When I reached Gangotri after long tedious trek on the outer Himalayas to interior himalayas I felt a certain kind divinity at the place. I am not a very religious guy I respect religion because I respect my ancestors and their beliefs. I think I am not mature and wise enough to disregard the postulates of thousands of my ancestors regarding Religion and there are few other reasons that make me preach Hinduism.
Confusion
I begin to explore the place to find reasons for this divinity. I went to Ganga Maa temple at Gangotri. A white temple made out of white marble, white, just as the white frothy water of river Ganges coming out from the womb of the Great Himalayas. There I saw a bunch of people Enchanting prayers and were in a confused state of mind as they don’t know how to preach Maa Ganga,
They were forwarding Pooja Stuff to Pujari, they brought from the local market and were listening to the mantras chanted by the Pujari and waited for the Prasadam they would get after the Pooja. After this is over their Gangotri trip is over and now they could return to their home. Is that it? the trip is over? if this is the case they may have one of the below-mentioned reason to come to this place.
- To preach Maa Ganga for the religious reasons
- To See the Temple and Place
- Just to accompany their friends and family.
If this is the case they can return to their home because for them the trip is actually over.
I had a different reason, I wanted to know the reason why this place has so much significance.
Pursuit
My mother had instructed me not to go inside the temple as 2 days back my nephew was born and being a Brahmin we don’t go inside the temple and preach god when anyone dies or born in our Kutumb (Extended paternal family). So, I prefer not going to temple instead I went near the Ganga Ghat and rest. I looked upon the Mighty river Ganga, I saw the milky water, Milky because of the snow particle and more because of the air trapped inside the water. I touched and hold the Water on my hands, It was ice cold. Tiny snow particles were dissolving very quickly on my hands because of the warmth. I washed my face several times till the moment my cheeks turned Numb and my mind forgot everything else except river Ganga. The Continual sound of the river will make sweep away every worldly thought out of your mind. I was closer to myself than I ever was, I even forgot my worldly existence i.e my body.
Confrontation
My mind automatically begin asking questions about human existence like who am I? What is the purpose of my life? Where is “I” in me? and what is the truth? whether truth is relative, does it change with people? so many questions my mind begin to ask.
The very moment I saw a sage, on the other side of the river, he was very skinny but Swift though. He was wearing a short saffron dhoti worn in the way Lungi is worn, his face and body covered in ash, Chandan, and Red Teeka in his forehead, very long uncombed hair folded over his head. He had with him a small round vessel.
Standing in the chilling water of river Ganga and pouring water over his head while bathing. He was enchanting mantras while bathing and offering water to Sun, later he joined his hands and offered prayers to lord sun and Maa Ganga. While I was seeing him my mind begins to find the answers to the question it asked earlier.
Truth?
I found that truth is not absolute. To that sage, river Ganga might be Devi Ganga and Sun be the Lord Sun. He believes in his hypothesis and that is his truth. He is living believing this fact and will die someday with the same belief.
The sage since his childhood was taught the facts he believes now, as he believed those facts and now he becomes what he believed. Can you say, he was wrong? was he actually? to this, I would say he wasn’t? because it was his truth (i can only contemplate on his truth, nobody actually knows what was his truth of life) to this fact I could say that you have your own set of truths. You might believe that religion is nothing but a drama living life on morals and content is the way of living. then I would say it is your truth.
A Butcher would say death is an integral element of life. one who is born has to die someday and being a butcher he is only restoring the world order also is getting money to earn his living. while some people would criticize him for his views.
Believing is Becoming
It is now established that it is necessary to have a different set of truths. everybody on this planet is different because he has his own sets of truths and he becomes what he believed. This magical phenomena suppress monotonicity and make the world a better place to live.
This article is based on the truths I believe in, you could have your own sets of truths and you might pick some of my beliefs and discard others. Once you will think about this you will know that this very thought process is the foundation of democracy where we respect truths of every individual.
I found out Gangotri is not because of the Temple but the other way round Temple was because of Gangotri and River Ganga. I found out the significance of this place and decided to go further to Gaumukh, the origin of the river Ganga, to seek more questions and answer to those questions. I’ll post another article on my Gangotri to Gaumukh Trek into the Great Himalayas.
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