When such parva comes, Ganga comes to every home. In South India, during Diwali the Ganga snan (bath) is done. The usual greeting is, “Have you done Ganga snan?” If you take a cold water bath in the morning, it means you have done Ganga snan.
On the banks of the Ganges, many sadhus do penance and they transfer all the merit in the waters of the Ganga. Teerth ko Sant Puneet banate hai – Teerthani pounaynti sataha!
Jaise teerth sabko puneet karte hai, sadhu ganga ko puneet karte hai. (Just as the Ganges purifies all, the saints purify the Ganges.)
The Ganges is chaitanyamayi (enlivened) hai, brahma roop hai.
As soon as you bathe you feel fresh and new. All the impurities of the mind are washed away. The mind becomes healthy.
I wouldn’t say the same for the Ganges at Kanpur and beyond. The Ganges water should be kept pure. If the Ganges is polluted then its benefit won’t be to the extent of its fame.
The same vasana is transformed into joy and love. When there is contentment and masti, the lust automatically fades away. When the sun is shining, you don’t need a torchlight.
Atma rati - atma me rati lag jaye, ishwar me man lag jaye. (Mind settles into consciousness).
With the rise in tamoguna, laziness develops in the body. When there is no tamoguna, then you get vishram.
In laziness, you don’t gain energy and strength.
If you rest well, you get energy and strength. If you sleep for seven-eight hours, you feel fresh.
If you are simply lying around, there is no enthusiasm, no strength, no freshness. The body is tired, the mind struggles with desires. When body gets rest, and the mind has no feverishness, that is happiness. It brings you strength. Sankalp siddh hone lagta hai. (Intentions start getting fulfilled).
When the mind is ridden with thoughts, then sankalpas don’t come true. When you are happy, sankalpas come true.
When you have desires, you become unhappy and it becomes a vicious cycle.
Try giving your desires to someone at least for sometime. Desires exhibit your tendency to want more. Keep it aside for sometime. See, everything fills up.
At least for sometime, akinchan aur achaha hokar vishram karke dekho. (Become nothing and desireless and experience the relaxed state.)
That's why we think we haven’t changed. Think about it.
From another angle, there are so many changes in you, you are not the same as you were two months ago. Wherever your eye falls, you see I am not the same. I don’t think as before, feel as before. Then you think you are progressing in life. Some walk slowly, some take a big leap.
He, who takes a leap feels it’s a big change. Even if one does not experience a dramatic change, gradually the change happens.
When you look back in life see how much you have changed.