Ganga on the Gharial:
Namaste
I love India, and one of the many reasons is the outstanding animals and wildlife.
I love the Indian Elephant. Who doesn't? I can give a very long list of Indian wildlife that I love, and of course I love the beautiful cows of India. And I even love the Crocodile.
A good Punjabi friend of mine (Devraj, where are you?) who returned to India use to often say (about some of those who were of another religion unnamed), to watch out, they cry "crocodile tears". That meant, the Lord Crocodile will smile while lying, the Lord of the Holy Rivers can cry many tears to make you think that Their Sympathy is especially for you who has lost your leg, but the Mother Crocodile teaches Her baby, "it is no sin and no karma if we lie, or cry fake tears of grief, for we are crocodile, and our religion says we can lie and cry many tears, the end justifies the means, and the means is to bite them".
So we see the Lord Crocodile has this bad reputation.
But despite that, I love the Crock nevertheless. Why? Well one reason is Mother Ganga.
When I think of Ganga, most often I see Kashi.
Kashi is considered the City Never Foresaken by Shiva. It is the City of Light and the City of Shiva, and one of the many reasons is Ma Ganga. All the Gods have come to Kashi, including Ganga. Kashi is so old, the oldest City, it is considered existing even before Ganga Devi was touching Kashi. Today Ganga flows North to South in crescent shape and touches many of the holy tirthas there, the ghats and She is revered. The City is also called Varanasi, or where the Varana and Asi rivers join the Ganges. You may already know this, but just sharing such information can even bring blessings. There is also found the Panch Ganga Ghat where is worshipped the confluence of five sacred rivers Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Dhootpapa and Kirinna. The Ganga Jal from here can give moksha, certainly the blessings are fantastic.
Mother Ganga is associated with all aspects of Hinduism, and like Hanuman, interweaves all sects Shaiva, Vaishnava, Shakta, and She is special to Karttikeya Muruga. She is a unifier of Hinduism just as blades of dry grass are interweaved to form a basket. This basket of Hinduism floats on the Ganga, so She is the Mother of Hinduism today, just as Saraswati is the Mother of Sanatana Dharma from Vedic times. Not all agree with the encompassing histories of Her, so in presenting my understanding may lead to jalpa. I see Her as a partner of Agni, Vishnu, Shiva, not necessarily and directly the Wife of, and She is understood by me to be the sister of Parvati, it was Ganga who embraced Skanda and thus also Mother of Karttikeya-Muruga, and in so many way unites all of us as Hindus to be friends forever. I love Her also as Goddess or Devi in Her own right. The stories of Her and the descent are ready and available to you to hear of, so no need to go into these wonders, you will enjoy this adventure as explained by yogis, gurus, text and so on.
But I will mention one aspect anyway even though it may start jalpa, because I love what was shared and explained to me, so briefly sharing some seems of little harm, at least I hope not.
It has to do with Her mount, Her Vahana, the magara, and it is the Crocodile. Actually, there is a divine being called Makara which can be part fish, part crocodile who has a long nose like an elephant. Also Makara can manifest as a midget man.
But I see Her on the crock. And there are two crocks in India, the Mugger which looks more typical of the crocks found in the world, and the Stunning Gharial, which has a long nose with a knob at the end that can emit a hissing sound. In fact the Gharial indeed has the looks of the Makara.
Firstly, when I think of Ganga in Murthi form, I see Her not only as Ganga Lal and the Beauty of Her Waves, I see a beautiful Goddess. Next to Her, or upon which She is mounted, the Crocodile, for I always see Her mounted on a Crocodile, and the crocodile I see Her on is the Gharial, which is beautiful, grows to over 20 feet long and 2,000 pounds. This Crocodile of merit also serves to eat any bodies which by chance are not fully cremated but find their way into Ganga or other rivers. To me, this is the mount of Ganga, that is what is Her Vahana to me. She (Gharial) predates the most ancients.
But today some mysterious disease has come to Her, the beloved Gharial. In 2006 there were 2000 in Ganga and the other Holy Rivers. Then the disease came. Gharial was on the brink. In the kidney were found white powder. Crytalized uric acid, a sign of kidney poisoning typically from toxins.
On the snout of the male is the ball, which makes a hissing sound. The snout may get caught up in modern plastic fishing-line like nets used by some fishermen which get lost in the water.
But it appears the toxins are the problem. And it appears it is coming from the Yamuna River. There use to be 40 species of fish in areas of the Yamuna. Now there is only one. ATilapia – an introduced fish species, not even native. Also fish eat toxins. And Gharial eat fish.
The Yamuna is so polluted in some places, you will probably die if you drink the water directly. To me, the Ganga is always pure, no matter if polluted. But this is on the spiritual level. The pollution of either, isn't good for the Gharial. The same holds true for the Yamuna.
It looks like there is now only one tiny island where the baby Gharial hatch and takes over crowded steps of life. Well, the only one found. Located in a sanctuary, the National Chambal Sanctuary, but it recently collapsed in a monsoon.
It appears the cause of the mysterious disease is in the Yamuna.
You may not think of the Gharial as the mount of Ganga. After all, there is also the Mugger Crocodile. As mentioned, She is also seen mounted on half crocodile and half fish. But please, pray to help the beloved Gharial. She is not the only one suffering. Now they are finding mass die off of fish themselves. I think the Mugger is next.
Om Namah Sivaya
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