From time immemorial, it has been acknowledged that the highest human achievement is the conquest of the mind. “He who has conquered his mind can easily conquer the world” say the wise. In simple terms, to conquer the mind means keeping it clean and free of impurities caused by sinful thoughts. He who strives to do this is sure to find success and above all peace while dealing with day to day activities; and in addition, it pays rich dividends in his search for salvation as well, said Swami Mukundananda in a discourse. In this context it is interesting to observe and analyse the staunch prevailing belief about the sacredness and the sanctifying power of the waters of the Ganga based on what the scriptures claim. The river is personified as a goddess and bathing in the Ganga is believed to purify and absolve people of sins.
Pitted against this idea are also arguments that question the truth and validity of this belief. Does this mean that those who happen to live on the banks of the Ganga and have occasion to bathe in the waters daily are cleansed of their sins? Or is the fish that lives in the Ganga able to achieve moksha by virtue of its association with the Ganga? To answer these, one has to understand the meaning of ‘bathing’ in the Ganga and the state of one’s mind when bathing. It is not just washing the physical self to clean the external impurities. It is the awareness of the symbolic impurity such as sinful thoughts that reside in the individual’s mind. One has to consciously empty the mind of these to attain purity. Otherwise his Ganga ‘Snan’ is like immersing a bottle of dirty water in the Ganga. No matter how long it is immersed in water, if the dirty water does not come into contact with the Ganga, it continues to be dirty.
