GANGA AND ASHWATTHAMA

   I just want to add to the understanding of Ganga and also talk little bit on Ashwatthama. As I had mentioned in the last Blog , the Ganga is universal consciousness and the Shantanu is the PARABRAHMA. The Ganga is also considered as MAHA PRAKRUTI or Holy Ghost of the CHRISTANITY . We can also call it the CHAITANYA. We Hindus have a custom of cremation of the body after the death. We then throw the ashes in Ganga river. And if not we use other rivers that are considered sacred .The consciousness pervades  everything. One could look at it in a little different way. The Universe CAME OUT OF the MAHAPRAKRUTI and so there is nothing OUTSIDE od MAHAPRAKRUTI . So everything must have same origin . The example that is given in scriptures is that of a spider and the web that it weaves . The spider weaves web out of secretions that come out of the spider . The same way the universe comes out  Ishwar or the God  and so everything has the Ishwar. When we die, we want OUR consciousness or Chaitanya to be one with the Universal consciousness and not be LIMITED by the ASTRAL or SUKSHMA body -SHARIR and CAUSAL body or KARAN SHARIR. We achieve NIRVANA or MUKTI when we have no separate existence from the ultimate CONSCIOUSNESS. So we spread the ashes to Ganga  and the Ganga symbolizes with universal consciousness 

   The Ashwatthama is son of DRNA and as I mentioned in past blog , the Drona represents our past life SAUNSKARAS or impressions stored in abstract forms .There are many - many lives  may be thousands or millions of lives . So the stores  Saunskaras or impressions are limitless and so ordinary person can not 'exhaust' the desires. We continue to do Karma and then we accumulate more effects and that becomes endless. So the effects of SAUSKARAS are IMMORTAL or AMAR ,have no death. Ashwatthama is the son of DRONA and if DRONA is the Saunskaras ,then the the son of Saunskaras has to be immortal. .So he is immortal. 

We will try to talk about Pandawas and DAUPADI next time.