Narmada: Life-nourishing, Sacred, and Enchanting

Narmada: 

Life-nourishing, Sacred, and Enchanting

Narmada Jayanti

Narmada Jayanti, observed on Māgha Shukla Saptami, commemorates the divine manifestation of the river Narmada, revered as a living goddess. Her origin story is narrated in the puranas. Lord Shiva was engaged in deep meditation, sweat formed on his forehead from the intense tapas (literally ‘heat’), wherefrom emerged a celestial beauty. She was Shankari, Shiva’s daughter. Shiva blessed her to turn into a holy river to nourish and sustain life on earth. She became Reva* - pure, luminous, and life-giving.

Celebrated with sacred bathing, lamp offerings, and hymns along her banks—at Amarkantak, Jabalpur, Narmadapuram, Omkareshwar, and Maheshwar—Narmada Jayanti affirms the river’s unique place in India’s spiritual ecology: not merely as a physical stream, but as a sustaining, sacred presence woven into the land and its people.

Sacred Narmada

Narmada is one of the seven holy rivers invoked in the popular pratah smarana mantra to bless the water before a devotee’s morning snan – cleansing, purifying bath.

Only Narmada, and no other river, is honoured with parikrama (circumambulation).

A popular Sanskrit verse asserts that while Ganga purifies by bathing and Saraswati by remembrance, Narmada grants liberation by mere sight.

गङ्गा स्नानेन शुद्धिः स्यात्
सरस्वत्या स्मृतेः फलम् ।
नर्मदा दर्शनादेव
सर्वपापक्षयो भवेत् ॥

Adi Shankar walked all the way from his village Kaladi in Kerala to Omkareswar on Narmada to receive instructions from Guru Govindapada. He wrote his bhasyas on Vedanta including the major Upanishads here. Deeply moved by the sacred, soul-nourishing river, he composed Narmadastakam, a verse in eight eloquent stanzas, the second stanza of which is:

त्वदम्बुलीनदीनमीनदिव्यसम्प्रदायकं
कलौ मलौघभारहारिसर्वतीर्थनायकम् ।
सुमच्छकच्छनक्रचक्रवाकचक्रशर्मदे
त्वदीयपादपङ्कजं नमामि देवि नर्मदे ॥

O Devi Narmada, I bow down at your lotus feet; for you generously lend your divine touch to the fish, tortoises, crocodiles, geese, and chakravaka birds; for you remove the burden of sins in this age of Kali; for you are the foremost among all tirthas.

Enchanting Narmada

I recently read Soundarya ki Nadi Narmada by Amritlal Vegad, a slim book of 159 pages published by Madhya Pradesh Hindi Granth Academy in 1992 (1^st Ed). Soundaryani Nadi Narmada - the Gujarati edition of the book – won the Sahitya Akademi Award. The English version -Narmada: River of Beauty - is available at Amazon.

Is the book a travelogue, memoir of a pilgrim and his motley group, a spiritual odyssey, a paean to the majestic river, an artist’s impression of the many moods and changing hues of the river, or a chronicle of the life of simple rural folks on the banks of the river? Did the author complete the parikrama? Did he follow the traditional rituals for parikrama and subsist on alms? Did he undertake the strenuous and perilous padayatra of over 2600 kms - walking barefoot on the north bank from the source at Amarkantak to the sea at Gulf of Khambhat, crossing over to the southern bank and walking back to Amarkantak?

To figure that out, it’s best to read this book, and the subsequent books of the Narmada trilogy which he wrote after twenty-one years of padayatra in phases[i].

Here’s what the author says in his preface  -

“Why did I undertake this perilous journey? Sometimes I ask myself, and the self-same answer plays back: Had I not performed this yatra, my life would have been futile. One must do what one is born to do. And I am born to immerse myself in Narmada’s exquisite beauty by walking along its banks.”

No prayer or penitence for deliverance from sin, no yearning for moksha. Narmada beckoned, and the author surrendered to her irresistible charm. And thus begin the book:

“नर्मदा सौंदर्य की नदी है। यह नदी वनों, पहाड़ों और घाटियों में से बहती है। मैदान इसके हिस्से में कम ही आया है। सीधा-सपाट बहना तो यह जानती ही नहीं। यह चलती है इतराती, बलखाती वन-प्रांतरों में लुकती-छिपती, चट्टानों को तराशती, डग-डग पर सौंदर्य की सृष्टि करती, पग-पग पर सुषमा बिखेरती !”

