Holy waters

King Bhagirath did a long tapasya penance to bring Ganga to this mortal world for the salvation of the souls of his dead ancestors. Pleas...

King Bhagirath did a long tapasya penance to bring Ganga to this mortal world for the salvation of the souls of his dead ancestors. Pleased with the King8217;s tapasya, Ganga manifested to him. She promised to descend from heaven to earth, provided someone contained her mighty cascading flow. Bhagirath did more tapasya. Lord Shiva was propitiated. He absorbed the torrential flow of Ganga in his matted hair jatayen. From thence flowed Ganga forever as a river on this earth. Immersed in the holy waters of the divine Ganga, the souls of Bhagirath8217;s ancestors got salvation.

This well-known mythical story that appears in the Bhagvat Purana gives significance to Haridwar as a tirath a place of pilgrimage. Down the ages, Hindus have been seeking salvation for the souls of their dead kin by immersing their ashes in the sacred waters of the Ganga at Haridwar.

Thus, journey to a tirath, a place of pilgrimage, becomes an archetypal symbol. The holy scriptures postulate that man comes to this world as a pilgrim and goes to his original home after completing the allotted journey. This connotation of life as a journey gives pilgrimage its value.

The root of tirath is 8216;tri8217; with the suffix 8216;th8217; added to it. 8216;Tri8217; stands for 8216;tir8217;, that is a riverbank. Therefore, it means to cross over the 8216;bhavsagar8217; of unrighteousness, of trials and tribulations, to swim across the river of ignorance to the realm of knowledge. The suffix 8216;th8217; connotes 8216;pavitramabji8217;, that is 8216;piety8217; of 8216;sanctity8217; After a visit to a 8216;tirath8217;, and a dip in the holy waters there, for example in the rivers Ganga or Yamuna, a pilgrim is sanctified with piety and godly grace. By implication, holy waters cleanse a man of all sins, dirt and dross. He experiences a renewal of life.

Tiraths, by and large, are situated on the banks of rivers or lakes. The Vedas propound that water is the main source of fertility. It is symbolic of spiritual awakening and existential revitalisation. Pilgrims return home with containers full of 8216;water of salvation8217; of the Ganga and many other rivers. Water sustains human life. And so does a tirath which sustains our faith in the omniscient, omnipotent God.

8216;Tri8217; also means three. According to the ancient scriptures, there are four 8216;essentials8217;, for a man to realise in this world. They are dharam righteousness, arth wealth, kaam desire and moksha deliverance. Of the four, arth, that is money, a pilgrim has and spends on the pilgrimage. Without money no pilgrimage can be undertaken. It is for the achievement of the remaining three 8212; dharam, kaam and moksha 8212; that one undertakes an arduous journey to a place of pilgrimage.