The River Ganga is exalted
as someone who provides salvation to even those who are utterly unfit. The
Padma Puran tells us that while sons may abandon their parents, wives their
husbands and friends, their dearest friends, the Ganga abandons no one. A legend
associated with Pandit Jagannatha stands as a testimony to this all embracing
nature of the River.
Jagannatha, a Brahmin
from the 17th century was declared an outcaste on account of
his love affair with a Muslim woman. So, the Pandit went to Varanasi to try and
restore his status as a Brahmin. However, shunned by all and devoid of all hope
of acceptance, Jagannatha sat atop the Panchganga Ghat alongwith his beloved and composed an ode to the River
Goddess. Poetically, his composition had 53 verses to correspond to the 52
steps of the Ghat and the stepping
ground
The poetry begins
You
were sent for the salvation of the world by Shiva, Lord of Lords….
It continues
I
come to you as a child to his mother
I
come as an orphan to you, moist with love
I
come without refuge to you, giver of sacred rest
I
come a fallen man to you, uplifter of all
I
come undone by disease to you, the perfect physician
I
come, my heart, dry with thirst, to you, ocean of sweet nectar
Do
with me whatever you will
It concludes
Take us
into your embrace for ever for Moksha sublime bliss for ever
The legend says that as
Pandit Jagannath composed his 53 verses of Ganga Lahari, the river rose step by
step. At the penultimate hymn, the waters touched the feet of the poet and his
beloved and at the last verse, purified them, embraced them, and carried them
away.
The River is the Mother who
loves and claims the child who has been rejected even by the outcastes, criticized
even by the madmen and rejected by the other
tirthas. There are plenty who care for the good, but who cares for the
Sinner except for the one who has only Love in her heart.
The entire Ganga Lahri can
be accessed here
Adopted from: India, A
sacred Geography by Diana L Eck
