Week 7: Drown Them
This story is about King Shantanu's first wife, Ganges. Although King Shantanu did not know his wife was a goddess of the Ganges River when he first met her, he soon finds out.
One day, Vasus interrupted a brahmin's, Vashishtha, meditation. Vashishtha got angry and cursed Vasus. The curse was for Vasus to be mortal. Therefore, Vasus came to Ganga to help them. She said that she could would be their mother and kill them immediately so they could go back to being a celestial. I guess being a mortal for one lifetime is so bad they would like to die a quick death.
King Shantanu is walking near the Ganges River when he sees a beautiful woman. That woman was Ganga in her mortal form. It was love at first sight for King Shantanu. This man was forward. He asked for her to marry him immediately. Ganga agreed to marry him, but on the condition that he would not be mean to her. If he was, she would leave immediately. And so, the couple got married. They even had children. But as Ganga promised Vasus, she threw her children into the Ganges River so that Vasus could return to their celestial state. She did this seven times. King Shantanu did not know why she was drowning their children. He also did not dare say anything to her because he knew he would lose her. However, when he saw that Ganga was about to do the same thing with their eighth baby it was the last straw. He blew up on her. As Ganga promised, she left King Shantanu. However, before she left she told King Shantanu who she really was and why she drowned their children in the Ganges River. She left with the eighth child.
Later, Ganga brought their child, Devarata/Bhishma, to King Shantanu. Because of the promise made between Ganga and Vasus Devaratha had their power. Devaratha/Bhishma lived among the mortals, never married or had children.
Authors Note: This is the story King Shantanu and Ganga by Donald A. Mackenzie. King Shantanu fell in love with Ganga. Ganga is actually the goddess of the Ganges River. King Shantanu did not know this because when they met Ganga was in her human form. She agreed to be his as long as King Shantanu did not speak harshly towards her. Whenever Ganga and King Shantanu had children she would drown them in the Ganges River. She did this seven times. By the eight time, King Shantanu had enough and went off on Ganga. She left him and revealed that she was the goddess of the Ganges River. I thought this story was interesting so I just kept the story the same. I just retold it.
One day, Vasus interrupted a brahmin's, Vashishtha, meditation. Vashishtha got angry and cursed Vasus. The curse was for Vasus to be mortal. Therefore, Vasus came to Ganga to help them. She said that she could would be their mother and kill them immediately so they could go back to being a celestial. I guess being a mortal for one lifetime is so bad they would like to die a quick death.
King Shantanu is walking near the Ganges River when he sees a beautiful woman. That woman was Ganga in her mortal form. It was love at first sight for King Shantanu. This man was forward. He asked for her to marry him immediately. Ganga agreed to marry him, but on the condition that he would not be mean to her. If he was, she would leave immediately. And so, the couple got married. They even had children. But as Ganga promised Vasus, she threw her children into the Ganges River so that Vasus could return to their celestial state. She did this seven times. King Shantanu did not know why she was drowning their children. He also did not dare say anything to her because he knew he would lose her. However, when he saw that Ganga was about to do the same thing with their eighth baby it was the last straw. He blew up on her. As Ganga promised, she left King Shantanu. However, before she left she told King Shantanu who she really was and why she drowned their children in the Ganges River. She left with the eighth child.
Later, Ganga brought their child, Devarata/Bhishma, to King Shantanu. Because of the promise made between Ganga and Vasus Devaratha had their power. Devaratha/Bhishma lived among the mortals, never married or had children.
Authors Note: This is the story King Shantanu and Ganga by Donald A. Mackenzie. King Shantanu fell in love with Ganga. Ganga is actually the goddess of the Ganges River. King Shantanu did not know this because when they met Ganga was in her human form. She agreed to be his as long as King Shantanu did not speak harshly towards her. Whenever Ganga and King Shantanu had children she would drown them in the Ganges River. She did this seven times. By the eight time, King Shantanu had enough and went off on Ganga. She left him and revealed that she was the goddess of the Ganges River. I thought this story was interesting so I just kept the story the same. I just retold it.
(Picture of Ganga, Devarata/Bhishma, and King Shantanu Wiki)
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Hi~
ReplyDeleteI respect your decision to keep it simple and stay close to the original story. Sometimes just changing it up a little can help you better understand what is going on.
The second paragraph was a bit confusing to me. Maybe you could add some details to clear up Vasus and the curse. Also, I felt like something was missing between Ganga leaving and returning. If there's nothing in the original that should go there, you could put in what you think was happening. Overall, nice work!
Thanks for the reminder of this story. It was one of the strangest stories I've read, maybe ever. Can you imagine? You fall in love with this stranger, and she agrees to marry you but has you swear to not contradict anything she does. That's already a huge red flag to the start of a toxic relationship. Then, when you have kids, the consummation of your love to another person, she goes and drowns them. SEVEN times.
ReplyDeleteTo make your story stand out from the original, maybe include some dialogue or insight into what they were thinking. Maybe Ganga was really reluctant to drown her own children, and was just waiting for Shantanu to say something so she could have an excuse to save one?
Hey Joanna!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one who chose to write about this story too haha! I thought it was strange and a little disturbing, but it definitely caught my attention. If you were looking to make this different from the original, I think as the others noted it can help to add your own elements to the story such as dialogue or even describing details like the scenery or things you thought the characters might be feeling or thinking. Even if you're not looking to change it, perhaps you could also elaborate on why Bhishma was the only one who wasn't drowned and why as you said that all her children needed to be drowned but didn't really talk about why Bhishma was special.
Hi Joanna!
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to be able to read this part of the story again. I really thought it was weird that she had such odd conditions for her marriage, but I did find it impressive that King Shantanu was able to hold his tongue for the drowning of seven of his children. I wonder why Ganga did not just tell him the truth from the beginning and waited till the end?