Mystical Powers Of the Ganga

May 18, 2002, 12.00am IST.

What makes a place sacred? A place where meditation is practised over many years automatically acquires certain powers. The place gets charged with the energy and vibrations from peaceful thoughts. Depending on the intensity of meditators, the sanctity and power of a particular place can thus remain charged, exuding powerful vibrations, for thousands of years. The Parshvanath Hills is one such place. Twenty-two of the 24 Jain Tirthankaras attained nirvana on this hill, and these enlightened persons were separated by thousands of years.


When a Tirthankara leaves his body, the equivalent of an atomic explosion takes place. The energy that united body and soul is released. This power is dispersed on the hill. The whole atmosphere and surroundings get surcharged. What the Parshvanath Hills are to the Jains, the Ganga is to the Hindus.

Lord Krishna said, ‘‘Among the armed, I am like Ram; I am like a crocodile among fish and the Ganga among rivers. Dear Arjuna, I am the beginning, the end and even the middle of existence’’. The symbolism of the Ganga is worth understanding. Take away the Ganga from India and all the literature of India will become incomplete. Take away the Ganga and the names of many sages will perish; the spirit of pilgrimage will be lost. The Ganga has become the symbol of our collective spirit.

What is so special about the Ganga? There are rivers that are much longer, wider, larger, than the Ganga on this planet — the Brahmaputra, the Amazon, the Nile and the Hwang Ho...There is something unique about the Ganga that is not found in any of these great rivers: despite all the pollutants being pumped into the Ganga, it has somehow managed to maintain its relative purity. Chemically, it contains extraordinary properties — its water does not putrefy or deteriorate even if kept bottled for long, unlike the water from other rivers. It is interesting to know that the water of the Ganga has properties different from those of other rivers but which seem to undergo a mystical change once they flow into the Ganga’s waters. This is a mystery that even science has not been able to understand, as yet.

Water is held to be sacred: Christians use it for baptism, for instance. The man who baptised Jesus Christ, John de Baptist, came to be known as John the Baptist. He would immerse himself and the candidate neck deep in the waters of the Jordan — considered holy like our Ganga — and, placing his hands on the initiate’s shoulders, would complete the formalities for his investiture.

Thousands of people attaining the highest stage of life have lived near the Ganga. Pilgrim centres, temples, ashrams and meditation centres have been built on her banks. Many a seeker has attained spiritual insights seated by the Ganga. And the water soaks up these vibrations and absorbs them, getting spiritually charged in a special way. For millions of years, sages sought out God on the banks of the Ganga. And whenever someone attained God, the Ganga was not left untouched — when this happened, the Ganga was also blessed.

The Ganga is not just a river; it also symbolises a spiritual journey. That is why people have been travelling to the Ganga. Our sins do not get washed away due to the flow of the Ganga, but because of the milieu, the environment, the ambience near the Ganga. All these people who have undertaken a spiritual journey to this great river and sat on her banks, meditating, have left their life-energy on the banks of the Ganga.

(Translated from a discourse in Hindi. The Osho World Foundation is hosting a seminar on the Ganga at the Gandhi Smarak Bhavan, New Delhi, on May 19)