THE STORY OF THE PILGRIM AND THE GANGES

Sham S. Misri

There is a stunning story of the pilgrim and the Ganges which states that once there lived a stupid Brahmin. He inadvertently committed a deadly sin. His spiritual adviser told him, that his guilt could be cleansed and his sin atoned for, only by going and spending the remainder of his life bathing in the Ganges. So he handed over his goods to his son, and set out, with his pot and staff, on his pilgrim- age to the Ganges. After travelling for some days, he came to the bank of a small mountain streamlet, whose waters in the hot season were all but dry. And he said to himself: Doubtless this is the sacred Ganges. So he took up his dwelling on the banks of that stream, bathing every day in such water as he could find. And thus he remained for five years.

Then, one day there passed by that way a Pashu- pata- ascetic. (A particular follower of Shiwa).He said to the Brahman: My son, what are you doing here?

The Brahmin replied: Sir, I am performing penance, for the ending of sin, on the banks of the Ganges.

Then the ascetic said: What has this miserable puddle to do with the Ganges? And the Brahman said:

Is this, then, not the Ganges?

The ascetic laughed in his face, and said: Truly, old as I am, I did not think that there had been folly like this in the world. Wretched man, who has deluded you? The Ganges is hundreds of miles away, and does not resemble this disgraceful brook any more.

Then the Brahman said: Reverend Sir, I am much obliged to you. And taking his pot and staff, he went forward. At length he came to a broad river. And he rejoiced greatly, saying: This must be the sacred Ganges! So he settled on its bank, and remained there for five years, bathing every day in its waters. Then, one day there came by a Kapalika, (Another sect of Shiwa worshippers), who said to him: Why do you remain here, wasting precious time over a river of no account or sanctity, instead of going to the Ganges?

The Brahman was amazed, and said: And is this, then, not the Ganges?

Then, the Kapalika replied: This Ganges! Is a jackal a lion, or a Chandala* a Brahman? Sir, you are dreaming.

*The lowest of all the castes, a synonym for all that is vile and impure, like the "Jew dog" of the Middle Ages.

Then the Brahman said sorrowfully: Worthy Kapalika, I am indebted to you. For intimate was our meeting. Again taking his pot and staff, he went forward, till at length he came to the Narmada River. And thinking: Here, at last, is the sacred Ganges, he was overjoyed; and he remained on its banks for five years, bathing every day in its waters. But one day he observed on the bank near him, a pilgrim like himself, casting flowers into the river, and calling it by its name. So he went up to him and said: Sir, what is the name of this river? And the pilgrim answered: Is it possible that you do not know the holy Narmada?

Then the Brahman sighed deeply. And he said: Sir, I am enlightened by you. And he took his pot and staff, and went forward.

But he was now very old and feeble. And long penance had weakened his frame and exhausted his energies. And as he toiled on in the heat of the day over the burning earth, the sun beat on his head like the thunderbolt of Indra, and struck him with fever. Still he gathered himself together and struggled on, growing weaker and weaker day by day, till at last he could go no further, but fell down and lay dying on the ground. But collecting all his remaining strength, with a last desperate effort he dragged himself up a low hill in front of him. And lo! There before him rolled the mighty stream of the Ganges, with countless numbers of pilgrims doing penance on its banks and bathing in its stream. And in his agony he cried aloud: O Mother Ganges! Alas! Alas! I have pursued you all my life, and now I die here helpless in sight of you. So his heart broke, and he never reached its shore.

But when he got to the other world, Yama said to Chitragupta: What is there down against him? And Chitragupta said: I find against him a terrible sin. But that he has corrected and expiated by fifteen years' penance on the banks of the Ganges. Then that Brahman was amazed, and said: Lord, you are mistaken. I never reached the Ganges. And Yama smiled.

Then the Yama is just, and cannot err; and Chitragupta cannot be deceived. But what is this whole world but illusion! And just as penance performed in an improper spirit, even on

The actual banks of the Ganges would be no true penance, so that poor simple Brahman's penance, performed in the belief that he had reached the Ganges, was counted by that holy One as truly so performed. For men judge by the fallacious ' Yama is the judge of the dead, and Chitragupta his recorder, who keeps account of every man's actions.

Please read the book Maa Ganga Mythology, Mystery and Science by Sham S. Misri and Dr. M.L.Babu