Ganga Dusshara – 6

Today I wanna talk about the relation between Indians and Maa Ganga. My readers during the last 5 blogs must have realised that Indians have been closely related to Ganga and they not only feel that relation but live it.

Ganga is ‘Maa’ to all the Indians. She is the mother. Like a mother, She takes care of people living on Her banks. She gives them water for irrigation and drinking. She gives them new life.

The story of Bhagirath, in our Puranas, tells us that he got the Ganga down to the plains for his ancestors and to get them back to life. His ancestors were burnt to ashes by the curse of Rishi Kapil. And he had also said that they would be brought back to life when Ganga flows over their ashes. Leaving the story of faith as it is, let us also understand the rationale behind it. When people dont listen to their scientists, they leave them and the environment perishes. The human population declines. Then comes a human Bhagirath who loves Humanity and gets the scientists back, listens to them, helps them and they together get the solution towards the harm done towards the environment. And the solution is that let us get the Ganga down to the plains. As She is perennial, She would provide water round the clock and year. And thus came up the greatest engineering marvel. And as She flowed on the plains, She brought back human civilisation on Mother India’s Gangetic plains. And India began prospering again.

Ganga, like a mother, provides everything, from silt and water, to its children.

Silt for fertility of the soil on Her and near Her banks. This helps the land to become more fertile and helps agriculture and farmers as a whole.

And water for irrigation and various uses. This She does like any other mother who gives and feeds her children without asking. And so when we Indians call Her our mother or have a faith in Her as our Mother, then it is with a full rationale we do so.

Our culture is of being grateful. Gratefulness is the basic characteristic of being a human, is what our civilisation teaches us. We should be grateful to any and every help that we get and to any and every teaching that we get to learn from all the corners of the world. So we are being grateful to Her, by calling Her Maa (Mother)

Mother, the word, itself arouses love, warmth, affection as well as discipline within us.

One feels the love in the flowing sound of Maa Ganga. When one sits on Her banks, and hears Her flow, it soothes our hearts and minds. We forget all our worldly worries and get lost into the divine sound.

We feel the warmth when we dip oneself again and again into Her cold waters. The first dip might have been difficult as the waters are too cold even in summers. But once a dip is taken, then we do not want to leave Her waters

The affection of the people living around Her banks reflects Her own personality. The way they welcome you and treat you without a relation is simply humbling for us, people living in cities.

And lastly Her flow teaches us discipline. Never to leave the banks. Never to go out of bounds otherwise it leads to destruction.

Let us on occasion of Ganga Dasshara decide to imbibe the above mentioned qualities in our lives and our families.

Let us bow down down to Maa Ganga :

Mother of all civilisations,

Mother to all Her Children, and;

Mother of all rivers of India.

Namami Gange.