How does it feel to be free of the feeling of greed, ambition, power, position, material being, identity? Well, for different people, the answer may be different. But, for crores of people united by faith, it was like liberation from consciousness into the zone of sublimation once they took a dip in the holy waters at the Triveni Sangam of the sacred rivers -- Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati - - at Prayagraj, during the once-in144-years pious occasion of Mahakumbh Mela. “Ho gayee trupti?” (Are you content now?) was the question asked by many young and middle-aged persons to their parents, in-laws or aged relatives after the latter took the dip. And, invariably, the response was, “Haan, beta! Ab koi ichcha baaki nahin” (Yes, child! I do not have any other desire now). Such a sense of fulfillment! It was as if the rivers embraced each devotee like a mother lovingly embraces her child. Is the sense of fulfillment rooted in this sentiment? Well, for most, it is. There were people of all ages, from whose eyes tears of devotion rolled down their cheeks as soon as they entered the waters for ‘Mahakumbh Snan’. They did not mind if someone watched them shed tears so openly. Overwhelmed with emotions, all their identities melted away at that moment.

 

They realised that they were one with thousands and thousands of people bathing at different places. They felt as if they were not different from the river water. They felt as if they were part of the eternal flow of civilization that was moving ahead to join the infinite ocean of the timeless universe, just like the sparkling waters of Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati merged with each other and flowed towards the ocean. Right from an ordinary person to the celebrities and the rich and the powerful, everyone took a dip in the same holy waters. The Triveni Sangam gave all the same liberating experience irrespective of their financial, political, social, educational status; irrespective of their name and fame; irrespective of their language, caste, religion, creed; irrespective of their nationality. Countless many people waded their way through the jampacked streets of Prayagraj to Arel Ghat or Saraswati Ghat or the banks of river Yamuna or Ganga. Many kept their word to themselves and to the divine, by keeping fast until they took a dip in the holy confluence. A huge number of senior citizens, many of bent with age, experienced newfound strength as soon as they espied the holy rivers.

 

Despite suffering from ailments and age-related exhaustion, they felt liberated from pain and fatigue as they walked a few kilometres to reach the Mahakumbh Mela site. A dip in the holy waters, offering ‘Arghya’ to Sun, remembering the ancestors, keeping in mind other family members, praying for the well-being of relatives and friends... welfare of everyone’s general’s well-being and prayers for one and seemed to be on the minds of the devotees. It was as if the pure water of the confluence cleansed one of one’s own existence, and hence attachments with the self like ego, anger, selfishness, hunger for name and fame, money-chase, considering collectibles as a mark of wealth - all these materialistic things took a back seat. One felt as if the holy water dissolved the burden of one’s Karma, and served as a potion that nourished the soul. Many came up with their own interpretations of Ganga representing purity, Yamuna representing selflessness, and Saraswati representing the spirit of appearance-less service. Their realisation came more from merging with divinity than reading of literature. So, they realised that their character must be inherently pure, they should not harbour ill-will for anyone, they should be willing to lose their identity like Yamuna so that they could live as part of humanity, their goodness should blend with others without even revealing own existence like Saraswati, their imprint should be visible like the extremely fine but uncountable grains of sand left behind by the flowing river. When one took the holy dip, somehow one got rid of all the thoughts. One melted away into a state of emptiness, yet enjoyed fullness of upliftment.

 

GangaYamuna-Saraswati Triveni Sangam appeared like the physical embodiment of the mind-body-soul trinity. There was calmness within, and one felt as if all material desires were being shed like dead skin. Of course, since most people get busy with their routine materialistic life afterwards, this experience of calmness fades away. Still, it lingers on, as if waiting to grow upon one’s inner being at the moment of reckoning of the futility of physical enclosure of the formless but sentient soul within. If one has visited the Mahakumbh even once in life, the feeling stays on while memories of good and bad fade away with time.

 

Call it an impact of this sublimation, but none of the devotees fall ill despite taking a dip in water in which the old and young, men and women, saints and sinners, healthy and ill have taken a dip earlier. None feels like paying any heed whatsoever to politically motivated narratives. For, everyone is set free at the confluence of past, present, and future, and thus carrying home realisation of the vastness of the universe beyond the petty identities and notions. While the devotees carry home true joy in hearts and holy water in jars, the Triveni Sangam keeps an account of each visitor. What else do the grains of sand deposited by Ganga-Yamuna-Saraswati denote if not that account? Each grain of sand represents the core of every visitor, like the time capsule, to be carried forward in time for the next generations to revisit. With this understanding blooming in conscience, chants of ‘Har Har Mahadev’ emerge as natural consequence.