By Nabin Baral
“If your heart wants to fly away, let it fly, but keep you body in control. What can the pathetic heart do? It will come itself into your body at last”, Ganga Dash replied when he was asked about sex.
Ganga Dash, 55, is living in Pashupatinath Temple areas in Kathmandu since 30 years. He is Guru Maharaj for all the junior Sadhus in the temple. He was born in Mohatari district of Nepal.
He lives in a small room in an Ashram in northern part of Pashupatinath. Since the age of ten he devoted his life in to Hindu Religion. “I devoted my life to god; it’s the God who wanted me to become Sadhu. Ram is my aim, he is also the form Shiva.” Ganga Das related his aim with God. “It is all about god, the Godhas done what he has thought for my life”, he added.
Ganga did Koti Bishnu Maha Yagya, a hug religious ceremony in Pashupatinath establishing 108 statues of god during the event. According to Ganga, the three decades of his life in Pashupatinath has made him to earn Punya or good Karma. In Hinduism Punya is earned by helping human being and by worshiping God and Goddesses.
Ganga believes that he has got blessing power that he earned due to his devotion in God. He also believes that he can change the life of a person by his blessings.
“Being a Sadhu, I have earned Punya, the Punya has given me the power of blessing and now I can bless for the well being of the people. It might take time to show the effect my blessing but it will work at last”, He said with his confidence.
He remembers a story of a person named Prabin Jha with confusion, whose who got rid of credit of five million rupees because of his blessings. He also believes that Prabin’s daughter and son also got success for abroad study in America and Australia due to his blessings.
The daily life Ganga Das starts with the worship of rising Sun God by offering water early in the morning. Before the worship a holy bath is must for him every morning. After the worship of Sun God he does Yoga and Jap. His first food is juice of cereals with lemon, sugar and salt. At about 11 am he joins with all the Sadhus for the daily free food offered by a near Asharam in Pashupatinath.
Every morning he opens his coiled two and half meters long hair and one meter long beard. The hair is dead locked. He never use soap or shampoo, instead he uses ashes as cleaner. The locked long hair and beard shows his devotion in his life. It took him four decades to make such a long hair and beard. It is one of the best attractions for tourists when they reach the place where a group of Sadhu Baba sits as models targeting the cameras of tourist who visit Pashupatinath Temple. Of course money is involved every clicks of tourists cameras.
Ganga does not feel shame on taking money from tourists when they take his photos because of his physical body and the physical world. He said, “I have to feed this physical body, I have to travel different religious places in India and Nepal”. I need money for living and travel, I do not demand, I am happy with what people give me” he added.
He denies that he is like other Gagadi Babas. Gagadi Babas are those who smoke marijuana as holy smoke, they believe that Lord Shiva also took Bhang and Dhaturo, plants with medicinal value but can be intoxicated if taken more. “My life is Norco-None life”, he said. He does not believe in the intoxication of Bhang, Dhaturo and marijuana. “But I believe in the intoxication that I can get due to my devotion and worship to Lord Shiva”, he added. Accord to him Lord Shiva never took Bhang, Dhaturo and marijuana, but once Shiva drank the poison that originated due the ocean shake to save the life of living being in water and land. People misunderstood this action of Lord Shiva.
“I have the passion of God; I do not need any other intoxicating elements” he argued. In the question to- where is god? He replied “God is in the soul of every human being, it needs patience and devotion to find God on you, and normally you can easily find god in peaceful soul that has earned good Karma”
Ganga’s room has leakages from the old walls in monsoon. A plastic sheet is attached in the ceiling. A bed is placed facing East west and a L.P gas stove and cylinder is placed in the Eastern corner of room with some tea cooking utensils. The stoves looked like; it has not been used since many days. Ganga Dash owns a radio, a mobile phone, a pen, a note book, a small kitchen, a bed , posters and statues of God and Goddess.
He has got no interest in politics but still he does not believe on the state without king. He said, “The king has to take back his throne in Nepal”
His last words during the interaction were, “You have to live for yours stomach and Karma; if you take wrong way in your life, God will guide you in the right way. But be sure that you separate two hours everyday for God.”
Home 