A River Sutra

Content Warning: The source text describes the Narmada River by using an offensive term for sex workers, which this section quotes.

The novel is set on the banks of the Narmada River, which is the fifth largest river in India; as with many rivers around the world, it is a region that supports human life and society. The river is a central figure in all the stories presented within the novel; this elevates the Narmada into a character, rather than the river simply existing as the setting for the narrative. The novel’s other characters, too, discuss the Narmada in ways that reinforce this idea and attribute spiritual power to the river. For instance, the legend presented in the novel about the Narmada’s origin states that the river was formed from the Hindu god Shiva’s sweat while he was meditating, during which he was stricken by desire by Kama, the god of love, and Maya, the goddess of the illusion of reality; the Narmada took the form of a beautiful woman and Shiva married her to the sea. Also, the Narmada is often personified as a woman by many characters in the novel, such as when