ManiKarnika Ghat

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ManiKarnika Ghat

 

Seeing all the miseries of mankind, Lord Shiva, the

eternally compassionate one, cried tears of supreme

sorrow. Rudra decided to perform penance and ask the

Lord Vishnu how to help the helpless of this world.

Lord Madhava is the only one who can grant liberation

- hence Rudra decided to call upon Him to find an

answer for the liberation of all the souls of this

world.

 

So fierce was the penance of Lord Shiva that Lord

Narayana came in person to grant a boon to Ishwara.

The Lord of Vaikuntha asked Lord Shiva to open His

eyes, desist from this penance and ask for any boon He

desired. Seeing the Lord before Him, Shiva bowed and

asked for but one thing, "Please grant an easy route

for salvation to all the creatures of this world.

Their sorrows, caused by ceaseless cycles of birth,

death and karmic entanglements this incurs, grieves me

much. Please find an easy, fool proof route so that

they may be liberated with ease from this cycle of

constant rebirths."

 

Smiling His charming smile, Lord Hiranyagarbha said,

"Thou art the most compassionate being in this

universe. It behoves you to think thus. This sacred

land where you have performed such severe penance for

the good of the world, is so hallowed by your

association, that from this day forth, anyone who

comes here, will attain liberation. This I grant for

your sake, and give you exclusive powers to liberate

all creatures who come to you here."

 

Knowing the capricious nature of souls enmeshed in the

quagmire of samsara, Lord Shiva desired to extend the

terms of the boon. "Lord, please grant such a boon so

that even if the creature that comes here is dead,

their soul should attain liberation."

 

Moved by Rudra's infinite compassion, the Lord Keshava

shook His head in admiration and said, "Thou art

compassion incarnate. I will grant you a boon so that

anyone who comes here, dead or alive, will attain your

grace. Even if a creature dies here; or is cremated

here, having died elsewhere; thou hast the power to

grant them liberation." When the Lord shook His head

in admiration for PashuPatiNath's compassion for all

jivas, one his gem encrusted earrings fell to the

ground, near the kund (pond/ lake) where Lord Shiva

was meditating. The hallowed spot where Lord Shiva

performed his penance and where the Lord's jewelled

earring fell, is the current ManiKarnika ghat (lit -

mani = jewel / karnika = earring / ghat = bathing

place).

 

Later, when the heavenly river Ganges descended to the

earth and purified the souls of Sagar's sons, She

decided to pay homage to Lord VishwaNath's penance and

came to flow past this spot, transforming the ghat of

a small kund (pond/ lake) into a ghat (bathing steps)

on its own mighty banks.

 

>From time immemorial, the burning ghat at ManiKarnika

in Varanasi have attracted those seeking salvation. At

a time when travel was neigh impossible and pilgrimage

across the vast sub-continent a major achievement of

its own, people used to commit ritual suicide at this

ghat so that they may die and be liberated. In those

days, travel was a dangerous adventure and having once

achieved the goal of reaching Kashi, some visitors

felt that it was best to seek salvation here and now,

rather than risk being killed by bandits on the way

back, or dying of illness back home.

 

Currently, this is the busiest burning ghat at Kashi,

and indeed probably the whole world. As a result, most

corpses do not get enough time to burn properly and

are often unceremoniously dumped, half burnt into the

sacred river. A constant stream of corpses come to

this ghat to be burnt, day and night. Between this and

the Harishchandra ghat, the other famous burning ghat

in Kashi, the holy city hums with its own eternal life.

 

 

 

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