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By Jayaram V
The river Ganges is very sacred to the Hindus. Those who take a dip
in the river are said to
be ridden of all their sins and attain immortality. It is believed
that the river used to flow in the heavens till the sage, Bhagirath,
made severe penances and directed its flow towards the earth to save
his 60000 ancestors who were lying in the nether world (patala) in a
heap of ashes due to a curse delivered by sage Kapila.
Since earth was not yet prepared to withstand the impact of its
downward descent, Lord Siva consented to take it upon his head first
and then let it flow on earth in seven streams. Three of them flowed
west and three east. The remaining seventh stream followed Bhagirath
to the nether worlds and helped all his ancestors from damnation. The
river is eternal and said to reward immortality to those who come into
contact with it.
Symbolically, on the earth plane, the river stands for divine
consciousness. It descended into the earth consciousness through the
efforts of sage Bhagirath. But since the earth was not sufficiently
evolved to receive its full consciousness, Lord Siva came forward to
allow it to fall on His head first and then flow down towards the
earth. He also made the Ganges His permanent companion.
Being divine consciousness, who ever immerses himself in it becomes
immortal. It is eternal because it is the highest consciousness, which
human beings are capable of attaining during their spiritual endeavor.
In the body plane, the
story of Ganga reveals the divine origin of kundalini and its descent
through the various chakras of the body into the lowest chakra, the
muladhara corresponding to the patala regions of the world, where it
remains coiled like a serpent till it ascends again into the higher
chakras during ones spiritual sadhana.
If we interpret the word Bhagirath as "bhaga"+"rathi" it means he
who rides bhaga (the reproductive organ) which is the place where the
kundalini ordinarily remains in a coiled state. Probably the sons of
Sagara whom sage Bhagirath rescued correspond to the various nerve
centers in that region.
The divine consciousness thus entering into earth plane (human
body) through Lord Siva made spiritual evolution possible on earth as
well in human body.
The second interpretation is that Ganga symbolically represents a
particular branch of divine and esoteric (tantric ?) knowledge with
the powers to elevate the dead as well as the living towards heavens,
with the strength of its purity and illumination, which was probably
not available to the mankind, till sage Bhagirath tried to bring it
down into human awareness through his devotion and surrender to Lord
Siva, who ultimately helped him to receive it and help his ancestors
attain immortality.
Suggested Further Reading
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