"Mother Ganga: The Holy River" | CALL OF THE GANGES
In the contemporary, mostly Western-influenced model of success, most spend their lives aiming to achieve false socially determined markers – but wisdom is not in facts or figures; elaborates Chaitanya Pathak
On the auspicious occasion of Ganga Dusshera – the day when Mother Ganga flowed on to Earth, the Call of Ganga, a new book by Pujya Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, Secretary, General of the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance and President of the Divine Shakti Foundation, was launched at Parmarth Niketan ashram by HH Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Spiritual Head and President of Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh, Pujya Shri Muralidhar, renowned kathakar and other dignitaries.
The launch took place during a huge Shri Rama Katha celebration and was broadcast live across not only India but more than 100 countries around the world.
Joining in the launch were Narendra Kumar and Ashish Gosain, publishers of Har-Anand Books, New Delhi, the publisher of Call of Ganga, and Pujya Sadhvi Bhagawati’s earlier book, From Illness to Wellness.
The new book, a compilation of articles that Sadhvi Bhagwati has written across the twenty-three years that she has spent in India by the banks of Ganga, was presented to the Cabinet Minister of Jal Shakti (Water Resources), Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on June 13, following the auspicious day of Nirjala Ekadashi.
In discussing her work, Pujya Sadhvi stated, “It was 23 years ago, today, while pursuing a PhD in the United States that I came to India and sat on the banks of Ma Ganga. I didn’t know much about India or about Ganga but, sitting there on the banks of Ganga’s rushing waters, I was transformed. Mother Ganga became my life. I stayed in India and found peace, not in the comfort of physical things, but in the lap of Ma Ganga. I have seen how She touches and transforms so many people.
“It’s so very special for me to release this new book on Ganga Dusshera, as not only is it the auspicious day that Mother Ganga flowed onto Earth, but it is also the day I took official sanyas diksha, in 2000.
“I am beyond grateful to Mother Ganga for grabbing my heart and pulling me to Her waters and transforming me with Her darshan when I arrived, to Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati for blessing my life with his presence and grace. My great thanks also to Narendra Kumar and Ashish Gosain for their vision and their invaluable assistance in seeing that this book was published.” She said in great joy at the launch of her book that records her inspiring spiritual journey in India.
