Narmada

As I was going through Indian journeys, I found a interesting story regarding the origin of Narmada which I am sharing with you

There was drought on earth and famine. The devas appealed to Shiva to relieve the dreadful thirst of the land. Shiva meditated for many days. So powerful was his tapsya that a drop of sweat formed on this forehead and fell to the ground .From it arose a maiden so lovely that the devas were smitten. They pursued her, but in vain, for she always eluded them. Shiva , who was seldom gievn to amusement , laughed. He named her Nar-mada, she who gladdens the hearts of men, and commanded her to flow thenceforth for the joy and salvation of mankind.

Narmada was recreated seven times after the seven dissolutions of the universe. So each story is naturally somewhat different.

Another story ascribes the creation of the Narmada to the desire of Shiva for Parvati.

The divine couple were resting from their exertions, having made love for a thousand years. Parvati was asleep. The great god watched her lying next to him, content and dishevelled, and became so aroused by her unguarded beauty that a drop of his semen fell to the ground. And from this, it is said, arose the lovely maiden Narmada characterized forever thereafter by varying inflexions of sensuousness – her joyous flirtation with rocks, her sinuous and undulating passage through hills, her langour in pools, her volunptuousness in the plains of Gujarat.

Courtesy to Royina Grewal’s  Sacred virgin: Travels Along the Narmada