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A LETTER FROM THE MASTER
BY Sri Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath

(Translated by Prof Sadananda Chakrabarti, M.A.)

Sri Sri Gurave Namah

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Sri Ranchorji Ashrama Sri Chandrabhaga Mandir Bet Dwarka Via Okha 2-5-67(B.S.)
GANGA-SAGAR, BENGAL'S SOVEREIGN PLACE OF PILGRIMAGE AT ALL TIMES
Ganga Sagar, Soverign place of pilgrimage at all times, had hither-to been caught

trammels by the designs of Kali (C). The revered Mahamahopadhyaya Thakur Jodendrnath Tarka-Samkhya-Vedānta-Tirtha demonstrated with authoritative references to the Shastras that Ganga-Sāgar is at all times a great place of pilgrimage, that its sanctity is not just confined to the last day of the Bengali month, Pouş.

Witness the Vişñu-Purana:
गङ्गाया च जले मोक्षो वाराणस्यां जले स्थले ।
जले स्थले चान्तरीक्षेगंगासागरसंगमे ॥ (वि ष्णुपुराण )।

- "So far as the Ganges goes, death on its water brings mokşa; as for Varanasi, death on its soil as well as water brings mokşa; but in Ganga Sagar, death anywhere brings moksa, be it on soil, water or air." (The Vişñu Purana).

The Mahābhārata says:
गंगायास्त्वय राजेन्दर् सागरस्य संगमे ।
अश्वमेधादशगुणंप्रबदन्ति मनीषि णः ।। - ( महाभारत )

- "Holy as the Ganges everywhere is, she is surpassingly so in three places, namely Haridwar, Prayag and Gangā-Sāgar". (The Mahabhārata )

गंगायास्त्वय राजेन्दर् सागरस्य संगमे ।
अश्वमेधादशगुणंप्रबदन्ति मनीषि णः ।। - ( महाभारत )

"To bathe in the Ganges at the confluence of Gagnsagar is to obtain ten times the benefit obtainable from the performance of Aswamedha Yngna." (Ibid)
The mantra expressing the resolve to bathe is:
वि ष्णुनमोऽय अश्वमेधयशजन्य फल दशगुण फलकामी गंगा-सागर-संगमे स्नानमहंकरि ष्ये ।

- "Obeisance to Vishnu: Today I shall bathe in Ganga-Sagar to obtain ten-fold the merit due to a performance of Aswamedha Yajna."
Look again at the Mahabharata, Bhisma Parva:

अन्तरीक्षे क्षि ती तोये पापीयानपि यो मृतः।
हरि बक्षशि वः पूज्यंपदमक्षोय्यमश्नुते ।। (महाभारत, गाय पर्व )

- "Even a winner attains moksa adorable to Hari, Brahma and Siva if he expires at Ganga-Sagar, no matter whether on its soil, water or air."
Based on this authority is the form prescribed by the Shastras for expressing the resolve to die in Ganga-Säger which is as follows:
वि ष्णुर्नमोऽद्य सर्वपापक्षयपूर्वक हरि ब्रह्मशि वपूज्यवक्षोय्यपदप्राप्ति कामो गंगासागसंगमे तोये क्षि ती अन्तरीक्षे च
प्राणामहंत्यक्षामि ।

- "Obeisance to Visnu : Today I shall resign my whole being on the soil, water or air of Ganga-Sagar-Sangam to be absolved of all my sins and to pass permanently on to a state prized by Hari, Brahma and Siva."
Says the Skanda Purana:
सर्वतीर्थेषु यत् पुण्यंसर्वदानषे ु यद् भवेत् ।
पूजायाः सर्वदेवानां तपसां यज्ञकर्मणाम् ।।
सर्वपुण्याश्रमाताञ्च यत् पुण्यंसम्प्रजायते।
दर्शनात् स्पर्शनात् पानात् स्नानच्चैवावगाहनात् ।
लभते पुरुषः सर्च' स्नात्वा सागर-संगमे ॥
- The merit that comes from a visit to all places of pilgrimage, that which accrues from of all types, that which proceeds from worship of all Deities, that which austerities, that which follows from Yagnas, that which can be gained by cultivating the virtues, the virtues which come of holy sight, holy touch, holy drink, all these put together go to one who cares simply to bathe.
मनपा सम्मेया सयपु
ष्पाश्रमजन्य पु
ण्य सम पु
ण्य

Sovereign of all holy places, Ganga-sagar is a great place of pilgrimage at all times, To see It, to touch It, to sip It, to dip into It, to bathe elaborately in It is to earn a merit equal to the sum-total of the benefits to be derived from a visit to all shrines, practice of all charities, worship of all Deities, performance of all austerities, performances of all Yagnas and cultivation of virtues enjoined in all ashramas.
We beg therefore to send our warm invitation to pious men and women: Do come; gratify yourselves by bathing in Gana Sagar which is as much a place of all-time pilgrimage as the holy cities of Kashi, Puri and Sri Vrindaban; reap the benefits of performing Ten Aswamedha Yagnas.
"It is the height of sacrilege oven so much as to think that Ganga-Sägar is a sacred place of pilgrimage only on the last day of the Bengali month Pouş and on no other days." Sri Bhagawan Ramānanda observes in Sri Vaişñav Matavja Bhaskar, 162:


गंगासागरसंगमेऽत श Tु 1994
A ‘Šri Vaisnava' should live until death in Ganga-Sagar, worshipping Lord Vishnu, Ganga-Sāgar being one of the 108 places of pilgrimage. Witness to the Mahābhürata, Vana Parva, chap. 85:
गंगाया वपरं पारंा य यः ना त मानवः ।

- "He who bathes after spending three nights on the other side of the Ganges is absolved of all his sins."
तासांसागरसंयोगो वरठचेतवयते।
तासामभुयतः कुलंततमनीषभः ।
देववाै सेवतंदेवी तत्तीथपरंमतमृ ्॥

- "The confluence of river and sea is the place par excellence of pilgrimage; the two banks of a river are pre-eminently holy places worshipped devoutly by saints as well as gods (South Indian recension Maha-dana-dharma, chap. 145).
समुच महातीथपावनंपरमंशभुम ्।

- The sea is also a great place of pilgrimage, as sacred as it is beneficent". I rejoice to announce to all to-day the supreme glory of Ganga-Sāgar, holiest of holy places and sovereign of the places of all time, the pilgrimage, delivered at long last from the trammels of Kali. Whoever bathes in Ganga.Sägar -- and with whatever object - will have his desire fulfilled, which of course is a small thing. The Shastras emphatically assert that he who seeks mokșa can have it by a bath in Gangā-Sāgar.
VICTORY TO GANGA-SAGAR!
Yours SITARAM