THE NINTH BOOK
Chapter XIV
On the story of Gangâ becoming the wife of Nârâya n a
1-2. Nârada said :— O Lord! Gangâ, Lak s mî, Sarasvatî, and the world purifying Tulasî, these four, are dearest to Nârâya n a. Out of these, Gangâ went from the region of Goloka to Vaiku nt ha. So I have heard. But how did She come to be the wife of Nârâya n a. I have not heard. Kindly describe this.
- Nârâya n a said :— Brahmâ came from Goloka to the region of Vaiku nt ha accompanied by Gangâ.
4-23. Brahmâ said to Nârâya n a :— O Lord! Gangâ, born of the bodies of Râdhâ and Kri sn a, full of youth, modest, extraordinarily beautiful, of pure Suddha Sattva, and void of anger and egoism, does not like to marry anyone save Thee as She is born of Thee. But Râdhâ is of a very proud nature and very wrathful. She was even ready to drink up Gangâ. But Gangâ at once and intelligently took refuge into the feet of S’rî Kri sn a. So the whole Goloka became void of water. Seeing this, I have come here to know in particular the whole history of the case. Then S’rî Kri sn a, the Knower and the Ruler of the hearts of all, came to know my heart and instantly caused Gangâ to issue from His toe and handed Her over to me. I bowed down to S’rî Kri sn a and now I have come with Gangâ to Thee. Now Thou dost marry the Sures’varî Gangâ according to the Gândharva rule of marriage. As Thou art a Deva of taste and humorous in the assembly of the Devas, so Gangâ is. As Thou art a gem amongst the males, so She is the gem amongst the females. And the union of a humorous man with a humorous woman is exceedingly pleasant. Now marry this Lady who has come of Her own
accord to Thee. S’rî Mahâ Lak s mî becomes annoyed with one who does not marry a woman who has come spontaneously. There is no doubt in this. The wise men do never insult the Prak r iti. All the Puru s as (males) are born of Prak r iti and all the females are parts of Prak r iti. So Prak r iti and Puru s a are both inseparable and verily one and the same. So these two should never insult each other. (If Thou sayest that Gangâ is attached to Kri sn a; how canst Thou marry Her. The reply is) As S’rî Kri sn a is beyond the attributes and beyond Prak r iti, so Thou art also above Prak r iti. The one-half of S’rî Kri sn a is two-armed; the other half of S’rî Kri sn a is four-armed. Râdhâ has appeared from the left side of S’rî Kri sn a. He Himself is the right half and Padmâ is His left-half. As there is no difference between Râdhâ and Kamalâ so there is no difference between S’rî Kri sn a and Thee. Therefore as Gangâ is born of Thy body, she wants to marry Thee. As Prak r iti and Puru s a are really one and the same without any difference, so the males and females are one. Thus speaking to Nârâya n a, Brahmâ handed Gangâ over to Nârâya n a and went away. Nârâya n a, then, married Gangâ smeared with sandal paste and flowers, according to the rules of the Gandarbha marriage. The Lord of Lak s mî then spent his time happily in enjoyment with Gangâ. Gangâ had to go to the earth (under the Bhârati’s curse) and afterwards returned to Vaiku nt ha. As Gangâ appeared from the feet of Vi sn u, She is denominated Vis nu padî. Gangâ Devî was very much overpowered with enjoyment in Her first intercourse with Nârâya n a; so much so that She remained motionless. Thus Gangâ spent the days happily with Nârâya n a. Sarasvatî’s jealousy towards Gangâ did not disappear, though She was advised by Lak s mî Devî not to do so. Sarasvatî cherished incessantly the feeling of jealousy towards Gangâ. But Gangâ had not the least feeling of jealousy towards Sarasvatî.
At last, one day, when vexed too much, Gangâ became angry and cursed Sarasvatî to take Her birth in Bhârata. So Lak s mî, Sarasvatî and Gangâ were the wives of Nârâya n a. Lastly Tulasî became the wife of Nârâya n a. So the number of wives of Nârâya n a amounted to four.
Here ends the Fourteenth Chapter in the Ninth Book on the story of Gangâ becoming the wife of Nârâya n a in the Mahâpura n am S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam of 18,000 verses by Mahar s i Veda Vyâsa.