The sun shined thru the narrow windows and alleys
of Varanasi. It was a cold morning with only the chills of the night ushering
the splendor of prayer incense. Walking thru the streets with passing cows,
pilgrims and residents, going about their daily lives was a dream. Waking
before the sunrise and reaching Kedarth Ghat was a truly an experience that
would last me a life time.
Then the Ganga arose covered with a blanket
of blue midst in the light of the morning sun. The light shined thru a narrow
walkway. Almost like the light at the end of the tunnel, but only this time it
was real. The Sun was bright and full of day. The entire eastern bank was
blinded in the brilliance. If I ever
wondered what lies at the end of the tunnel, it would be this day at the divine
Ganga.
The Ganga is the source of all water in
this world, therefore the sustainer of all live on earth. It is revered as the
giver and the remover. Because it gives us so much and therefore it has to take
everything else too. On one end of the Ganga, the pilgrims are dipping
themselves in the river and offering prayers in chilling waters. In another
end, the partially cremated bodies are being dumped into the Ganga. She does
not distinguish the two. Both are welcomed and both are cleansed and consumed. Ganga removes the fear of death and joy of birth.
She does so by making herself consume all the good and that is vile in this
world. All that is thrown at her is consumed. Eventually she rains by making
you submit to her still and calmness. Imagine, this has been going on since the
discovery of the power of water has on life on earth.
The Ganga makes you listen to the cries of
joy and death, the morns of happiness and bereavement. The sounds of both
eventually merge in to an erect awareness that is both active and still. She
reminds us that the joy of birth and fear of death is what is filling her
belly. Her restitution has no end. However, she longs to be loved and hated. She
dares to show her fury when she must, only to gain her place at the feet of
Kasi Viswanath. She flows ever closer to the “still and erect one”, that is her
promise to Varanasi.
