River of Moksha: Pilgrimages along the Ganga

By Swami Kailashanand Kailashanand Giri and Deo Datta

The Ganga is a beloved and revered bearer of religious, spiritual and cultural values. To Swami Kailashanand Giri, the Ganga is his foster mother. In River of Moksha, he takes the reader on a journey to the many sacred places found along the river's course-from Gaumukh in Uttarakhand to Gangasagar in West Bengal. In an engaging and lively manner typical of the Indian katha tradition, he narrates the stories and myths that mystify and attract people to these places for ages.
Some of the stories recollected on the shores of the Ganga are Parikshit's death when he was stung by Takshak, the king of snakes; the romance of Shakuntala and Dushyant; the self-imposed exile of Vidur; the time Draupadi spent in her father's house and tales of Durvasa's many curses and boons.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Aug 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9789394701045

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Introduction

Every new moon day is amavasya. However, the Maghi or mauni amavasya, which falls in the Hindu calendar month of Maagh (January–February in the Gregorian calendar), before Maha Shivratri, is considered auspicious as it is the beginning of the period when the moon considerably influences water bodies. Devotees take a dip in the Ganga to ward off evil deeds committed in their recent past. On mauni amavasya, this practice assumes additional significance as devotees often observe a day-long fast and a few even celebrate maun vrat (vow of silence) by observing silence throughout the day. The maun vrat on this day indicates the awakening of wisdom. The day of mauni amavasya is also said to be the birthday of Sage Manu and, therefore, the name mauni amavasya has been given. A holy bath in rivers or sacred spots on this day is considered sacroscant. I regularly bathe in the Ganga. She is my second mother, the first being the one who gave me birth.

When I took a dip in the Ganga on a recent mauni amavasya, she took me, wondering and meditating, on a voyage down her course, along myriad pilgrimages and holy places that have sprung along her vast banks, running for about 2,500 kilometres. How did she descend from heaven to provide deliverance to one and all? What does it mean to belong to the Ganga? How does she shape us and define who we are? Ma Ganga blessed me by recounting her fascinating journey.

It was not the first occasion on which Ma Ganga blessed me. A few years ago, I was delivering a discourse in a village on the bank of the Ganga in Hajipur district in Bihar. Once, the villagers shared with me their annual harrowing experience of the Ganga punishing them inadvertently by shifting her course following the floods. The next day, Ma visited me during my meditation, and I did not hesitate in narrating to her the complaint of the poor villagers. It so happened that during the discourse, Lalu Prasad Yadav, the then Bihar Chief Minister, visited the area and announced the construction of an embankment on the Ganga–Gandak to save the villagers from the fury of the twin rivers. An embankment is a wall of earth or stones that prevents rivers from flooding the surrounding land. Ma Ganga thus blessed the villagers and spared them the annual destruction.

The Ganga embodies piousness embedded in Indian culture and civilisation. Little wonder, she enjoys the everlasting and definitive tradition of reverence for her. She is the bearer of religious, spiritual and cultural values. In Indian culture, the idea of ‘Ganga’ pervades every aspect of human life.

The Ganga is the identity of India, an image of much more than a national river. It was declared a national river by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2008 in order to achieve the objectives of the Ganga Action Plan, initiated by PM Rajiv Gandhi in 1985. The roots of Ganga are very much ingrained in the land of Bharat as she unites, promotes and links the diverse culture of this country. Invaders, pilgrims, tourists and knowledge-seekers who came to this country also propagated the idea of Bharatvarsha by understanding the culture on her banks. Those who came in contact with it were mesmerised by its culture and went on to adopt it. Moreover, the continual flow of the Ganga awakens the country’s inner being.

The Ganga has great religious and spiritual significance for Indian culture and diaspora; she is considered the holiest of all rivers. For many, this faith stems from religious and spiritual beliefs, woven around her, while for others it is linked to the social and economic opportunities she provides. This alluring relationship of the Ganga with India’s people and culture has been ingrained in every Indian’s psyche since childhood, thanks to folklore, scriptural references and a plethora of customs and traditions, which draw pilgrims to her banks throughout the year. Millions of pilgrims, driven by faith, take a holy plunge in the Ganga often. Many ceremonies that devotees perform on the river’s banks are linked to aspects of their lives. The Ganga is an inseparable part of Indian society with more than 400 million residing in her basin and the remainder being directly or indirectly related to her.

