Why are Rivers Feminine in Sanskrit?

I always found it strange that ‘things’ often have a gender in Samskritam. I couldn’t understand the reason why. One of the many reasons why Samskritam intimidated me. In schools and colleges, we started with tables of Vibhakti-pratyayas and so on that made me anxious.

As a matter of fact neither the Nouns nor the Verbs are difficult, but they are rigorous, thorough, detailed. However, at schools & colleges, no one cared to explain what they were. 

Now after almost 2 decades, I decided to give it a try again. With so many resources available online, I was bombarded with ‘Tava nAma kim?’, ‘Yesha: balaka:’ type of modules that dragged on with no end in sight.

Everyone has their own appetite when it comes to learning. I never really cared if I could ever speak in flawless Samskritam, but I was very keen on understanding the concepts. 

The more I learn about this language, the more mesmerized I am. After dabbling in Vedanta & other philosophies for quite some time, I never thought anything would put me in awe anymore.

But I was wrong. More so, because I could reconcile the similarities in fundamental tenets across both streams. Talk about consistency! 

Back to the main topic, what does the grammatical-gender signify in Samskritam. There are many languages with grammatical-genders but I believe only Samskritam can offer the explanation as to why such a complexity in a language. 

Actually, it’s not a complexity if we understand it. It’s pretty simple and straightforward, you will see. It appears complex because we are used to mere conventions. If a tree is called a tree, there is no explanation behind it. 

I don’t want to venture into the philology of Samskritam (yet). For now, we shall see why rivers are considered as feminine & mountains as masculine.

What do we understand by Masculine & Feminine? Masculine is someone with a male symbol & Feminine is someone with a female symbol. That’s our understanding. As such, objects are gender neutral or gender ambiguous. 

This lack of understanding of what a masculine is & what a feminine is, which in itself have become mere conventions, explains the lack of a framework. What do I mean by that? I shall explain after I first tell you what masculine & feminine is according to Samskritam.

This is as per Vararuchi, a famed grammarian: Prakriti is composed of 3 Gunas - Sattva, Rajas & Tamas. The locus wherein these 3 Gunas undergo vriddhi/increases (Pumsa) is Masculine.

The locus wherein the 3 Gunas undergo apachaya/decreases is Feminine. And the locus where neither the increase nor decrease of gunas take place is neuter gender.

Understanding this conception of 3 gunas makes so much sense. Because we can perhaps make an inference as to why Rivers are considered as ‘papanashini’, why they wash away our sins. 

Our Antahkarana too is composed of 3 gunas that taint our otherwise crystal clear Atman. By taking a dip in the flowing rivers, the tamo guna undergoes kshaya. I am not saying Samskritam is the pramana for it. But it reinforces the idea according to the framework of 3 gunas.

Now coming back to the framework, our contemporary understanding does not consider the composition of 3 gunas because they are classified under ‘religious’ beliefs. Such a classification reduces the pramana of Shastra to some mumbo-jumbo.

Nevertheless, it’s actually our contemporary science that is at a loss without such a framework. Why? Because we understand the notion of male & female merely by symbols, as conventions. 

A male is a male because he is a male. A female is female because she is female. How ridiculous is it to demand an explanation? Right? Well, as per the Vedas, we know how to define or determine a gender based on the Gunas. 

Come to think of it, this framework can even explain menstruation too! Why do Men accumulate semen & women periodically undergo cycles of menstruation? Miracle? God’s creation? Natural? Inexplicable? Sure, if you will. But also perhaps THIS! The 3 Gunas and how they increase and decrease.

This is why I love Samskritam. I wonder if anyone can fathom the depth of our Shastras because there is so much to explore still.

Until next time, see you all!

शुभमस्तु !