Ganga Sagara Mela – Cherish austerity done for a noble cause

Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. On the occasion of the Ganga Sagar Mela, let's understand the significance of this day.

The biggest mela within the Vedic calendar is the Kumbha Mela. But that is not an annual festival. The second biggest is the Ganga Sagar Mela.

And that is an annual festival. So this signifies the success of Bhagirath, King Bhagirath's enormous endeavor in trying to get Ganga to come from the heavens down to the earth. So Ganga Sagar is the place where the Ganga meets with the ocean.

The rivers, they flow from distant places, say in the mountains or wherever. And then they move downwards and when they reach the ocean, then the river's journey is said to have completed. So similarly, although the Ganga flows from the heavens and it flows down to the lower planets also, but within its earthly manifestation, its journey begins from Gangotri and it comes down to the Ganga Sagar point where it unites with the ocean, the Bay of Bengal.

The Indian Ocean over there. So now when this happens, this signifies that the journey has completed. And King Bhagirath was a great king in the Sola dynasty, Suryavamsa, in which later Lord Ram appeared.

And he performed this Herculean austerity for thousands of years to get Ganga to appear in this world. So Ganga is Vishnupadodaki. She is coming from the feet of Lord Vishnu and therefore she is extremely auspicious.

So when Lord Vamana penetrated the universal coverings at that time, the water from the Karana Sagar mixed with the Charanamrit, mixed with the water from the Kamandalu of Brahmaji, that came and that touched the feet of Lord Vishnu. And because of that it became further supremely auspicious and that started flowing down through the heavens as the Ganga. Now Maharaj Sagar was to perform an Ashwamedh Yajna.

He was an ancestor of King Bhagirath. And as he was supposed to perform the Ashwamedh Yajna, he sent a horse around. But the horse got lost and it was stolen by Indra and Indra kept it near Kapila.

Kapila Rishi who was performing austerities in the Kapila Ashram. And then that is also the place where Ganga Sagar is presently located. Now sage sons of King Sagar who were Hafti princes, they came in search of the horse and when they saw it next to sage Kapila, they thought that he is the culprit who has stolen the horse and they started attacking him.

So Kapila just opened his eyes and just by his ascetic power they got burned to ashes. And because they had contemplated the sinful act of attacking the sage, they had been contaminated by sin and they did not attain an auspicious destination. That's why it was decided that the descendants of Anshuman, who was a grandson of King Sagar, he decided to perform austerities at the advice of the sages and other higher beings.

That he should get the Ganga down to the earth so that they will become purified. He started the austerity but he couldn't complete it. And one of his descendants was Bhagirathi and King Bhagirath.

So Bhagirathi is the name of Ganga because Ganga was brought down by Bhagirath. So she is like his daughter and that's why he is called as Bhagirathi. Kuntibhoja's adopted daughter is called as Kunti.

So now when Bhagirath performed austerities, he first went to the Himalayas and performed severe austerities to Brahmaji. And Brahmaji being pleased, he said that yes, Ganga will come. But when she comes, the way she falls will be very difficult to tolerate.

So you please pray to Lord Shiva, propitiate him and then he can take the falling Ganga on his Jata and he will be able to bear the impact. And Brahmaji agreed. Bhagirath immediately assented and started performing austerities.

Lord Shiva was pleased by the austerities and he said, what you are doing is a very noble task. So surely I will aid you and let Ganga come. And Ganga came down forcefully and Lord Shiva just took her in a Jata and he just completely caught her over there and slowed her down, steadied her impact and then released her.

Ganga tried to free by her own means but she couldn't. Lord Shiva's power was enormous. And then Ganga started flowing down, down and as it swept down through the course, then it came to the ashram of Janu and it just sort of blew away his ashram, its floor.

So he got angry and he took up the Ganga and drank up the Ganga practically speaking. And then that was a calamity and Bhagirath prayed to him, begged him, he says, please let the Ganga go to purify the whole world and purify my ancestors also. So then at his prayers and Ganga's repentance, he released and Ganga came out and she is also known as Janavi because of that.

And as Ganga kept flowing, Ganga water touched the ancestors of Sagar and they all became purified and then Ganga reached the destination. So this Mela signifies the success of noble endeavors. Trying to similarly let the nectarean river of Krishna Prem flow through our heart is also an austerity and this is not a festival the devotees celebrate normally.

It is not a major Vaishnava festival. But devotees can take inspiration that we also have to perform austerity to get the river of Krishna Prem to flow through our heart and through our heart to the hearts of others and to inundate the world with its richness and sweetness. And we can take inspiration from the persistent austerities of Maharaj Bhagirath and his ancestors.

Similarly, the acharyas have performed austerities to get this spiritual knowledge and the process of devotional service down to us, make it available to us. And we can also keep it, do whatever little austerities we have to do in our sadhana, in our outreach so that this nectar flow of Krishna consciousness can keep going on and benefiting the world.