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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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