“Thus I went to Bengal, and I was very happy to see My mother, the River Ganges and the devotees.” (CC Madhya 17.72)
Ganga is now legally a person!
Uttarakhand HC recognizes River Ganga as first living entity of India
By Rashmi Mishra | Published: March 20, 2017
Most of the millennial grown up in the Hindu Indian households have seen River Ganga as goddess like figure in mythological serials. Well, on March 20, Uttarakhand High Court legally recognized Ganga River as a person. The Ganges has been recognized as India’s first living entity, in a landmark ruling by the Uttarakhand High Court. One of the largest rivers in India, River Ganges is considered to be the holiest and holds a high place in the mythology of India.
High Court has directed the Centre to recognize River Ganga and River Yamuna as living entities of India. The court also ruled the government to form a Ganga Administration Board for cleaning and better maintenance of the most important and scared river of the country.
Earlier in the month, the Uttarakhand high court came heavily down upon the Union and Uttarakhand state government for doing “nothing concrete” to clean the Ganga River. The HC slammed them for wasting efforts on reviving a lost River Saraswati but not taking efforts on maintaining the River Ganga which if given proper attention will once again flow in its full glory. They noticed a lot of effort was going into tracing the “invisible” Sarawasti River but the visible river was getting no attention. “The Ganga should be saved for the generations to come,” the court added.
A similar ruling was passed out in New Zealand when their parliament passed a bill declaring 145km long Whanganui River as a living entity. The river became the first in the world to be legally recognised as a living entity and was granted the same rights as a human being. Well, River Ganga of India joins the coveted list of rivers given the same rights as of a human.
SB 8.21.4 P Bali Maharaja Arrested by the Lord
Here we understand that the Ganges began when the water from Lord Brahma’s kamandalu washed the lotus feet of Lord Vamanadeva. But in the Fifth Canto it is stated that the Ganges began when Vamanadeva’s left foot pierced the covering of the universe so that the transcendental water of the Causal Ocean leaked through. And elsewhere it is also stated that Lord Narayana appeared as the water of the Ganges. THE WATER OF THE GANGES, THEREFORE, IS A COMBINATION OF THREE TRANSCENDENTAL WATERS, AND THUS THE GANGES IS ABLE TO PURIFY THE THREE WORLDS. THIS IS THE DESCRIPTION GIVEN BY SRILA VISVANATHA CAKRAVARTI THAKURA.
SB 9.9.12 T The Dynasty of Amsuman
yaj-jala-sparsa-matrena
brahma-danda-hata api
sagaratmaja divam jagmuh
kevalam deha-bhasmabhih
SYNONYMS
yat-jala–whose water; sparsa-matrena–simply by touching; brahma-danda-hatah–those who were condemned for offending brahma, the self; api–although; sagara-atmajah–the sons of Sagara; divam–to the heavenly planets; jagmuh–went; kevalam–only; deha-bhasmabhih–by the remaining ashes of their burnt bodies.
TRANSLATION
BECAUSE THE SONS OF SAGARA MAHARAJA HAD OFFENDED A GREAT PERSONALITY, THE HEAT OF THEIR BODIES HAD INCREASED, AND THEY WERE BURNT TO ASHES. BUT SIMPLY BY BEING SPRINKLED WITH WATER FROM THE GANGES, ALL OF THEM BECAME ELIGIBLE TO GO TO THE HEAVENLY PLANETS. WHAT THEN IS TO BE SAID OF THOSE WHO USE THE WATER OF MOTHER GANGES TO WORSHIP HER?
PURPORT
Mother Ganges is worshiped by the water of the Ganges: a devotee takes a little water from the Ganges and offers it back to the Ganges. When the devotee takes the water, mother Ganges does not lose anything, and when the water is offered back, mother Ganges does not increase, but in this way the worshiper of the Ganges is benefited. Similarly, a devotee of the Lord offers the Lord patram puspam phalam toyam–a leaf, flower, fruit or water–in great devotion, but everything, including the leaf, flower, fruit and water, belongs to the Lord, and therefore there is nothing to renounce or to accept. One must simply take advantage of the bhakti process because by following this process one does not lose anything but one gains the favor of the Supreme Person.