Brahmaputra

Describing Indias rivers, Vyas called them Vishvasya Matarah. Indeed, rivers are truly mothers of the people. But we dont call all rivers mother. Vishwamitra called the Tamasa River his sister. The small Markandi in our village is my younger sister. We played together a lot in our childhood. The Yamuna River is the sister of Yamaraj, the god of time, and the Tapti or Tapti River in Gujarat is said to be the daughter of Yamarajs father, Suryanarayan.I have seen the Brahmaputra from Sadiya and Parashuram Kund (Brahmaputra) to Goalandi and further afield, under the names Padma and Meghna. The Brahmaputra is neither a sister nor a mother. It is a deity engrossed in the play of creation and destruction. Even the earths earthquakes aid the Brahmaputra in this play. The brahmin warrior Parashurama found no peace anywhere while slaughtering the Kshatriyas who preached the virtue of war. He found her on the banks of the Brahmaputra, where he sacrificed his killer axe.Our ancestors composed hymns and Puranas of rivers in their own way. Now, the writers of our time should give us modern hymns and Puranas of rivers. Shri Devendra Satyarthi, through his novel Brahmaputra, has presented a Purana of the folk life of the sons of the rivers. Our Sanskrit Puranas are full of sages, kings, and gods and goddesses. Now the folk age has begun. Now our Puranas will give priority to folk life. We find its beginning in Brahmaputra. - Kaka Kalelkar