(Painting by Amritlal Vegad)

What’s special about Amritlal Vegad’s Parikrama?

The author’s first parikrama was during 1977 to 1987 – 10 padayatras in 11 years. That was before any village was submerged under the Bargi Dam – the first of the several dam projects on Narmada. The route that the author traversed is no longer available to the parikramavasis. I’m glad to have captured in the pages of this book, writes the author, some of the beauty of this pristine river that would be lost for ever.

Narmada & Ganga

Ganga is no doubt India’s pre-eminent river, but Narmada is older than Ganga, writes the author.

“भारतीय संस्कृति गंगा की देन है। पर एक बात है-श्रेष्ठ गंगा है, लेकिन ज्येष्ठ नर्मदा है। जब गंगा नहीं थी, नर्मदा तब भी थी। आज जहाँ हिमालय है, गंगा-यमुना का मैदान है, सुदूर अतीत में वहाँ उथला समुद्र था। किसी भूकंप ने उस समुद्र को हिमालय और गंगा-यमुना के मैदान में बदल डाला, हालाँकि इसमें करोड़ों वर्ष लगे। गंगा से नर्मदा पुरानी नदी है और हिमालय से विन्ध्याचल-सतपुड़ा पुराने पहाड़ है।“

Geologically, Mekal range of mountains where Narmada emerges at Amarkantak is about 2 billion years old – older than even the Vidhya, and about 1.5 billion years older that the Himalayas. Narmada is, indeed, much older than Ganga. 

A Poignant Passage

For one of his padayatras, the author was short of funds, and he approached his wife, sang paeans to her customary charity before begging for her ring. Much amused, she chuckled and said, ‘So much drama for such a little thing!’ She happily gave her ring which the author pawned with a jeweller and got the required cash.

A Tribute

Padma Shri Vinayak Lohani has paid a wonderful tribute to Shri Amritlal Vegad, for which here is the link:

https://vinayaklohani.in/amritlal-vegad/

***

*Reva - Narmada's ancient name - derives from rav (Sanskrit) meaning sound, befitting for a river racing through mountains, creating several waterfalls and generating a tumultous roar, as it were.

Radhanath Ray: Chilika: Narmada description

After perusing this blog, an erudite reader recalled Radhanath Ray's memorable description of Narmada in his famous poem Chilika.

Here is a quick translation of the  referred lines by this blogger, followed by the Odia text for Odia readers. 

In the dreaded Vindhya wilderness,

At Dhuandhar,

Reva morphs into a hundred rivers, and

leaps with a fearsome roar,

Striking terror to the human heart.

Pure, pellucid, gracious is that cascade of waters,
like Ganga - sprung from Shiva’s matted locks,

To bless the three lokas.
From scattered spray, lit by the sun’s fierce glow,
there blooms the rainbow, Indra’s lovely bow.

I heard that thunderous, terrible roar;
Looked aloft and saw the waters dance their frenzied  tāṇḍava.

ଭ୍ରମିଲି ଭୀଷଣ ବିନ୍ଧ୍ୟାଦ୍ରିକାନ୍ତାର,

ଧୂଆଁଧାରେ ଯହିଁ ହୋଇ ଶତଧାର,

ଭୈରବ ଆରବେ ରେବା ଦେଇ ଲମ୍ଫ

ଜନମାଏ ଜନ-ମାନସେ ପ୍ରକମ୍ପ।

ଶ୍ରଭୁ ସ୍ଵଚ୍ଛ ପୟଃ-ପ୍ରପାତ-ସୁଭଗା

ହରଜଟାଭ୍ରଷ୍ଠା ଯଥା ତ୍ରିପଥଗା ।

ଶୀକର ଜଳଦେ ବିଭାବସୁକର

ସୃଜେ ଯହିଁ ଶକ୍ରଚାପ ମନୋହର ।

ଶୁଣିଲି ଶ୍ରବଣେ ସେ ଭୈରବ ରବ,

ଉର୍ଦ୍ଧ୍ୱୁଂ ଦେଖିଲି ସେ ଜଳର ତାଣ୍ଡବ ।

---

[i] Amritasya Narmada & Teere Teere Narmada; both in Hindi.