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significance of bathing in sacred rivers like Ganga and Yamuna

Posted by Amit Kapoor on April 20, 2010 at 11:41pm

Hare Krishna to all devotees.

I have a doubt about significance of bathing in sacred rivers.

We hear from great saints that if we bath in the holy rivers such as Ganges, our all sins are destroyed and we get the Lord's abode. If it is correct then most of the people in India atleast once in their lifetime bath in these rivers. So do all of them achieve the Vaikuntha?

Secondly, in these rivers there are aquatic animals like fish and other creatures. So do all of them achieve Vaikuntha?

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  • Volunteer
    Gopal das November 21, 2012 at 9:23pm

    THE GANGES.‏

    http://www.iskcondesiretree.net/group/krishnaconsciousness/forum/to...

    THE WATER OF THE GANGES.‏

    http://www.iskcondesiretree.net/group/krishnaconsciousness/forum/to...

  • yuga_avatar_das April 27, 2010 at 11:08am
    Please accept my kind regards amit kapoor for your devotional service to lord sri krishna .Interestingly enough when you bath in the sacred rivers or visit a holy tirtha ,we are truly blessed.However we should ideally avail our selves to taking shelter of pure devotees of lord krishna by giving a submissive ear to listen to their hearts glorifying lord sri krishna!Yes you can become purified by bathing ,however even these sacred rivers become cleansed by the visitation of sri krishnas pure devotees!Acheiving Vaikuntha dhama is certainly available to the sincere devotee.....however the problem is that many devotees are very much absorbed in lusty material desires.Which unless we are progressive to cleans ourselves of will determine our next birth within the material world!Hence the need to chant hare krishna regularly.Which clenses the lusty desires and allows us to become free from the inhibiting laws of material nature and our individual karma!Guru nanak singh was a contemporary of sri chaitanya mahaprabhu,whom also chanted hare krishna ...within the sikh tradition interesting enough,however many of their guru are impersonal and neophyte in comparison to the sublime teachings of vaisnavaism.Hare krishna amit ...hopefully this might help!
  • Amit Kapoor April 26, 2010 at 10:22pm
    Hare Krishna prabhu ji,
    Thanks for replying in so detail. But believe me i was no way making fun of our culture ..
    This question was asked by my friend to me. Actually his guru in punjab (' Radha soami' similar to sikh community) always tell that there is no use of bathing in rivers, ponds etc. Just search the true God inside yourself through meditation.Though i felt bad about their theories on our beliefs but could not answer him properly due to lack of knowledge. so i thought this forum is the right place where i can get the answer with precise explanation.
  • Mahesh Kumar Gandhi April 26, 2010 at 7:59pm
    Hare Krishna Prabhuji,
    You have said : "I have a doubt about...." this means you are not totally negative about significance of bathing. What our great saints have said is after a thorough research carried out by them. They say not just for the sake of saying something. But every pious activity has its procedure and some principles are to be followed. Suppose you are giving any examination and writing answers. You are supposed to reach in time at the exam. hall, you are supposed to sit specifically on your seat, you have to write your answers on specific answer sheet supplied to you. Answering on any piece of paper will disqualify you from the exam. and so on.... So bathing in sacred rivers is also a pious activity and needs some procedures to be followed, then only good results will be seen.
    Do you know how many sins we are committing each second. While we breath in air we kill so many protozoans. While we drink water we kill small protozoans. When we walk on land, we kill inadvertantly many animals. You cannot say I didn't see the animal so it is not my fault. It is the same way as a Court Judge does not accept your argument Your Honour I didn't know about this Legal Law hence it is not my fault. Law presumes that all the legal laws are known to all the human beings whether he is from America or Rusia or India. Ignorance of law is not an excuse in the eyes of Law. Just the same case applies with lord Krsna.
    So if a man takes a holy dip in one of the sacred rivers with a request to Ganges or any other, with an attitude of surrender and repentance for his sins committed in the past, his sins will definitely be washed away. But no sooner he comes out of the water he starts committing the sins all over again. Therefore in our vedas it is expected of all creatures to take name of Lord Krsna with every breath taken in. Since it is not possible, Krsna has specifically asked in Bhagwat Gita to "Mamekam Sharanam......" surrender unto me fully and I will liberate you.
    The question about acquatic animals : They don't know the vedic language and so they will not be affected by the vedic laws. Suppose some one speaks some abusive language which you do not know Say Japanese or Chinese, you will not be able to understand anything and as such remain unaffected.
    I believe you are an Indian a Bharatiya by Birth. It is now-a-days a fashion to crack jokes on our sanskruti. Prabhuji Bharatiya Sanskruti is the best available in the world. It is so deep that you have to dive deep with all your force then only can you see the bottom of it. It takes so many janmas to reach to the bottom.
    World's western countries are seriously studying Bharatiya Sanskruti and you are still joking about it. I feel sorry for you. However I have replied your questions and thats all.
  • Mahek Maheshwari April 21, 2010 at 7:56pm
    yes it is correct that we get purified but its spiritual thing means u should have faith.to the extent of faith it will work.
    another thing is that the people again engages in sinful activities after being purified since they get purified but they committ all great apradh like vaishnav apradh, nama apradh, dham apradh.these apradhas r more dangerous than simple sinful activities.
    thank u
    plz reply
    • Amit Kapoor > Mahek Maheshwari April 21, 2010 at 8:43pm
      Hare Krsna. Thanks for replying to my question. But your answer does not quench my thirst. :) I will be greatful to devotees if they can elaborate their answers/views. please do answer my question 2 as well.
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