Let Water Become Sacred Again

Water is the source of life on earth. Across cultures, water is revered, and we have Creation mythologies that talk of life emerging from primordial waters. We too are made of made of 70 per cent water. Even the planet we live in is 70 per cent water.

Rivers like the Tigris, Euphrates, Nile, Indus and Yellow River have nurtured civilisations along their banks, providing water for drinking irrigation and transportation.

Human beings have always been in awe of water; it is the common denominator that binds us all – animals, plants, earth and humans. The movement of water, its power, forms and colours have fascinated us so much that we deify it.

Shrines have built at the source of rivers. We have water gods and goddesses. The Aztecs had Chalchiuhtlicue as their goddess of water, lakes, rivers, seas, streams; the uncreated God Nu personified the primordial waters for the Egyptians; Achelous was the Greek river god and Suijin is the Shinto god of water. In India, of course, we have several water deities – Varuna, the god of the water and the Celestial Ocean, as well as goddesses Ganga, Saraswati, Tapti and Yami (River Yamuna).

Water is said to have the power to wash away our sins and cleanse our souls. It is the symbol of purity and fertility. Hence waterbodies are held sacred. Prayers and hymns have been composed in praise of water. The Ganga is said to purify the soul of all impurities.

Vedic and Puranic hymns describe rivers as life-bestowing, life-nurturing and life-protecting Divine Mothers. In her book, Hinduism and Nature, environmentalist Nandhita Krishna writes: The Rig Veda praises rivers in the Nadistuti Sukta (hymns in praise of rivers) (X.75). The ten rivers are listed beginning with the Ganga and moving westwards: ‘O Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Shutudri (Sutlej), Parushni (Iravati), Ravi), follow my praise! O Ahkini (Chenab), Marudvridha, Vitasta (Jhemum), with the Arjikiya (Haro) and Sushoma (Sohan), listen… First united with the Trishtama in order to flow, with the Susartu and Rasa, and with this Svetya (your flow), O Sindhu (Indus) with the Kubha (River Kabul) to the Gomati (Gomal), with the Mehatnu to the Kruma (Kurram), with whom you rush together on the same chariot’.

We are familiar with Samudra Manthan, Churning of Ocean, mentioned in the Vishnu Purana. The churning is said to have brought to the surface from the ocean bed, several treasures including Chandra, the moon; Parijata, the fragrant flowering tree now planted in Indra’s heaven; the four-tusked elephant Airavata; Kamadhenu, the cow of plenty; Madira, the goddess of wine; Kalpavriksha, the wish-fulfilling tree; goddess Lakshmi; several gems, and Dhanwantri, the physician of the gods, who rose up out of the waters carrying amrita, the nectar of immortality.

In the creation story of the Jews and Christians, God’s spirit first moved “over the face of the waters” and God said “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures” (Genesis 1:2, 20). In Islam, water is the origin of all life on Earth.

All major religions have their places of pilgrimages along the river banks – the Kumbh Melas, the Well of Zamzam in Macca and visits to the Jordan River, where Christ is said to have been baptised.

Despite all the reverence accorded to water across cultures, poet Coleridge’s famous line ‘Water, water everywhere …Nor any drop to drink’, turns out to be prophetic. Veneration of water is stressed upon in our scriptures but when it comes to using water, we are uncharitable. We waste water and abuse our rivers.

Victor Mallet, the author of River of Life, River of Death: The Ganges and India’s Future wonders why a river that is worshipped is also abused, and he sums it all up beautifully by saying, “Perhaps there is confusion in the minds of people that physical purity and spiritual purity are different.”

Isn’t it time we bring back this reverence for water in our daily life?