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- 1. GURU 22 - GangesGURU 22 - Ganges 313 The Descent of Mother Ganges King Sagar, the ruler of Ayodhya was of the Surya dynasty, and an ancestor of Rama. He performed the Asvamedha sacrifice ninety-nine times and each time the horse he sent around the earth returned to his kingdom unchallenged. Indra, the King of the Devas (gods), was jealous and during the hundredth sacrifice, he kidnapped the horse, hiding it in the hermitage of the sage Kapila Muni. The sixty thousand sons of Sagar came to the hermitage of Kapila in their search for the horse and mistaking Kapila Muni to be the culprit attacked him. An enraged Kapila Muni burnt the sixty thousand princes to ashes by dint of his mystical prowess. One of the grandchildren of King Sagar, hearing about the plight of his father and uncles, came in search of Kapila Muni and asked him for a solution to the problem. Kapila advised him that the waters of the river Ganga would miraculously bring the dead princes back to life. His descendant Bhagiratha continued his efforts to bring the Ganga to the earth from the heavens to purify the ashes of his ancestors and bring them back to life. Bhagiratha’s prayers were rewarded and the Ganges rushed to the earth. However, the might of the river was too much for the earth to withstand. Fearing a catastrophe, Bhagiratha prayed to Shiva, who held out his matted hair to catch the plummeting river, and thus softened her impact on the earth. The Ganga thus became a symbol of Shiva. This manifestation of Shiva is known as ‘Gangadhara’, one who carries the water of the Ganges on his head. On Lord Shiva’s forehead is the emblem of the half-moon, yet to give supreme respect to Vishnu he placed the water of the Ganges above this emblem. ORIGIN The Ganga is considered to have emanated from the foot of Lord Vamana (the fifth incarnation), when with his third stride his toe pierced the outside of the universe, and some of the causal ocean spilled in to it. This became the source of the Ganga. Bhagiratha patiently led the river down to the sea from the Himalayas. However, being unable to locate the exact spot where the ashes lay, he requested Ganga to follow her own course. So, Ganga divided herself into a hundred mouths in the region of Bengal and formed the Ganges delta. One of these streams washed the ashes, and offered salvation to the souls of the departed. The island with which this incident is associated and referred to as Sagar Island, where a bathe at the confluence of the river and the sea is considered to be very sacred on the festival day of Makara Sankranti. 1/2 60 mins 120 mins ` GURU 22 - Ganges
- 2. 314 GURU 22 - Ganges SLOKA RECITATION Let us learn a sloka from the Srimad Bhagavatam which teaches us something about the above theme. Before teaching the present verse, the teacher should begin the class by chanting all the verses of the 24 Gurus with the children all together. Chant the verse of the Ganges again. Tell the children we will learn the verse and also understand it. Learn the verse. (The teacher recites the sloka line by line and makes the children repeat and memorize the sloka) tvayi me ‘nanya-viñayä matir madhu-pate ‘sakåt ratim udvahatäd addhä gaìgevaugham udanvati O Lord of Madhu, as the Ganges forever flows to the sea without hindrance, let my attraction be constantly drawn unto You without being diverted to anyone else. (SB 1.8.42, Prayers of Queen Kunti) For teacher’s reference Explanation for this verse - In the Bhagavad-gétä we can see that Arjuna desired not to fight with his brothers and relations just to satisfy his own personal desires. But when he heard the message of the Lord, Çrémad Bhagavad-gétä, he changed his decision and served the Lord. And for his doing so, he became a famous devotee of the Lord, for it is declared in all the scriptures that Arjuna attained spiritual perfection by devotional service to the Lord in friendship. The fighting was there, the friendship was there, Arjuna was there, and Kåñëa was there, but Arjuna became a different person by devotional service. Therefore, the prayers of Kunté also indicate the same categorical changes in activities. Çrématé Kunté wanted to serve the Lord without diversion, and that was her prayer. This unalloyed devotion is the ultimate goal of life. Our attention is usually diverted to the service of something which is nongodly or not in the program of the Lord. When the program is changed into the service of the Lord, that is to say when the senses are purified in relation with the service of the Lord, it is called pure unalloyed devotional service. Çrématé Kuntédevé wanted that perfection and prayed for it from the Lord. Let us learn a sloka from the Srimad Bhagavatam which teaches us something Before teaching the present verse, the teacher should begin the class by chanting all the verses of the 24 Gurus with the children all together. Chant the verse of the Ganges again. Tell the children we will learn the verse Learn the verse. (The teacher recites the sloka line by line and makes the
- 3. GURU 22 - GangesGURU 22 - Ganges 315 GURU 22 - Ganges For teacher’s reference 1. Determination may vary from one person to another. But in general it means to focus and achieve a target you have set by following a process or schedule. a. I will get up at 5.00 a.m without making a fuss. b. I will read something spiritual everyday without fail. c. I will chant my number of rounds everyday without fail. d. I shall not eat any foodstuff which is not offered to Krishna. LESSONS FROM GURU - (DETERMINATION) What is the lesson that mother Ganga teaches us? - Determination. The river Ganga is determined to reach her destination, which is the ocean. She is ready to cross all the hurdles to reach there. The huge Himalayan Mountains interrupt her flow, but the Ganges finds its way around the mountains. If big boulders disturb her path, she goes over them, under them or around them – but never forgets her destination. She flows across hundreds of miles through all lands to reach her destination. Show the video of the Ganges to drive home the meaning of the sloka. In the dictionary, ‘Determination’ is defined as - The act of coming to a decision or of fixing or settling a purpose. The quality of being resolute; firmness of purpose. A fixed purpose or intention: it is my determination to stop eating junk food. Fixed direction or tendency toward some object or end. The act of making up your mind about something. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Answer the following. 1. What does determination mean to you in your life? 2. Give some examples where you would try to inculcate this value in your life?
- 4. 316 GURU 22 - Ganges 2. This question has to be answered by the students. Either some incident from their life or something where they would try and show determination from today onwards. DETERMINATION TO NOT TO GIVE IN that we can enjoy. I promise you I will come to your camp tomorrow evening with some of my maidservants, and then we can enjoy. But you have to stop the siege now and leave us alone.” He said, “Yes, no problem.” So he left the palace with his men, and he went back to his Muslim camp, which was a few hundred metres away, and they began to have a big party in expectation. That whole day they were simply drinking wine and dancing, “Yes, the princess is coming! The princess is coming!” And they all got drunk. Sure enough, as the queen promised, that evening the doors of the palace opened and so many palanquins came out. There were over one hundred palanquins carrying the queen and her maidservants. So when the Muslim emperor saw this, he began to dance in ecstasy. They began to drink more and more wine, “Here comes the queen! Here comes the queen!” And all the soldiers were shouting, “Here come the maidservants!” They put away their weaponsandstartedputtingonperfumes and nice clothes. The women were very chaste, so the palanquins were all closed with curtains around them. The palanquins were getting closer and closer. And the There is one battle where the Muslims took siege on one Hindu fort. They surrounded the fort and waited for everyone to starve to death. The Muslim king wanted the Hindu princess.Hesaidhewould give up the siege on the fort if the Hindu princess would come out and marry him. The Hindu king had been killed, so the queen was now the ruler. The Muslim king wanted to marry her. But she was a very chaste woman. “I’m not going to marry this rascal.” “All right,” the king said, “let me just come and see you. If I can see you I will be satisfied and I will go away and we will stop the war.” She said, “I am a chaste woman. Why should I let a rogue like you see my body?” But the Muslim king said, “I will stop the war if you just let me look at you.” “All right,” she said, “you can look at me through a mirror.” So he allowed her to look at her face in a mirror. But he was such a rascal that as he was leaving the palace, he said, “That is not enough. If you do not marry me, I will destroy your entire population.” So she was a very intelligent kshatriya woman, and Kshatriyas have to be a little diplomatic sometimes. So she said, “OK, I’ve got an idea. I surrender. You can enjoy me. You can enjoy my beauty. Simply let me spend the next day preparing myself so STORY 1 - THE KSHATRIYA QUEEN party in expectation. That chaste, so the palanquins were all closed
- 5. GURU 22 - GangesGURU 22 - Ganges 317 Kshatriyas. They slaughtered all those Muslims to the last man. Meanwhile the queen was watching the whole thing from the palace. Not only did the kings have these qualities, but also the queens had these qualities. palanquins got right inside the camp of the Muslims. All of a sudden the Muslims heard this terrific roar. “Aaaargh!” Coming from the palanquins, and out jumped all the Rajaputa soldiers, the Sometimes your biggest weakness can become your biggest strength. Take, for example, the story of one 10-year- old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident. The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn’t understand why, after three months of training the master had taught him only one move. STORY 2 -THE FROGS IN THE BUCKET well, so he couldn’t after three months of MORAL - Be determined for Krsna. Just as the frog which was facing a lot of difficulty, did not give up hope but on the contrary fought his way out, similarly in our lives too when faced with difficulties one must not give up but somehow be determined and find a way out and try and serve Krishna. A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer’s well. The farmer heard the mule ‘braying’ - or - whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together and told them what had happened...and enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery. Initially, the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back...a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back...HE SHOULD SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP! This he did, blow after blow. “Shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up!” he repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed the old STORY 3 - SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP GURU 22 - Ganges