The Ganga came down to Earth, renouncing the happy life of heaven, for the salvation of mortals. Flowing from Gangotri through tortous terrains, through channels of rocks and strewn boulders, remains of proud citadels and hastily thrown up embankments, the Ganga flows into Gangasagar and immerses in the immeasurable wealth of the ocean. Every element that comes in contact with her holy waters becomes sterling and becomes the Ganga.

The Ganga is not only a river, but she is also the lifeblood of religion, philosophy, culture, civilisation, spirituality and salvation flowing through the ages in India, assimilating in herself every aspect of the land. She is a continuous flowing stream of eternal Sanatan culture, Indian tradition and evidence of a flourishing civilisation along her banks. The Indianness, which accepts the eternal existence of Lord Shiv in every aspect of religion and philosophy, is associated with the Ganga. Innumerable divine streams emanating from the snowy peaks in the Himalayas meander through the rocky terrains down to the great Northern Plains.

The Ganga is a source of inspiration that has awakened the sense of public welfare since time immemorial. Indian culture is obliged to the Ganga, offering the world a vision of unity in diversity. She is the image of the mother who nurtures her coastal areas in motherly spirit and fashions them into pilgrimages, where devotees from all over the country and even abroad flock to offer prayers for the fulfilment of their wishes.

The Brahmaputra, the Son of Brahma, is often referred to as the only male river in India. It isn’t. The Narmada, the Giver of Pleasure, is also male. Perhaps no river in the world is as revered as the Ganga in India. The mention of this holy river is found extensively in religious texts. Her glory has been vastly praised by the leading seers of the ancient and Vedic eras. With the development of time, civilisation and culture, the importance of the Ganga increases perennially.

The primacy of the Ganga as a living tradition continues since time immemorial. Water of the Ganga is not a resource—it is divine and the essence of life itself. The consecrated water of the Ganga, known as Gangajal, remains an integral part of every religious activity. Gangajal is compared to cow’s milk on account of its purity and cleansing qualities. The distinction of the purity of Gangajal makes it a much sought after substance in all temple rituals of cleansing and oblation. It is said in Bhagavad Gita that ‘Bhagavadgita kincidadhita Ganga jalalavakanika pita, sakrdapi yena murarisamarca, kriyate tasye yamena na carca, bhaja govindam bhaja govindam. (One who has studied the Bhagavad Gita even a little, who has sipped at least a drop of Ganga-water, who has worshipped at least once Lord Murari [Sri Krishan], there is no discussion (quarrel) with Yam [the lord of death]).

With this belief, Gangajal is used in all types of yajna/homam to bring prosperity. It is used in Gangapujan, Laghurudra, Maharudra, Atirudra, Durgapuja, Laxchandi Yajna, Navchandi Yajna, Gayatri Yajna, bhoomi pujan, shilanyas, murti pratishtha, vastu shanti, grah shanti, nakshatra shanti, kalsarp shanti, shradh karma, narayanbali, abhishek of the Shivlingam, vivah samskara (marriage ceremony), etc. The holy water represents the lifeline of Hindu society, which is used till the end of life—drops of water poured into the mouth of dying persons are believed to secure instant salvation for them. Interestingly, Gangajal, with chemical/biological properties, is known to have an indefinite shelf life, which adds to its aura of sacredness. Gangajal is considered to possess more healing properties and medicinal elements than the waters of any other river in the world, and because of its supernatural effects, it is used in ayurvedic and naturopathic applications for curing a range of ailments. This mystical property is attributed to the vast reservoir of minerals and herbs that are available in the catchments of the upper Himalayan reaches of the Ganga. Given this potent combination of spiritual significance and medicinal properties, almost all pilgrims to the holy ghats of Rishikesh and Haridwar collect Gangajal and carry it to their homes. Little surprise, that many small establishments and micro-enterprises take it upon themselves to market the holy water in sealed metallic vessels or plastic containers.

The Great Mission Group Society, a Pune-based NGO, has filed an application for a Geographical Indication for Gaumukh Gangajal, citing various studies conforming that at the source the water has Ph value of 7.18 and is higher than rivers such as Indus and Jhelum, has anti-bacterial and self-cleansing properties.

Geographical Indications are used to identify products based on their place or origin, which give them unique characteristics and qualities. At present, Margaret and Hastings rivers in Australia and Rhine in Germany enjoy this tag.

