Is it described in scriptures that one can get moksha or mukti only by getting a deep or bath in ganga river?

From: chaitanya sharma

See also are scriptural promises exaggerations?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Thank you. Question from Chaitanya Sharma Prabhu.
Is it described in scripture that one can get moksha or mukti just by taking a dip in the Ganga river? Answer, yes, there are statements to that effect. At the same time, these statements, if we look at the scriptures in their broader context, have a deeper meaning. At one level, they encourage that we should do holy purifying activities like bathing in the sacred rivers.
At the same time, they also indicate that ultimately we have to transform our consciousness and we have to develop love for Krishna. In fact, the Srimad Bhagavatam says that that one who thinks that the real purpose of going to the holy place is just to bathe in a river, and one who doesn’t hear from the holy people at the holy places, such a person has the mentality of an ass or a cow, basically the mentality of an unintelligent animal who just sees externals and not the essence. So, the various religious rituals that are described in the scriptures have the potency to bring about dramatic transformation in our consciousness.
But the important thing is that we should desire that transformation. And our desire has to be expressed through our actions, through our life. So, that when one bathes in the Ganga, one can get liberation, is not an exaggeration.
It is a distinctive possibility. And Krishna manifesting his potency in the Ganga river has the potentiality to give us liberation, has that capacity. But we should want that, and we need to express our desire to Krishna through our life.
So, there is another question on the site, are the scriptural promises exaggerations? If you read that, then you will get a clear understanding of this. So, three points that these are certainly possibilities. The potency is there.
But at the same time, we have to express our desire to Krishna sincerely. If we just have a calculative, cunning mindset, that I will get purified and again I will do all my sinful activities, then we cannot cheat Krishna. Krishna’s heart is manifested through these promises and we have to reciprocate with our heart.
If we try to reciprocate with our calculative head, then Krishna will manifest his calculative head and show us how much karma we have to deal with before we can attain liberation. So, yes, we shouldn’t neglect these activities. If we have the opportunity, certainly we can bathe in the Ganga, with the faith that it is extremely powerful.
But also, to avail ourselves of the full benefit of Ganga bath, we need to bathe ourselves in the hearing of Krishna Katha from the devotees, which purifies our hearts and transforms our desires, so that what we will get after moksha, we will want it. The life of love for Krishna is something which we should want, otherwise Krishna will be imposing it on us and that will be a violation of our free will. Therefore, the Ganga can give us moksha, but do we really want the life that comes after moksha? The life of devotion to Krishna, the life of ecstasy, or even the life of freedom from material existence in terms of passive meditation on the Brahman, that is something which, unless our desires are transformed, we will not want it.
And so therefore, Krishna doesn’t violate our free will by imposing on us that which we don’t truly want. And that’s why among these two principles, the scriptural promises which give lofty benefits, and the principle that Krishna doesn’t interfere in our free will. Krishna, because of his respect for our free will, doesn’t let the scriptural promises infringe on our free will.
And that’s why those results may not be manifested all the time, unless we radically alter and redirect our free will. Thank you.