- 6. 318 GURU 22 - Ganges MORAL - That’s life! If we face our problems and respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity...The adversities that come along to bury us usually have within them the potential to benefit and bless us! Remember that forgiveness, faith, prayer, praise and hope...all are excellent ways to “Shake it off and step up” out of the wells in which we find ourselves! mule fought “panic” and just kept right on SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP! You’re right! It wasn’t long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, STEPPED TRIUMPHANTLY OVER THE WALL OF THAT WELL! What seemed like would bury him, actually blessed him...all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity. DETERMINATION TO MAKE YOUR WEAKNESS AS YOUR STRENGTH STORY 4 - WEAKNESS OR STRENGTH? Sometimes your biggest weakness can become your biggest strength. Take, for example, the story of one 10-year- old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident. The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn’t understand why, after three months of training the master had taught him only one move. “Sensei,” the boy finally said, “Shouldn’t I be learning more moves?” “This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you’ll ever need to know,” the sensei replied. Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training. Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time- out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened. “No,” the sensei insisted, “Let him continue.” Soon after the match resumed, his opponentmadeacritical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion. On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy
- 7. GURU 22 - GangesGURU 22 - Ganges 319 MORAL - Determined to convert weakness into strength. He was determined to follow the instructions of his teacher summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind. “Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?” “You won for two reasons,” the sensei answered. “First, you’ve almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm.” DETERMNATION - A TEST OF ONE'S INNER CHARACTER STORY 5 -THE SANDY ROAD This is a nice story from the collection of Jataka Tales. Once upon a time, there lived a merchant in a small village. The merchant dealt in different kinds of goods. He wanted to sell his goods in the town, in order to gain good sum of profits. One day, he decided to go to the town to try his fortune. He arranged for some men who could go along with him. During the journey, he had to pass through a desert, so he also arranged for water, rice and firewood. According to the plan, he packed his goods in several carts and set out for the journey along with his mates. When they reached the desert, the sun was shining on the fine sand, making it severely hot. In the day time, no one could dare to walk on it. One could only think of travel through the desert during the night time, when the moon made the sands cool. So, the merchant and his people waited for the night to start their further journey. With the arrival of night, they started their journey. One of them, had knowledge about the stars, so he was guiding the way to other people by reading the position of stars. They traveled for the whole night without taking any break. At daybreak, they stopped and camped. They released the oxen from the carts and fed them. They made fire, cooked the rice and ate the food to their fill. They spread a huge covering over all the carts and the oxen. Subsequently, all the men laid down under it, to rest till the sunset. When the sun set in the early evening, they again built fire and cooked rice. After the meal, they folded the covering and tied the oxen to the carts. As soon as, the sand became cool, they again started their journey across the desert. Night after night, they traveled in such manner and rested during the day time. On the last morning, the one who was guiding the group said, “In one more night, we will cross the desert”. Every one was happy to hear this, as all of them were tired. GURU 22 - Ganges
