Wondrous is the divine tradition of asthi visarjan (immersion of cremated remains) in Ganga Ji!

It was in 1999 that my elder brother developed bleeding piles. Despite undergoing every level of treatment, these piles took the form of hemorrhoids (anal fissures). In this condition, the anal lining gets excoriated. One can well imagine how agonizing an ailment this is. In Delhi, the Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia College offers solid treatment for all sorts of ano-rectal diseases. Yet even there, the treatment brought no relief. Having endured agony for 8 months and tried every system of medicine, brother was just preparing to undergo surgery when an acquaintance casually suggested a remedy.

The remedy sounded utterly bizarre. One had to procure asthi-phool (calcined bone fragments collected after cremation) from a smashana (cremation ground), grind them, strain them through a cloth, mix them with pure desi ghee into a laddoo-like paste, and tie it over the anal opening with the support of a langot (traditional loincloth). At first, we family members were simply not ready for such a remedy. After all, in our tradition, even upon attending an uthavani (post-cremation condolence gathering), one must take off one's clothes at the doorstep and bathe before entering the house—or, in the bitter cold of winter, at least sprinkle Ganga jal (sacred water of the Ganga). Under such circumstances, bringing someone else's bone remains from a cremation ground naturally raised fears of wrath from bhuta-pretas (ghosts and wandering spirits) or inviting some misfortune out of nowhere. But when a friend of ours brought the bone fragments, ground and strained them right at our house, and handed them to us, we simply could not disregard his affectionate gesture. And so, brother went ahead and tied on that ball of bone ash and ghee.

A miracle occurred! On the very first day, a fifty percent improvement was visible, and within a week, not a trace of those hemorrhoids remained. After that, we prepared and gave that medicine to countless people without ever revealing its secret, and they all recovered. The affliction that used to trouble my brother twice a year has never recurred to this day. Once, when Baba Ramdev was being accused of using the bhasma (ash) of human and animal bones, I desperately wanted to shout and share this experience of mine. But back then, I did not even know what Facebook or WhatsApp were.

Another memory comes to mind. A time when, in our households, everything from washing hands after defecation to scouring cooking pots and puja (ritual worship) utensils was done with wood ash. