Songs of the Ganga - Arvind Krishna Mehrotra

Songs of the Ganga by Arvind Mehrotra personifies the Ganga into different things and also uses it as a symbol for life. The Ganga rises in the Western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal.(…)This river is precious as a religious entity and also acts as a lifeline for millions of people who use the water from Ganga. Considering this, the river Ganga is a very good symbol for life and the poem bring it out beautifully with vivid descriptions.

1.

I am Ganga Snow from the mountains. The keeper of water. 

I am the plains I am the foothills I carry wishes of my streams, to the sea.

I am both man and woman.

I am paper boats for children. I am habits for fishermen. I am a cloud for shaven monks. I reflect all movements.

I am the bridge. I am the fort and the archer taking aim. I am the great dissolver of men 

I give life and I take it back. 

·         The first line of the stanza is Ganga describing itself and its point of origin, i.e. the Ganga is formed from the snow of the Himalaya. By the keeper of water it says that it isn’t water but an entity which carries water, like the goddess Ganga.(…)

·         The second line suggests the path that the river treads, it travels the plains as well as the foothills after descending from a mountain. The wishes here mean the baths that people take to wash away their sins are taken from the streams to the Bay of Bengal. Desires of my streams can also mean the natural force of gravity which carves way for the river.

·         The third line says that it is middle way, neither man nor woman. This suggests that the Ganga doesn’t differentiate between man and woman. And there is also a Hindu concept having to do with seeing through or resolving opposites.

·         The fourth line basically says that it contains everything that a human may need. May it be fun, fish, inspiration etc. (respectively).

·         The fifth line. I am the bridge is a symbolic element here suggesting the bridge between life and death, from material existence to spiritual existence, as the ashes of most dead Hindus are given back to the Ganga as it is said to be the source of life. The Ganga has enough power to guard an area (fort) with its tides and still enough power to destroy it too (archer). It dissolves the ashes of the dead (Great dissolver).

·         The sixth line. As Ganga is the bridge connecting material existence and spiritual existence it says that it gives life and takes it back. Putting it in a rational context this could mean that the water from the Ganga helps millions of people to survive, and when the Ganga gets flooded it could take all the life back.

2. 

I go out into the world, I am the world, I am nations, cities, people I am the pages of an unbound book.

My room is the air around me.

I am dressed in water, I am naked as water, I am clarity.

A friend comes along offers me a flag and says a government has toppled.

I’m going to catch rain, I say and spread out a net .

I am poison.

·         The first line here shows how Ganga spans along a wide area and is a part of people’s life. It is an unbound book as there is no telling how the Ganga may grow what would happen next with the Ganga, will it flood? Would it not? Etc.

·         The second line just says that the only thing that’s around Ganga is the air around it. This line is kind of important as air is seen as a free element of nature, but thinking about it closely, so is water. Water is just more disciplined than air and is also very free.

·         The third line. The waters of the Ganga are clean and clear. You could see through them. By clarity it means that it can give you the answer to all questions. This is religious symbolism considering all travellers in search for enlightenment visit the Ganga River at least once in their lives.

·         The fourth line. This line suggests independence and the fall of the British Government.

·         The fifth line. As it is going to rain, the river Ganga spreads out a net and increases in volume.

·         The sixth line in relationship with the fifth line can be used to trace out an aspect of death. This suggests that the fifth line could mean that the Ganga is going to flood now.

3. 

Billy goats, come down from the mountain. Without finding solitude, camels return from the desert. 

I make two lines in the sand, and say they are unbreakable walls. 

I make the four directions one, I know the secret of walking. 

I am the death of fire.

·         The first line. Goats come down from the mountains to quench their thirsts and camels return from the desert for the same.

·         The second line. A small stream of water can turn into a canyon over years of erosion forming structures similar to huge unbreakable walls.

·         The third line. The Ganga washes away four directions and makes it one. Contrasting this statement the secret of walking states that the Ganga understands all kinds of movements. The arrogance in the last statement is balanced with the humility of this one.

·         The fourth line. This line is self-explanatory.

4. 

From smoke I learn disappearance from the ocean unprejudiced 

From birds How to find a rest-house in the storm 

From the leopard How to cover the sun with spots 

In summer I tend watermelons and in flood I stay near the postman’s house 

I am a beggar I am a clown and I am shadow less.

·         The first line talks about the evaporation of sea water and romanticizes with the subject. The ocean is unprejudiced as it does not distinguish between man and animal and devours them both at point.(Life of Pi Reference)

·         The second and the third line tells us about the things that the Ganga has learned from the animals. (More romanticization.)

·         The fourth line. In summer watermelons which grow in the waters of the Ganga are eaten by us, hinting us that in one way or other the Ganga has given water to us all. The postman’s house is usually located in the most suitable location which is easily accessible.

·         The fifth line. Here beggar, and clown are used in a very random sense suggesting that the Ganga can be anything and is everything. I am shadow less means that, the Ganga does not have an end nor do people know where it properly starts (until recently).

This stanza tells us of the experiences the river Ganga has had. And how instead of us learning from it al the time it learns from us too. Us meaning everyone else other than itself as it is non prejudiced it takes humans and animals and birds as one.

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References:

https://www.englishforums.com/English/HelpMeWithThePoemGanga/wcch/post.htm