- 8. 320 GURU 22 - Ganges After taking meal in the evening, the merchant said, “Now, you people can throw the water and the firewood because tomorrow we will reach the town. Tie the oxen and start”. The Guide took his position at first in the line of the carts, but instead of sitting and guiding the drivers, he laid down in the cart on the cushions. Soon, he was in a deep slumber because he had not slept for many nights and in the daytime, the sun had been so strong that he had not slept properly. The oxen went on, for the whole night. Near daybreak, the guide awoke and looked at the last stars fading in the light. He said to the drivers, “Stop! We are in the same place where we were yesterday. The oxen must have turned about while I slept”. They released the oxen, but there was no water for them to drink, as they had thrown away the water the previous night. They spread out the covering over the carts and the oxen rested, tired and thirsty. The men lay down too, saying, “Without wood and water, we are lost”. Every one was tired and sat down. The merchant thought, “This is no time for me to sleep. I have to find water. The oxen cannot start unless they get water to drink. The people need water other wise they cannot cook rice. If I give up, we will lose. There must be water somewhere below”. He walked down and down, keeping a close watch of the ground. Finally, he saw some grass and thought, “There must be water somewhere below otherwise that grass would not be there”. He ran back, shrieking to the people, “Get the spade and the hammer.” All of them jumped up and ran with the merchant to the spot where he saw the grass. They started digging and after much toil, they struck a rock. After this, they could dig no further. The merchant jumped down into the hole they had dug and kept his ear to the rock. He called to them, “I can hear water running under this rock. We must not give up”. Then, the merchant came out of the hole and said to the serving boy, “My boy, if you give up, we are lost. Please go down and try”. The boy stood up raising the hammer high above his head and hit the rock with his full strength. He didn’t give up, thinking the words of the merchant. Every time the hammer came down, he thought that everyone must be saved. Ultimately, the rock broke, the boy hardly got any time to come out of the hole and it was full of water. All the men drank water, as if they could never get enough. They watered the oxen and took bath. After drinking and bathing, they split the extra wooden yokes and axles from their carts. They made a fire out of it and cooked their rice. They had their meal and rested through the day. They also placed a flag on the well, so that the passingtravelerscouldseeandhavewater. After the sunset, they started their journey and reached the town in the morning. They sold the goods making huge profits and happily returned back to their village. MORAL - Will and Determination can achieve anything.
- 9. GURU 22 - GangesGURU 22 - Ganges 321 SLOKA RECITATION The teacher should begin the class by chanting all the verses of the 24 Gurus with the children all together. Chant the verse of the Ganges again. tvayi me ‘nanya-viñayä matir madhu-pate ‘sakåt ratim udvahatäd addhä gaìgevaugham udanvati O Lord of Madhu, as the Ganges forever flows to the sea without hindrance, let my attraction be constantly drawn unto You without being diverted to anyone else. (SB 1.8.42, Prayers of Queen Kunti) 2/2 60 mins 120 mins The teacher should begin the class by chanting all the verses of the 24 Gurus with the children all together. Chant the verse of the Ganges again. MORE LESSONS FROM GURU Just as the water of Ganges when is obstructed by big boulders or rocks she somehow or the other makes her way through them or by moving around them. Similarly in life too we have to face obstacles at every step and even if we seemingly fail to overcome them at our first attempt we have to show determination to try again and again until success is achieved. Let us now see some famous people as to how they started off in their respective fields. 1. As a child, his father had called him a dog who would never be able to make a living, because he always got lower grades in school. He wanted to attend Stanford University but failed the admission exam twice. He also had a very severe speech impediment which took him years to overcome. The name of this man was Winston Churchill. He became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the days when the Sun never set on the British Empire. And in the secular world he is considered as one of the most famous orators of the 20th century. 2. A man, who got a job as a journalist, was fired by his employer because he had no creativity. This man started a cartoon company and in the first year he went bankrupt. This was Walt Disney, who is practically the founder of children’s films. GURU 22 - Ganges
- 10. 322 GURU 22 - Ganges 3. A boy who wanted to be a singer, never got more than a ‘C’ in his music class, when he was a High School student. His music teacher even told him to give up and that he could never make it. This boy grew up to be Elvis Presley, the king of Rock music 4. Henry Ford went bankrupt three times in the first three years of his entry in the automobile industry. 5. A man desperately wanted to go to the U.C.L.A film school, but couldn’t do so because he was not eligible due to mediocre grades. His name is Steven Spielberg. (Director of Hollywood film Juraasic Park) 6. As a young boy at high school, he couldn’t make to the high school basketball team in spite of playing with all his might. His name was Michael Jordan. The ESPN named him the greatest athlete of the 20th Century 7. A man named R.H .Mercy, tried to make a store in New York City but went out of business seven times. For the past 40 years, one the landmarks of the New York city and the store where people from all over the world go to is Mercers Departmental stores. 8. English novelist John Creasey got 753 rejection slips before he published 564 books. 9. Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times, but he also hit 714 home runs. 10. Don’t worry about failure. 11. Worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try. 12. Eg: Thomas Edison tried 8000 various experiments before he finally invented the battery. When he was asked about it, he said, “I wasn’t discouraged by the 8000 failures. I at least learnt what doesn’t work.” That is success. MORAL - Failure is a stepping stone to success. Jordan. The ESPN named him the greatest athlete of the 20th Century
