Loka- Maata: Knowing the riverine civilisation of India
Ilove water perhaps because I was born under the sign of “Kumbha” Rashi, Kumbha meaning pitcher of water. It is one of the 12 symbols and names in one’s horoscope. Ever since my father carried me on his back as he swam in Fairy Pool in Panchmarhi ( Madhya Pradesh) when I was just four years old, I loved that feel of cool water and refused to get off his back at the end of a full hour! Then I graduated to an inflated rubber tyre on which I sat like a water-nymph steering my water-chariot with arms flailing in water. By the age of 12, I learnt swimming in Bombay where I was born and educated.
I have been greatly fascinated by water, the primal element in creation. It is at once inviting yet challenging. It can feel like velvet or a knife, translucent like the moon, shining like a mirror and suddenly dark and foreboding, heavy with secret of creation. I have swum in flowing rivers, lakes, under waterfalls and oceans. Some of my memorable trysts with water are: white- water rafting on Ganga when I, on sudden impulse, jumped off the raft in the swiftly flowing Ganga from long way above Rishikesh and to the dismay of my co- rafters disappeared from sight! I let myself be taken in by the Ganga, becoming one with the flow and chanting Shlokas to propitiate her. I floated right upto Lakshman- Jhoola to the amazed and amused shouts of bystanders! I berthed on sandy banks and slowly stood up to my own wonderment. Swimming in Narmada at Maheshwar and Omkareshwar, in Kaveri at Srirangapatnam in Tamil Nadu, in Krishna near Jamkhandi in North Karnataka and Tungabhadra near Hampi, in Yamuna at Varindavan, Pindari Ganga at Karna-Prayag and of course in the Sangam at Prayag and in any number of smaller streams.
My oceanic experiences include swimming in the Atlantic in 14 degree centigrade temperature at Ogunquit ( Mass., USA), West Coast USA in the Pacific, also in Indian Ocean at Kanya Kumari and Bay of Bengal at Puri and Konark, Arabian Sea ( remember I am a Bombay girl) also at Kovalam and Goa and North Sea ( icy cold) on North shore of Belgium! Of course one of the most wonderful swim was in the Adriatic Sea at Dubrovnik in erstwhile Yugoslavia. Of the many lakes the most noteworthy and frightening was Lake Michigan at Chicago. I enjoyed a swim in perfectly salubrious waters while on a picnic with the Indian Consul- General and his family. A fortnight later when I went back for yet another recital at the National Public Library, I insisted on similar outing the following morning. It was early afternoon and the Sun was shining. As they set out the picnic things and sat back chatting I ran into water and swam out humming a smart tune, feeling like a mermaid. Within moments I felt under- currents pulling me further out. Water underneath was icy cold and currents strongly gripping my limbs. I tried to look back, shout: nothing happened. Providentially, I was swept close to those thick wooden logs, which indicated the limit after which lake Michigan was free to swallow you. I held on to one with all the strength I could muster embracing with both arms as I would a lover. After few seconds of reprieve and deep breathing and with determination not to drown I swam back with strong strokes to the security of terra firms. Friends had no inkling of my plight. They were happy to recount my swimming prowess to others because I didn’t open my mouth till much later. After all one should not puncture certain illusions, especially when the reference point is you!
Why are rivers called Lokmaata in India begs our serious attention, specially now as great rivers of India are drying up or almost beyond redemption. We have many synonyms for ‘ Nadi’ i. e. river in Sanskrit. Some of them are Sarita ( that which glides), Salila ( full of water), Tarangini ( wavy), Samudra- Kanta ( beloved of the Ocean) Hridini, Srotasvati, Dweepawati, Nimnaga, Saagargamini Nirjharini etc. The AmarKosha has many more synonyms each of which demonstrates river’s loveable character.
Ganga, the ‘ holiest’ of rivers literally means that which flows, goes, continues. In that sense every river in Ganga. Origin of river is also treated as sacred points where people offer worship and thanksgiving. In my dance repertory are many compositions on rivers of India and their mythological sacred narratives. Legend about Ganga is well known; that to revive the world order and release the curse on those 100 arrogant princes burnt to ashes for having mocked and insulted a great Rishi ( saint), the successor on the throne Bhagirath had to perform long penance to please the celestial river and request her to descend on earth to allow life to flourish again. Ganga accepted the request but cautioned the king to prepare adequately strong base to contain her torrential waters which would otherwise demolish everything on earth and flow into netherworld. So Bhagirath engaged in penance to please Shiva who accepted the challenge. As the waters whooshed down Shiva opened up his long matted hair and stood firmly to receive the descent of Ganga. As she fell on his head he quickly tied up his locks thus containing waters and allowing them to flow out gradually and gracefully. Symbolism of the legend is so obvious yet we have become totally oblivious to the import, the message. Shiva’s long matted hair represents dense forests of the Himalayas or any mountain, hill, plateau from which water flows down. If the forests are decimated as we see today water simply gushes out without any check and balance, playing havoc with everything in their way. The firmly planted feet of Shiva point towards firmness of resolve to save earth from disastrous floods and all the concomitant problems.
Now let us turn our attention to the honour accorded to rivers by calling them Loka- Maata. Maata is Mother. Loka means ‘ world’ or ‘ people’. River is Mother to everyone. Her waters nourish agriculture, forests and satiate collective thirst. Flow of cool water indicates flow of life from birth to death. Just as river journeys from her birthplace to submergence in ocean and finds new form as vapour to fill rain- bearing clouds with water which release rain to again fill waterbodies to allow undiminished flow of rivers to nourish earth and people our life merges with the all- pervasive Energy and gets transformed into new forms and shapes to keep the world order going. Great civilisations grew and prospered on banks of rivers like the Nile, Euphrates and Tigris, Ganga- Yamuna- SindhuKaveri- Godavari- Narmada in India. How can we not remind ourselves of Saraswati, which disappeared underground after nourishing civilisations like Harappa, Mohen- jodaero, Dholavira, Lothal etc.
In my next article I will recount some of the wellknown myths, legends and stories about our rivers. If we refuse to hear the voice of our Mother, Loka- Maata in the vivifying cool waters of the rivers, we will suffer further miseries and misfortunes as we are witness to in present times. We have been totally insensitive and disrespectful to our rivers. We have taken them for granted. We have exploited them shamelessly. Yet the Loka- Maatas have forgiven us time and again. They may not pardon us endlessly.