Story of our sacred rivers - Graceful Godavari
It was monsoon time.
The spring, summer heat was still scorching the lands. Sage Gautama, his wife
Ahalya and the other inhabitants of the Gautama Ashram were looking for a
respite after a long and hot summer. They were hoping the monsoons will start
soon and provide the much needed water. Weeks and months passed. There was no
rain. They were reeling under one of the worst possible droughts that they had
seen in their memory.
Normally the sages
do not invoke the divine and the demi Gods unless it is essential. The long
drought was unbearable. Sage Gautama decided that this is one such time, where
he had to use his powers of tapasya for a greater cause. He invoked Varuna, the
God of the rain.
Varuna came in front
of the Sage in response to the invitation. Sage Gautama paid his respects to
the God of rain. Without any preamble he said “Why have you not graced us with
your presence? Can you not see that the plants, animals and humans are dying of
thirst? How long can this go on?”
Varuna bowed before
the Sage and said “Gautama, it is not my fault that the world is not getting
rain on time. I can only work as Indra ordains me to. For some reason he is
withholding the rains. I am helpless to do anything without his permission as
he is the King of the Devas.”
Gautama said “Can mother
Prithvi (earth) take pity on us and directly give us water from her hidden
resources?” Varuna replied, “Yes, she is kind and large hearted. She can give water
from underground if she chooses to.”
Soon, thanks to Sage
Gautama’s prayers and Varuna’s blessings, there appeared a huge lake that supplied
water. The lake was so big and bountiful that not only Sage Gautama and the
people in his ashram used it but the whole region started using it. As all the
other nearby places were dry, many people from other ashrams moved nearby.
Their herds also moved with them. In addition, the forest animals made use of
the water body to quench their thirst.
In a short while,
the whole place near Sage Gautama’s ashram was teeming with many people from
many tribes, there were cattle and other domestic animals moving about, women
chatting and children playing.
Gautama and his wife
Ahalya made sure that there was place for everyone to set up their huts and
they felt welcome. The couple loved the activity and buzz of their home now.
They felt like parents who have an extended family. The rains had still not
come but by now everyone got used to living off the lake. They made sure they
respected the lake and did not pollute or misuse the water of the lake.
Sage Ahalya said to
his wife “Water is so essential for all living things. I am happy we are able
to provide nourishment to so many. With some sharing, everyone can use the
resources.” His wife who had become fond of the people and the activity said “I
hope they all continue to stay here.”
After a few days, it
started raining. Lord Indra, the king of the Devas, was upset that despite him
withholding rain that people were happy in Sage Gautama’s ashram. He decided to
release the rains, so that things return to normal. Slowly with the rains, the
other regions that had dried up, began to flourish. Many of the other sages
left to their original places taking with them their families and herds. After
a few months, most of the people had left. The couple - Gautama and Ahalya – while sad to see people
moving out, understood their desire to go back to their villages and regions.
Only a small group
of hermits remained. They wanted to leave but were scared that being the last
ones, Gautama might get angry and curse them for leaving. One day they came up with
a plan. They devised a plan.
The next day,
Gautama saw a cow grazing his fields. He tried to shoo her away. She did not
budge. He took a blade of kusa grass and poked her. She dropped dead. Gautama
was shocked. The hermits came to Gautama and said “Being a brahmin, that too a
sage, how can you commit such a heinous crime. If we continue to stay here, we
will also be tainted.” Saying so, they hurriedly left.
Gautama was confused.
He knew for sure that he did not hurt the cow but was not able to understand
how she died. More than anything, he was upset that he committed this
unthinkable crime of killing a cow.
Sage Gautama decided
to ask Lord Shiva as to how he would make amends. Lord Shiva appeared before
the Sage. Gautama asked him “Lord, I seem to have committed an unpardonable
sin. I killed a cow. How do I make amends?”
Shiva smiled and gave
him a strand of his hair. He said “Take this Gautama. Place it next to the
animal and things will be alright.”
Gautama was not very convinced but he did not
want to disobey Shiva. He took the lock of hair which was wet and placed it
next to the cow. A small stream started flowing from the wet strand of hair.
Soon it started gushing and water from the stream touched the dead cow. To
Gautama’s surprise, the cow got up immediately. Gautama embraced the cow. The
cow said “I am only an illusion, Mayadhenu.”
Then the cow told
Sage Gautama how the hermits had cheated him so that they could leave. Gautama
was sad and angry. He cursed them to be born as cheats to herald the beginning of
KailYuga.
The Akanda Godavari splits into seven branches that are called the Saptarishis – Tulya, Atreyi, Bharadvaja, Gautami, Vrittagautami, Kausika, Vasista – and then joins the ocean.
tulyātreyī
bharadvāja gautamī vṛddhagautamī
kauśikīca vaśiṣṭhaaca tathā sāgaraṃ gataḥ
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