- 11. GURU 22 - GangesGURU 22 - Ganges 323 HOW IS IT RELEVANT IN MY LIFE? 1. Mother Ganga teaches us the lesson of determination. The sloka also explains that although mother Ganga faces various obstacles on its path to the sea still it crosses those obstacles and pursues its path to the sea without any hindrance. Similarly I our lives too everyday we are faced with obstacles, at such a time it is very important to be determined to continue and cross over the obstacles. 2. Failures are stepping stones to success. Don’t Be Afraid To Fail You’ve failed many times, although you may not remember. You fell down the first time you tried to walk. You almost drowned the first time you tried to swim, didn’t you? Did you hit the ball the first time you swung a bat? Heavy hitters, the ones who hit the most home runs, also strike out a lot. Nature Lessons from Guru For teacher’s reference 1. Ganges, white in colour rests on makaramatsya (a variety of fish) holding in her hands a pot and lotus flowers. (Agni Purana, Chapter 50) 2. Ganges visnupadi jahnutanaya suranimnages / Bhagirathi tripathaga Trisrota bhismasurapi // (Ganges, Visnupadi jahnutanaya, ‘Suranimnaga, Bhagirathl, Tripathaga, Trisrota, Bhismasu). . Jähnavé—daughter of sage Jahnu. 3. Ganges water is sanctified due to being mixed with the dust of the lotus feet of the Lord. Answer the following. 1. What are the symbols of mother Ganga and what is her vehicle? 2. Mention some names by which ganga is also known? 3. Why is the water of Ganga sanctified? GURU 22 - Ganges
- 12. 324 GURU 22 - Ganges Scriptural stories of Ganges Birth of Mother Ganga King Mahabhiseka after his death, attained Visnuloka. Once he went to visit Brahma at Satyaloka. At that time Gangadevi was also present in Brahma’s assembly. In that pious atmosphere, a gentle breeze began to blow and Gangadevi’s clothes were slightly deranged. Just at that moment, Mahabhiseka took a stealthy glance at her and she also returned that glance. This was noted by Brahma who turned both of them into human beings by a curse. Gaitgadevi begged pardon and Brahma lifted the curse and blessed her that the Astavasus would come to the earth to be born as her sons and that afterwards she could come back to Heaven. After that Gaitgadevi was born as a mortal woman in the world under the name Ganga and she spent her days in the forests near the Ganga river valleys. Marriage to Santanu In those days the ruler of the Lunar dynasty was a king named Pratipa. Having no children, he went to the bank of the river Gariga and performed tapas there. Gaitgadevi who was moving about in the forests nearby, saw the King deeply absorbed in his tapas. She approached him and sat on his right thigh. She wanted the King to be her husband. He explained to her that the right thigh is the proper seat of a daughter-in-law and so she would become his son’s wife in due course. In course of time, Pratipa had a son, Santanu, born to him. When Santanu grew up into a young man, one day he went for a hunt to the Ganges-valley and there he met Gangadevi. He fell in love with her at first sight and courted her. Gangagadevi agreed to become his wife on one condition that he should not say anything to displease her and if he violated that condition she would leave him. The king accepted the condition and they became man and wife. The sons of Gangadevi Astavasus and Gahga. While the wife of Dyau, one of the Astavasus (eight Vasus) was roaming about in the forest she saw Nandini (the divine cow) grazing with her calf near the essrama of Vasistha, and she desired to have the cow to be presented to her intimate friend Jitavati, the daughter of King Usinara. She informed her husband, Dyau about this desire of hers, and Dyau told his relations about it. Next day the Astavasus, in the absence of Vasistha at the ashrama, stole off Nandini and her calf. When Vasistha returned to the asrama the cow and calf were missing, and he divined the reason for it with his divine eyes. He cursed that the Astavasus be born as men on earth, and when they prayed for redemption from the curse Vasistha told them that they would be born as men within one year from that day, die at once and return to heaven. At the same time the sage said that Dyau alone, who took the leading part in stealing the cow, would live on earth for a longer period before he
