Narmada, as is well-known, is the main peninsular river in India flowing westward, and is considered as one of the seven sacred rivers of ‘Bharatvarsha’ – others being Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Sindhu, Godawari, and Kaveri. It is also distinguished in several other ways. It is, for a large part of its trajectory, enveloped on both sides by the forested hills of the Vindhyachal and Satpura. It had practically served the traditional boundary between North and South India and therefore a defining factor in the politics of the land for many a millennia. Most significantly – unbeknownst to most people – it is the only major river in the world circumambulated by thousands of devoted persons every year, a highly rigorous and exacting austerity known as ‘Narmada Parikrama’ or simply the ‘Parkamma.’
The Narmada originates from Amarkantak in the Mekal hills, an extension of the Vindhyas and Satpuras on the MP-Chhatisgarh border, from a small source known as the ‘Narmada-Kund.’ Narmada’s origin is described in great detail in the ‘Reva-Khand’ of the ‘Skanda-Purana,’, ‘Vayu Purana’ and also in ‘Vashishtha Samhita’ in a dialogue between sage Vashishtha and Sri Ramachandra. The ‘Reva Khand’ is also available separately and in Hindi translation by name of ‘Narmada Purana.’ Narmada is the daughter of ‘Lord Shiva’ and created out of his body; out of her drop of sweat from his body is the common understanding. One belief is that Shiva was doing ‘Tandava’ and at that time Narmada appeared in form of a resplendent young girl out of a drop of sweat. Another belief is that she came into being from a drop of ‘Soma’ from the body of Shiva – hence she is also called ‘Somodbhava.’ Then for the blessing of gods, humans and all creatures alike, the divine girl took the form of a flowing river.
But then the question arose as to who would bear the great momentum of her descent. Vindhya’s son Mekal volunteered for the task. Hence she took this flowing form from the heights of the Mekal hill and so is also called Mekalsuta, daughter of Mekal. Its flowing form is only her outer appearance just as an idol represents a divine characteristic of which the idol is only an outer form. But in essence Narmada is said to be Mother Goddess (Devi) herself and at this level the presiding deity (Adhishthatri Devi) of the flowing waters (her outer form); she is the daughter of Shiva. For this reason Narmada is called Shiva-Putri (daughter of Shiva) and revered and worshipped in Narmadakhand as such.
The scriptures profess that Lord Shiva has vouched that He will be present within Narmada and it said that each ‘kankar’ (pebble) in Narmada has Lord Shiva in manifest form – ‘Har Kankar mein Shankar hai.’ The idea and name of Narmada is inseparable from that of Shiva. Hence the standard greeting ‘Narmade Har’ resonates all over the region from Amarkantak to the sea. The whole of Narmadakhand is full of Shiva temples – there would hardly be a village that would not have one. There are ghats (small or big) almost every two miles. It would not be wrong to claim that no river in the world would have as many ghats as Narmada does. It is a common sight every evening on each ghat, of people devotedly releasing lamps (diyas) floating on the waters or placing lights and incense. On special days, thousands of lights and lamps adorn the water surface of this holiest of holy rivers. Narmada is the Ishta-Devi of all who live in its vicinity. Their lives revolve around her.
It has been a common saying among ascetics that one should do Tapasya on the banks of Narmada and die on the banks of the Ganga – ‘Reva tate tapam kuryat, maranam jahnavi tate.’ In a shloka it is also mentioned that one gets great Punya (spiritual merit) by even Darshan (sight) of Narmada. Devotees even have the conviction that one need not necessarily be present at the Narmada banks for receiving her Grace. One may just reflect and feel the immersion in this daughter of Mahadeva and this contemplation itself is sufficient to unite the devotee with Devi Narmada and receive her Grace.
The name Narmada literally means ‘one who gives joy’ – Narma-da (Narma dadati iti Narmada.) Another etymological explanation is on account of the fact that Narmada had the blessing for remaining in existence even after the great Pralayas (cataclysmic dissolutions) after every Kalpa, a great unit of time – sort of an aeon – in traditional Indian cosmology. So it was called ‘Na Mrita’ – one who never perishes, and from that idea the word Narmada has come. Rishi Markandeya, who had the blessing of being a ‘Chiranjeevi’ – ever-living – witnessed seven dissolutions of the creation (Pralay), and described that everything had perished but Narmada, the imperishable, was still flowing. This is evocatively described in the ‘Reva-Khand’ of the ‘Skanda Purana’ in the dialogue between Rishi Markandeya and Yudhishthir.
