Shantanu: Law of Karma

A king called Mahabhisha was granted entry into Swarga. There he enjoyed the dance of the Apsaras and the music of the Gandharvas in the company of the Devas. He was allowed to drink Sura, the drink which fills one with joy. He was even given access to the tree called Kalpataru, to the cow called Kamadhenu and to the gem called Chintamani, each of which had the power to fulfil any wish and grant every desire. One day, the river-nymph Ganga paid a visit to Indra’s sabha. While she was there, a gentle breeze caused her upper garment to fall exposing her breasts. The assembled Devas lowered their eyes out of respect but Mahabhisha, spellbound by Ganga’s beauty, kept staring unashamedly. This display of unbridled passion so angered Indra that he cursed Mahabhisha to return to the earth.

Ganga who had enjoyed Mahabhisha’s shameless attention was also instructed by Indra to leave Amravati and return only after breaking Mahabhisha’s heart. Mahabhisha was reborn as Pratipa’s son Shantanu in the city of Hastina-puri. Pratipa, a descendant of Puru, renounced the world as soon as he felt his children were old enough to rule the kingdom in his stead. The crown should have gone to his eldest son, Devapi, but Devapi had a skin disease, and the law clearly stated that a man with a physical defect could not be king. So Shantanu, the younger son, became king instead. Devapi chose to become a mendicant, refusing to live in Shantanu’s shadow. One day, while Pratipa was meditating on a river bank, Ganga came and sat on his right lap. ‘Beautiful woman, you sit on my right lap. Had you sat on my left, it would mean you want to be my wife. That you sit on my right means you wish to be my daughter. What is it that you desire?’ ‘I want to marry your son, Shantanu,’ said Ganga. ‘So it will be,’ said Pratipa. A few days later when Shantanu came to pay his respects to his father on the river bank, Pratipa told him, ‘One day a beautiful woman called Ganga will approach you and wish to be your wife. Fulfil her desire. That is my wish.’ Shortly thereafter, Shantanu saw Ganga gliding on a dolphin. He fell in love with her instantly. ‘Be my wife,’ he said. ‘I will,’ said Ganga, ‘provided you promise never to question my actions.’ Driven both by lust and his promise to his father, Shantanu agreed and Ganga followed him home. Soon, Ganga gave birth to Shantanu’s first son. But there was little to cheer for as soon as the child slipped out of her womb, Ganga took the newborn to the river and drowned him. Though horrified by her action, Shantanu said nothing. He did not want to lose his beautiful wife. A year later, Ganga gave birth to Shantanu’s second son. She drowned him too. Even this time Shantanu did not voice his protest. In this way Ganga gave birth to, and drowned, seven children. Each time Shantanu said nothing.

But when Ganga was about to drown Shantanu’s eighth child, Shantanu cried, ‘Stop, you pitiless woman. Let him live.’ Ganga stopped and smiled. ‘Husband, you have broken your word,’ she said, ‘So it is time for me to leave you as Urvashi once left Pururava. The children who I killed were seven of the eight gods known as Vasus who were cursed to be reborn as mortals for the crime of stealing Vasishtha’s cow. On their request, I became their mother and tried to keep their stay on earth as brief as possible to spare them the misery of earthly existence. But alas, I could not save the last one. This eighth Vasu, who you have saved, Shantanu, will live. But a terrible life it shall be! Though man, he will neither marry nor inherit your throne. He will have no family, yet will be obliged to live as a householder. And finally, he will die a death of shame at the hands of a man who will actually be a woman.’

‘It will not be so, I will not let that happen,’ Shantanu argued passionately. ‘I shall take your son and raise him as a perfect warrior. He shall be trained by the martial sage, Parashurama. I shall send him to you when he is ready to marry and be king. Then we shall see.’ So saying Ganga disappeared with her son leaving Shantanu all alone.

Footnotes:

• The Mahabharata gives great importance to the law of karma. According to this law, nothing in this world is spontaneous. Everything is a reaction to the past. Shantanu falls in love with Ganga and has his heart broken because of events in his past life. Ganga kills her own children because of events in their past life. By interfering with the course of karma, as Shantanu does when he stops Ganga from killing his eighth son, one ends up causing more harm than good. The epic constantly reminds us that what is apparently a good deed need not really be a good deed, for every moment is governed by factors that are often beyond human comprehension. 

• The eight Vasus are ancient Vedic deities associated with the elements. For the paap of stealing Vasishtha’s cow, they had to be reborn as mortals. The leader of the eight, Prabhas, who stole it for his wife, suffers more than the other seven and lives a longer and more miserable life as Devavrata. 

• Vyasa draws attention to the dangers of lust and blind obedience to the father when Shantanu agrees to the conditions laid down by Ganga. At the root of all human tragedy is human folly.