- 13. GURU 22 - GangesGURU 22 - Ganges 325 returned to heaven. (The reputed Bhisma was this Dyau). The Astavasus set out for the earth to be born as men and on their way they met Ganges and told her about their curse etc. Ganges also told them about her curse, and permitted them to be born in her womb. (Adi Parva, Chapter 99) . Ganges became the wife of Santanu and the Astavasus were born. Once while hunting on the banks of the Ganges Santanu saw a beautiful maiden and they fell in love with each other. She agreed to become his wife on the condition that he would not oppose whatever she said. Santanu agreed to it and married her. Soon after a child was born to them and in the very presence of Santanu, she threw the child into the Ganges. As per previous condition Santanu kept mum at this. She threw into the river the seven Astavasus, who were born to her in succession. When she was about to throw the last eighth of the Astavasus (Dyau) into the river Santanu prevented her. She got angry at this and disappeared with the child. (Adi Parva, Chapter 98) . Santanu got back the son. Thirtytwo years after, Santanu went hunting again on the banks of the Ganges where he saw the river obstructed in its course with arrows by a handsome boy.. Santanu did not recognise that the boy was his son, who had been named Devavrata by Ganges. Devavrata disappeared after throwing Santanu into an illusion by his magic power. All of a sudden a doubt dawned in his mind whether the boy was his own son, and he called out to Ganges to show him the boy. Ganges appeared with her son with beautiful ornaments on him and spoke to Santanu thus: “This is Devavrata, the eighth son whom you entrusted to me. He has mastered everything in archery from Vasistha, and he is Dyau (the vasu) son of Angiras reborn. You may please take charge of him.” After saying this she returned to heaven. (Adi Parva, Chapter 100). GURU 22 - Ganges
- 14. 326 GURU 22 - Ganges Now let us study the origin of mother Ganga and learn from it Ganges, the famous and holy Ganges river of India, which originates from the spiritual world and runs throughout the entire universe. To understand this background of Mother Ganga we will see some videos. Video of mother Ganges BBC good clippings and also the documentary made by Yadubara prabhu. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT GANGES. What do the scriptures say about mother Ganga? mala-nirmocanaà puàsäà jala-snänaà dine dine sakåd gétämåta-snänaà saàsära-mala-näçanam “One may cleanse himself daily by taking a bath in water, but if one takes a bath even once in the sacred Ganges water of Bhagavad-gétä, for him the dirt of material life is altogether vanquished.” (Gétä-mähätmya 3) Greatness (divine nature) of Ganges. Mahabharata has (Anusasana Parva, Chapter 26,), the following on the greatness of Ganga. 1. If, after death, the bones of the dead are deposited in Ganges the departed will attain heaven. Even if one had sinned throughout his life he would attain Visnupada (heaven) if he worshipped Ganges. Bathing in the Ganga is as beneficial as performing hundred yajnas. As long as the bones of one remain in the waters of the Ganga so long will he occupy an honourable seat in heaven. Example - SB 1.8.1 The Päëòavas, desiring to deliver water to the dead relatives who had desired it, went to the Ganges with Draupadé. The ladies walked in front. PURPORT To date it is the custom in Hindu society to go to the Ganges or any other sacred river to take bath when death occurs in the family. Each of the family members pours out a potful of the Ganges water for the departed soul and walks in a procession, with the ladies in the front. The Päëòavas also followed the rules more than five thousand
- 15. GURU 22 - GangesGURU 22 - Ganges 327 years ago. Lord Kåñëa, being a cousin of the Päëòavas, was also amongst the family members. 2. He who has come in contact with its water will shine forth as the sun devoid of all darkness. Places which are not favoured by its waters will become barren like night without the moon and trees without flowers. Ganga water is snore than enough to satisfy living things in all the three worlds. 3. He who does penance standing on one leg for thousand years, and he who gives up his body in the waters of the Ganges are on a par with each other. God attaches more importance to him who has fallen into the Ganges than to him, who has performed tapas hanging by his head for a thousand years. 4. He who smears the sand on the banks of the Ganga on his body will get the lustre and ,glow of the devas, and he, who smears the sand on his head will shine forth like the Sun. 5. All the sins of those on whom has blown the air which had come in contact with Ganges water will be-swept away. It should be known that Ganges water can wash off all sins and purify mortals. The Agni Purana (Chapter 110) has the following on this subject. Through whatever places the Ganges flows those places become sublime and sacred. Ganges is the refuge of all created beings who aspire for the final good. If Ganges is worshipped daily it will save families both on the mother’s and the father’s side from evil fate. To drink Ganges water is better than. the observance of a thousand lunar months. If one worships Ganges for a month one will derive all the benefits of having performed all the yanjas. Even the blind (the ignorant) who worship Ganges, will attain equal status with the devas. The sight of Ganges, contact with its waters and drinking Ganges water will purify people in thousands and lakhs. GURU 22 - Ganges