GANGA SAGAR

The story of the birth of the sacred River Ganga is one of the fascinating stories in our Puranas. Once there was a king called Sagara who did a number of Ashwamedha Yagas in order to proclaim himself as ruler of the whole world. When he started on his 100^th yaga, Indra the king of the gods began to be frightened that he would usurp his place in heaven. So he stole the horse that was released by the king. This horse was normally allowed to roam over the whole of the country and was followed by the king’s army. Anyone who tried to stop the horse would have to fight with the king’s people. Indra stole the horse and took it to the ocean which is now the Bay of Bengal. He hid it in the cave in which the great sage Kapila was meditating.

The sixty thousand sons of Sagara followed the route taken by Indra and came to the ocean. They entered the cave and found the horse beside the sage and thought that he was the thief and threatened him. Kapila simply opened his eyes and all of them were reduced to ashes. The king was desperate to save his sons from the effects of the sage’s curse. Even after he passed away his other sons and grand-sons tried their best but to no avail. At last, his great grandson, Bhaghirata was told that his ancestors would get moksha only if the waters of the heavenly Ganga flowed over them. Hence, he started doing severe austerities in the Himalayas and after many attempts, he managed to get the Ganga down to the earth where Shiva caught her in his locks and released a little of the waters which is what we see today. The place she came down is now known as Gaumukh, near Gangotri. From there Bhaghirata led the Ganga all the way down to the sea to Kapila’s cave. When the holy waters of the Ganga washed over the ashes of his ancestors, they became liberated.

This place is known as Ganga Sagar and it is the place where the Ganga meets the ocean. Hence it is a very holy place for all Hindus - as holy as Gangotri which is her source. The story of the Ganga is the story of every human being. We start from our source and travel over good and bad terrain, never stopping, always going on till we reach the ocean of compassion which is the Supreme himself.

There is a verse in Hindi that says, “Sab teerth bar bar, Gangasagar ekbar”. This means that we may visit other holy places several times but just one visit to Ganga Sagar is enough to cleanse us of all our bad karmas.

I had gone there after going to the Kali temples in Kolkata. Sagar Island is an island in the Ganga delta which is known as the Sundarbans. It’s about 100kms from Kolkata. We stayed on the mainland and took a boat to the island. It has beautiful sandy beaches and is relatively unspoilt with pleasure seeking tourists. It comes to life on Makara Sankranti day in mid-January when thousands of pilgrims congregate to take a holy dip in the sacred confluence of the Ganga with the ocean. Makara Sankranti is always on 14^th January when the sun shifts from Sagittarius to Capricorn. This gathering of devotees in Bharat is the second largest after the Kumbha Mela. The mela is held on the island and not on the mainland.

Thankfully we were not there for the mela. The whole place was quiet and peaceful. We climbed to the lighthouse to watch the sunset. Actually, it is possible to see both sunrise and sunset from the lighthouse but we were too lazy to go for the sunrise.

The confluence, where the pure waters of the Ganga enter the salty waters of the ocean is a very special place. She had been travelling for 3,000 kilometres from the icy glacier of Gomukh through the entire peninsula until she reaches her destination at the Bay of Bengal. It is indeed a tremendous journey which many people have tried to follow by boat and raft etc but have never been successful. I had been to Gomukh and seen her in her youth and pristine beauty, sparkling like an amethyst in the morning sun and now I saw her weary and old, carrying all the silt and dirt from so many states, yet she looked undaunted and powerful and seemed to have gained so much from her tumultuous journey. I prayed that my life would also be like that –I would remain strong and blissful till the end of my life when I hoped to melt into the merciful arms of that Ocean of Compassion!

After having a dip in the confluence, we took some water and went to the Kapila Muni temple constructed by Swami Ramananda in 1437 at the place where the sage had meditated. He is represented by a block of stone over which all pujas are done. The original site has been washed away by the sea and has been replaced by a new temple. There is a black stone denoting the sage and many other statues of Ganga and Bhagirata, Rama and Sita. We poured the water from the confluence over the black stone.

It was a wonderful feeling to be in such a holy place, undisturbed by crowds. The sand was very clean and we could walk barefoot for miles along the shore. At the time when we went there were no posh hotels and roadside vendors or greedy priests. In fact, we stayed in a very modest guest house.

Sitting alone on the beach at sunset I was enveloped by the vibrations of the great sage - Kapila. He is the one who has given us the great philosophy of the Samkhya. This is what makes our land truly holy. Every grain of sand has been energised by the feet of all the great souls and avatars that have trod over this ancient land. I felt truly blessed to be in such a place.

Jai Ma Gange!