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THE GANGES.‏

O Lord of Madhu, as the Ganges forever flows to the sea without hindrance, let my attraction be constantly drawn unto You without being diverted to anyone else.
(Srimad Bhagavatam------1:8:42-------translation).

The Ganges water is accepted as pure, and one can become purified after taking a bath in the waters of the Ganges.
(Srimad Bhagavatam------1:18:18--------purport).

Tulasī leaves and Ganges water, with, if possible, a little pulp of sandalwood, is sufficient paraphernalia to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord says in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.26):
patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati
tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ
"If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it."

(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta---------1:30:70--------purport).

The Lord sanctified the River Yamunā from the beginning of His transcendental pastimes in the world. While His father Vasudeva was crossing the Yamunā with the baby Lord Kṛṣṇa for a safe place at Gokula on the other bank of the river from Mathurā, the Lord fell down in the river, and by the dust of His lotus feet the river at once became sanctified. It is especially mentioned herein that Mahārāja Parīkṣit took shelter of that particular river which is beautifully flowing, carrying the dust of the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa, mixed with tulasī leaves. Lord Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet are always besmeared with the tulasī leaves, and thus as soon as His lotus feet contact the water of the Ganges and the Yamunā, the rivers become at once sanctified. The Lord, however, contacted the River Yamunā more than the Ganges.
(Srimad Bhagavatam------1:19:6--------purport).

In the book Stavāvalī (Vraja-vilāsa-stava 74) the following verse is found:
nīcaiḥ prauḍha-bhayāt svayaṁ sura-patiḥ pādau vidhṛtyeha yaiḥ
svar-gaṅgā-salilaiś cakāra surabhi-dvārābhiṣekotsavam
govindasya navaṁ gavām adhipatā rājye sphuṭaṁ kautukāt
tair yat prādurabhūt sadā sphuratu tad govinda-kuṇḍaṁ dṛśoḥ
"With humility caused by great fear, Indra took hold of the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa and, in the company of a surabhi cow, performed His coronation festival by bathing Him with the waters of the heavenly Ganges River. Thus Lord Kṛṣṇa's kingship over the cows became splendidly manifest. I pray that Govinda-kuṇḍa, the lake created by that ceremonial bath, may eternally appear before my eyes."

(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta---------2:18:37--------purport).

The water of the Ganges sanctifies all the three worlds, including the gods and the demigods, because it emanates from the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the fountainhead of the principle of viṣṇu-tattva, and therefore shelter of His lotus feet can deliver one from all sins, including an offense committed by a king unto a brāhmaṇa.
(Srimad Bhagavatam------1:19:7--------purport).

The River Ganges is celebrated as the wife of the sea. The seat of kuśa straw is considered to be sanctified if the straw is taken out of the earth complete with root, and if the root is pointed toward the east it is considered to be auspicious.
(Srimad Bhagavatam------1:19:17--------purport).

The topics of Lord Kṛṣṇa are so auspicious that they purify the speaker, the hearer and the inquirer. They are compared to the Ganges waters, which flow from the toe of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
(Srimad Bhagavatam------2:1:1--------purport).

Wherever the Ganges waters go, they purify the land and the person who bathes in them.
(Srimad Bhagavatam------2:1:1--------purport).

The fruits and flowers are available from the body of the earth, and yet mother earth is worshiped by the sensible devotee with ingredients born from the earth. Similarly, mother Ganges is worshiped by the water of the Ganges, and yet the worshiper enjoys the result of such worship.
(Srimad Bhagavatam------2:6:23--------purport).

There are many rivers in the world which are able to evoke one's sense of God consciousness simply by one's bathing in them, and the River Ganges is chief amongst them.
(Srimad Bhagavatam------3:5:41--------purport).

Whoever touches the water of the Ganges to his head surely touches the lotus feet of the Lord directly and can become free from all effects of sinful acts.
(Srimad Bhagavatam------3:8:5--------purport).

If after taking a bath in the Ganges or being washed of all sins, a man guards himself against committing further sinful acts, then certainly he is delivered. But if he again takes up sinful activities, his bath in the Ganges is as good as that of the elephant, who nicely takes his bath in a river but later spoils the whole thing by covering himself with dust on the land.
(Srimad Bhagavatam------3:8:5--------purport).

The water of the Ganges is purified because it pours forth from the lotus feet of the Lord. Similarly, Bhagavad-gītā is as good as the water of the Ganges because it is spoken from the mouth of the Supreme Lord. So it is with any topic on the pastimes of the Lord or the characteristics of His transcendental activities. The Lord is absolute; there is no difference between His words, His perspiration or His pastimes.
(Srimad Bhagavatam------3:20:5--------purport).

The Ganges water is celebrated as being able to eradicate all kinds of sinful reactions. In other words, when a person takes his bath in the Ganges, he becomes freed from all life's contaminations. The Ganges water is celebrated in this way because it emanates from the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
(Srimad Bhagavatam------4:24:58--------purport).

The Ganges River is known by many names, such as the Bhāgīrathī and the Jāhnavī. It purifies Dhruvaloka and the planets of the seven sages because both Dhruva and the sages have no other desire than to serve the Lord's lotus feet.
(Srimad Bhagavatam------5:17--------summary).

Bathing in the Ganges can certainly cure one of many infectious diseases, but it cannot cleanse one's materially attached mind, which creates all kinds of contaminations in material existence.
(Srimad Bhagavatam------5:18:11--------purport).

Sometimes we see a devotee offering Ganges water to the Ganges. After taking his bath in the Ganges, a devotee takes a palmful of water and offers it back to the Ganges. Actually, when one takes a palmful of water from the Ganges, the Ganges does not lose anything, and similarly if a devotee offers a palmful of water to the Ganges, the Gangesdoes not increase in any way. But by such an offering, the devotee becomes celebrated as a devotee of mother Ganges.
(Srimad Bhagavatam------8:20:21--------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.
(Srimad Bhagavatam------9:9:12--------purport).

The body is subject to its own principles of birth, death, old age and disease, but one who is situated in spiritual life (yato bhaktir adhokṣaje) has no birth, no death, no old age and no disease. One may argue that we may see a person who is spiritually engaged twenty-four hours a day but is still suffering from disease. In fact, however, he is neither suffering nor diseased; otherwise he could not be engaged twenty-four hours a day in spiritual activities. The example may be given in this connection that sometimes dirty foam or garbage is seen floating on the water of the Ganges. This is called nīra-dharma, a function of the water. But one who goes to the Ganges does not mind the foam and dirty things floating in the water. With his hand, he pushes away such nasty things, bathes in the Ganges and gains the beneficial results. Therefore, one who is situated in the spiritual status of life is unaffected by foam and garbage—or any superficial dirty things.
(Srimad Bhagavatam------10:4:20--------purport).

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