Another name for Narmada is Reva that is quite commonly used not just in Narmadakhand but outside too. Reva has its origin in the root ‘Rav’ which means considerable sound, something which Narmada makes in the larger part of her career, when she encounters hills and rocks, turns and falls, sometimes navigating her way with great speed and sound, and finding many ways to find its way through, surmounting all obstacles. People living much outside the Narmada belt have given their daughters the names Narmada or Reva.
There are several other names given for Narmada like Baluvahini (one carrying sand), Vipasha (one freeing from bondages), and Vipapa (one freeing from the baggage of sins).
There are several ancient texts extolling the majestic glory of Narmada like:
Ganga Kankhale Punya, Kurukshetre Saraswati, Graame yadi va-aranye, Punya sarvatra Narmada.
(Ganga is holiest at Kankhal, Saraswati at Kurukshetra; in villages and forests alike, Narmada remains equally holy)
Smaranat janmajam papam, Darshanen trijanmajam; Snanat janmasahasrayakhyam, Hanti Reva Kali Yuge.
(In the Kali Yuga, even remembrance of Reva destroys sins of one’s present life, by its sight sins of three lifetimes are destroyed, and by taking a bath in this holy river, one gets free from the sins of a thousand lifetimes.)
The great eighth century philosopher Sri Sankara, walked all the way from Kerala, a distance of nearly 2000 kilometres, to the Narmada and met his Guru Sri Govindpada at the Jyotirlinga of Omkareswar, a riverine island regarded as the pre-eminent pilgrim centre bearing high spiritual eminence in the Narmadakhand. It is said that when the Guru asked him of his identity he replied in verse, which is famous as ‘Nirvana-Shatakam’ having the refrain that he was of the nature of the Pure Consciousness (Chidananda Rupah Shivoham Shivoham). Sankara also composed the famous hymn, the ‘Narmada-Ashtakam’ (Tvadiya Pada Pankajam, Namami Devi Narmade), well-known in the region, among ascetics and commoners alike. When his Guru was immersed in Samadhi, and a sudden overflow occurred in the Narmada, Sankara prayed to her to be settled in a small receptacle.
Narmada has also been known to the outside world since antiquity. Claudius Ptolemy, the great Alexandria-based polymath of the second century AD, mentions Narmada as Namade. The river also finds mention in the ‘Periplus Maris Erythrai’ (Periplus of the Erythraen Sea) – one of the first navigational guidebooks prominently used in the Greco-Roman world, as Nammadus. There was trading done with the Middle East, Egypt, and Zanj, and also Europe already during those times, and the riverine ports near the Arabian Sea coast, like Bharuch on the Narmada, were already in harness.
The original Narmada trajectory – not taking into account the changes due to dams – is 1312 km long. Out of it, the river flows 1077 km exclusively in MP, then serves as a 34 km border between MP and Maharashtra, followed by a 40 km border between Gujarat and Maharashtra, and finally exclusively 161 km in Gujarat before meeting the sea at the Gulf of Cambay. Therefore, one can also say that it flows 1111 km in MP, 74 km in Maharashtra, and 201 km in Gujarat.
Narmada has numerous tributaries, big and small. Several of them have unfortunately been reduced to seasonal rivers, remaining almost dry during larger part of the year. Nevertheless, they carry out the great function of providing significant volumes of water to the Narmada during the rainy season. The longest tributary is Hiran which is 188 km long and meets Narmada at its northern banks in the Narsinghpur district of Madhya Pradesh. The second longest tributary is Banjar (183 km long) which meets at the southern banks, soth of Mandla town. Other prominent tributaries are Tawa, Budhner, Shakkar, Sher, Dudhi, Tindoni, Kolar, Chhoti Tawa, Goi, Kundi, and Hathini in MP and Orsang, and Karjan in Gujarat.
▶Next Chapter: The Narmada Parikrama Tradition