Jahnavi, the Ganga

How ridiculous it sounded when we first heard the story of the sage Jahnu, who after great tapas and meditation, swallowed the entire waters of the Ganges to the last drop and then on the request of an eager student, and for his redemption, poured it all out slowly through his ear. How impossible, and how very ludicrous, physically impossible by any stretch of imagination!
The Ganga has always represented ancient scriptural knowledge. When this knowledge first reaches the ready and pure hearted student, he greedily gulps it all down to the very dregs. We find expressions like “thirst for knowledge” or “drinking at the fount of knowledge”. Such expressions only depict an eager student who swallows down every bit of what the teacher taught, leaving not a drop, and then slowly contemplates deeply on it in his heart.
This is the digestion and assimilation of that knowledge into his own fulfilling experience.
Later, when an honest and pure student approaches such a teacher, the teacher pours it out to the world for the benefit of his beloved student. If the student is not prepared to receive this powerful knowledge, it can totally blast his mind, therefore it needs to be transmitted gradually. This knowledge has to be given out slowly and travels ear to ear.
This is why it is called “Shruti”, that which is heard, and that which enters the mind through the ears. Writing was in a primitive form and printing had not begun. Knowledge got transferred through the oral tradition; the teacher spoke and the student listened. In ancient times great truths were revealed only to the deserving, and therefore they generally appeared wrapped in the mysterious cloak of symbolism.
Prarthna Saran, President Chinmaya Mission Delhi. Email: prarthnasaran@gmail.com