To Nanda about The Picture Show, and several Questions for Swamiji

[Guest guest]

Nanda wrote:

 

....I googled on "Ganga Mata" and found a picture that I put on our home

page

<>

 

The picture is from the site http://www.sivananda.dls.org.za/Ganga.htm

<http://www.sivananda.dls.org.za/Ganga.htm> and has some interesting

articles about Arati to Mother Ganga and Swami Sivanandaji's love for

Mother Ganga...

 

 

 

Dear Nanda ~ I love the picture of Ganga Mata that you put on the

site. That is one of the most gorgeous pictures I've ever seen. I also visited

the website, which I hope everyone will do ... the prayers, the pictures ... all

are still imbuing me with a feeling of bliss. And then I remembered ... over

a year ago, when I was staying with some friends in Albequerque, my friend,

Boo (yes, that's the name she goes by) had recently returned from a visit to

India. She had gone as part of her Master's Degree (she's a nurse) in

Alternative Healing. Before I left, she came and handed me a little pot. The

writing was Sanskrit. She told me she had gotten it in India, and it had water from

the Ganges in it. The pot is sealed, so it is never meant to be opened.

Perhaps someone can explain this part to me and the significance of having a

sealed pot of Ganges water around. I have always had an indescribable feeling

about it, and, though I have often wanted to break the seal and open it, I've

never done so. And just now, thinking about the little pot that was given to me,

I am reminded of the "establishing the pot" part of the puja. So, thank you

Nanda, and here is a question for Swamiji ...

 

Dear Swamiji, Thank you for giving me so much to think about and discover. I

am wondering about the relationship of all the pots. As I mentioned in the

digest, a friend gave me a tiny sealed pot with Ganges water in it. Can you

tell me the significance of having this pot? Is it something that would be good

to put on my altar?

 

Is "my" little pot in any way related to the vessel, the Kamendelu, that

Brahma took Ganga into so He could take Her to marry Shiva? And is it ("my" pot,

and/or the Kamendelu) related to the pot in which Brahma originally brought

Her to Narayana? And are any of these pots related to the pot that is

established during a puja?

 

I am always interested in making connections, and just reading the story of

Ganga and the third chapter of the Cosmic Puja, where a light bulb went on

inside my head as I read the Ganga Mantra, seemed to indicate some connections.

 

Thank you again Swamiji, not only for your time, but for giving us the tools

for our sadhana and our growth. I can't help it; I am constantly amazed. Jai

Swamiji ~ Linda