In the Gangastakam, the eight odes to the Ganga composed by Sage Valmiki, the author of the Ramayan, a sentiment is expressed about the Ganga water as the final destiny for the desecrated and profane mortal body. The river is addressed as a ‘resplendent necklace on the bosom of the Earth’ illuminating a path towards heaven. The last two lines of one of the eight odes are: ‘I hope to live on your banks, to drink your water, to be lulled by your currents, to remember your name in prayer, and to gaze upon you until the day I die.’

What makes Gangajal the nectar of sacredness? Why do we worship the Ganga and its immense flow of water? According to the Hindu scriptures, such as the four Vedas, 18 Puranas, Upanishads, Smriti, Samhita, Bhagwatam, Mahabharat, Bhagavad Gita, etc., the Ganga is believed to originate from the toe of Lord Krishan and thereafter from the jata (hair locks) of Lord Shiv; on the material platform, it emerges from the glacier Gangotri. The origin point of the river is known as Gomukh (literally meaning ‘mouth of cow’), which is situated at a height of around 3,500 metres above mean sea level. In historic times, the origin appeared like the mouth of a cow, a sacred animal in the Sanatan Dharma. Given this background, since times immemorial, Gomukh has been considered an important place of pilgrimage in the Sanatan Dharma and the destination for penance.

The Ganga has been the carrier of a entire culture, which saw the rise and fall of various empires, but her role has remained undiminished. She is a complete culture in herself, a complete pilgrimage, which has a glorious history. Through her various streams and sources, the Ganga enriches Indian civilisation. The Ganga is India’s identity in the world. She is the mother, the goddess, the inspiration, the power, the superpower, the ultimate power, the omnipresent, the carrier of festivals. She is a great pilgrimage. The Puranas say that all the three crore (30 millions) pilgrimages on earth, in heaven and in the sky are present in the Ganga. The Vishnupadi Ganga, which originated from the feet of Lord Vishnu, is also called ‘Vaishnavi’, which Vishnu has described as the image of his water.

The account of the descent of the Ganga has been narrated in India’s popular and venerable epic the Ramayan. Its author, Sage Valmiki, penned the first line of his verses near the confluence of the Ganga and its tributary, the Tamsa. The site of the composition of the Ramayan is thus not far from the shores of the Ganga and its floodplain. A stream of the river Tamsa known colloquially as the Tons runs through the present-day Mau district of Uttar Pradesh along the fertile plains of the tract between the Ganga and its tributary the Ghaghara. King Dasarath, Ram’s father, was the ruler of Ayodhya, a city on the banks of the Sarayu, which earlier used to be the name for a section of the river Ghaghara.

During their exile, Ram, Lakshman and Sita visited the meeting point of the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati at Prayag and crossed the Ganga into the forests on its southern banks. She is not just a river that fell from the heaven. She is also part of the natural setting for the story that lends a geographical acquaintance and spatial direction to its larger plot. In Valmiki’s Ramayan, the story of the Ganga is told by Sage Vishvamitra to Ram and Lakshman.

Ram and his brother were sent as young boys to Vishvamitra’s ashrama to protect the forest-dwelling ascetics from demons who used to disrupt their sacrificial ceremonies. Towards the end of their stay at the ashrama, the sage accompanied them to Mithila, where an elaborate yajna had been arranged by King Janaka. On the way, they crossed the river Shona, and after a day’s journey came to the Ganga. The brothers were delighted to see the holy waters of the Ganga and her banks where wild geese and white cranes flocked.

After they had taken a bath in the river and offered prayers to their ancestors, Ram asked the sage about the origins of the Ganga. ‘How does she traverse the three realms to come at last to the ocean, the lord of rivers and streams?’

The sage narrated the story of the river to the young princes from Ayodhya. Himavant, the lord of the great mountain ranges of the north married Vedic Menavati, the daughter of Mount Meru, the axis of the earth. He sired two beautiful daughters. Ganga was the elder daughter while Uma (Parvati) was the younger one. During the struggle between the gods and the demons, Lord Shiv, the great warrior and leader of the divine army was not available as he had taken up the life of an ascetic since his wife, Uma preferred to engage in severe penance. The gods were apprehensive of rushing into battle without Lord Shiv. In their desperation, the gods appealed to Ganga—the river that would pass through heaven, earth and the netherworld—for assistance.

They asked her for an offspring who would be supremely virtuous and at the same time possess the ability worthy to participate in the looming battle with the demons. Ganga’s father, Himavant, consented to allow her services for this purpose. And that is how Vishwamitra explained about the ascension of the Ganga from heaven to Earth. Ram listened attentively to this explanation but became more curious. He wanted to know more about