“Come, Mother Ganga. Purify us, purify our hearts, purify our minds. Cleanse us from the dirt that our minds create”...

Jesus knew the significance of getting baptised. He knew how powerful water is   – so powerful that it can cleanse somebody. Don’t think that the Jordan is just holy because Jesus was there. No, through the prayer they knew the Mother was there, the Mother would take care of the children and the Mother would clean the children.  He knew the power of water. For everything that we do, we use water to clean. When you clean something, water is taken to wash the thing and to clean. The water is clean and the water takes away all the dirt. Let’s take a plate. I clean it; after I clean it, the plate becomes clean, but where does the dirt go? The dirt goes into the water. The water keeps the dirt, but the water doesn’t become dirty. After some time the dirt goes to the bottom of the water and the water becomes clear again. She knows how to clean. She knows how to purify and that’s why in all rituals – we’re talking about Christianity, we’re talking about Islam, we’re talking about Hinduism, Buddhism – in all religions you see that there is water. Christians go to Lourdes, to the Jordan to take a dip in the water to purify themselves. The Muslims go to Mecca and they take the Zamzam from there – the Holy Water. They purify themselves with the water and they take the water home and drink the water. Hindus, they go to the Ganges to get the Holy Water and take a dip in the water. In all traditions water is so important because it cleans us, it purifes us. That’s why when you call the three rivers    – Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati – you’re invoking all the rivers, you are invoking all the Mothers “Come, Mother Ganga. Purify us, purify our hearts, purify our minds. Cleanse us from the dirt that our minds create.” You are invoking Her. For the abishekam you have to understand the significance of the offering. You offer everything that comes from the Lord back to the Lord. Everything that comes from Him will merge back into Him and you will become one with Him eventually. How long it takes depends on each one individually. If you want it to be quicker, it will be. If you want it to be longer, it will be longer. It is each one offering back to the Lord what is from Him. Yamuna, which is near Vrindavan; it is said that Yamuna was already sacred, but Yamuna became more sacred when Krishna played in Her, when the Lord took His bath in Her. Imagine how blessed Yamuna is to receive the Lord every day in Her from when He was small. The day He was born, She could touch the feet of the Lord! 

When we invoke the Lord, we have also to invoke Him inside our hearts. When He takes complete possession of us, we become Him.