In their journey to Self-realization, many learned saints, spiritual leaders and divine souls have came to the banks of Ganga. They have come with the aastha (faith) that Gangajal is the direct wire to the Divine. Many prominent Hindu spiritual masters have not only reached enlightenment on her banks but have also risen deeply in love with her.
In fact, it is said that Ganga and revered saints have a very special relationship. In the Puranic story of Ganga’s descent to Earth to answer King Bhagiratha’s intense tapasya (penance) and liberate the souls of his ancestors, Ganga asks him, “All the sinners of this world will wash their sinful bodies in my holy waters. Where shall I wash the immense store of sins deposited in my watery body?” King Bhagiratha replies, “O Sacred Mother! Holy saints will bathe in Ganga and purge you of all your sins, because Lord Vishnu, the dispeller of all sins, dwells in their heart (29).”
H.H. Swami Sivanandaji instructed seekers in his book Mother Ganga to come “sit alone on the banks of the Ganga. Meditate. Concentrate. Realise how spiritual vibrations accelerate your inner heart, even overriding your guilty conscience. Where one experiences the supreme joy that fills you now (all of a sudden). How does She instantaneously withdraw your mind and conscience from the physical world to the regions of immortality, only to suckle you with bliss and blessedness! (19)”