Indian Antiquary Vol 50

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 76

66
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
( MARCH, 1921
always a spill channel, through which the superfluous waters of the Ganges were taken off at the time of some high flood or inundation. There cannot be the slightest doubt that the main stream of the Ganges originally passed through the Bhagirathi channel. I should here observe that the Ganges takes a turn to the south under the name of Bhagirathi which after its junction with the Jellinghi and Matâbhaugâ takes the name of the Hugli till it falls into the seu at Gaiga-sågara.
The name of Padmavati or Padmâ, the moderr. Paddâ, is not even mentioned in the Rámáyaņa, Mahabharata, or the eighteen . Maha-Puranas excepting the Brahmavaivartta
Purana which is admitted by eminent writers to be of recent date. Pauranic account of Padma.
perhaps composed in the 15th century. One Upa-Purána, namely
the Devi Bhagavata mentions the name of Padmavati, and both these Puruņas give some account of the quarrel which took place among the three consorts of Nardyana, namely Gangá, Sarasvati and Padmavari (Lakshmi). The Devi Bhagavata could not have been composed earlier than the 15th century. Sarasvati, the goddess of speech. was once in a very great huff on finding Narayana more tenderly inclined towards Gaiga than to her : the storm burst in the form of a severe scolding upon the devoted head of her husband, who quietly fled from the chamber. Gaigà rebuked Sarasvati for her conduct. but the latter, unable to bear the words of a co-wife, was about to catch her by the hair. when Lakshmi (Padmavati) interfered. Sarasvati cursed Lakshmi and said that a portion of her would be the basil plant and the remaining portion would be a river. Thus Lakshmi became a river, Gaiga and Sarasvati cursed each other to be transformed into a river. The Brihad-Dharma Purana (an Upa-Purâna) gives a detailed account of the course of
the Ganges from the Himalaya to the ocean. 133 It is there related Brihad-DharmaPurana.
that after leaving Kâbi (Banares), Gangå (the river Ganges) flowed
towards the east and came to Jahnu's hermitage 134 which she flooded with her water; the Muni swallowed her up but let her out again through an incision in his thigh (Janu), and hence she became the daughter of Jahnu. After going some distance, Bhagiratha, who was leading the way with the sound of his conch-shell, gave some rest to his horses. In the meantime, Jahnu's daughter, Padmavati (Padda), wishing to see her sister Jahnavi (the Ganges), sounded the conch : on hearing the sound, Gangå went some distance towards the south-east (Agni-Kona). Seeing her going astray, Bhagiratha loudly sounded his conch. Gai gà on hearing the sound roae up from the water : she saw the king and became enraged with Padmavati, and on account of her anger, Padmavati' was turned into a river, which flowing to the east joined the Ocean. Gangå also narrowed her dimensions, turned towards the south, and disuniting herself from Yamuna (near Triveni in the district of Hugli), went to the sea near Kapila's hermitage.135 It will be remarkedthat according to the Purdņas also, the Ganges never flowed through the bannel of the Paddâ, but took & southernly course. Krittiväsa in his Ramayana 136 which was written in the 15th century A.D., gives the same story with some additions and alterations. He states that after giving salvation to Kândara Muni, Gangå came near Gauda (Gaur). An ascetic named Padma was
193 Bihad-Dharmma Purána, Purva kh., ch. 6; Madhya kh., ch. 22. 18 This is the fourth Jahnu at Sultanganj in the district of Bhagalpur. 118 Brihad-Dharmma Purda, Madhya kh., ch. 22, vs. 37, 38
Padmavati devi vistirna-sallâ punaḥ Pärva-mukham yayan parvam Samudramapi sangata Gangátu velâm samkshipya gantum samoupachakrame Babhůva dakahipa-srotah buddh Adhva-nika tadiva. 38.
136 Adi Kanda.