Mother Ganga
Mother Ganga flows and purifies those who bathe in her waters. In turn, she is purified by the saints traverses 2,310 km., across the breadth of the Indian subcontinent and finally flows through the Sunderbans delta to merge into the waters of the Bay of Bengal.
The towns and cities that she sanctifies on her way are considered pilgrimage spots (tirthams). May devotees walk all the way to Gangotri, facing many hardships, as a form of sadhana. Such devotion purifies the heart and prepares it to receive jnana, knowledge of the supreme Realty.
Saints and sages have lived on her banks and worshipped her as a goddess from the days of yore. In our own parampara, Swami Sivananda lived in Rishikesh on her banks, while Swami Tapovanam lived higher up in Uttarkasi and Swami Purushottamananda in Vasishta Gita. She is known in Uttarkasi as Bhagirathi.
When we contemplate on the Ganga gushing down in a torrent from the mountains, she seems to symbolise the unceasing torrential flow of thoughts in our minds. Her meandering flow through the plains reminds us of our own distraction in the fascinating world. Rippling and swirling, winding and surging, sometimes smooth, sometimes rough, she seems to represent both the progress and the obstacles in our spiritual journey.
Perhaps, her real significance lies in being the River of Knowledge – the river that gushes forth as words from the Guru’s mouth. Taking a dip in her waters is in a sense talking a dip in the river of satsang, thereby cleansing our hearts and purifying our intellects. Her very flow represents the spiritual path of a seeker towards his ultimate goal of supreme Truth. She flows majestically through the plains of shravanam (listening to scriptural discourses), gurgles undeterred through the lonely forests of manamam (quiet reflection), glides smoothly through the ups and downs of nidhidhyasanam (meditation) and finally relinquishes her identify and merges in atma-nivedanam (merge with the Truth) with the ocean of supreme Reality.
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