat down. Lord Vinayaka took pity on him and showed him his true form. Sage Agasthya prayed for forgiveness and blessings.

Lord Vinayaka while blessing Sage Agasthya said “You continue to live in the south and do your meditation. You will always be known as the person who brought river Cauvery to the south. As long as this river flows, you will be associated with her and you will be worshipped by all the people who benefit from her bounty. “

The place where the river Cauvery originates is called ThalaCauvery and is in the present day Karnataka state. The river travels a distance of 765 kilometres and merges into the Bay of Bengal near Poompuhar in Tamil Nadu.

The river and its tributaries form three islands during this long journey and in all the three islands there is a famous Ranganatha (Vishnu) temple. The island of Shivanasamudhra has the AdiRanga temple. The island of Srirangapatna has the Madya Ranga temple. The island of Srirangam has the AntyaRanga temple. The Srirangam temple is famous as the Bhuloka Vaikuntam (the divine abode of Vishnu on earth) and is a very important place for Hindus especially the Vaishanavites (those who believe Lord Vishnu as the primary God.).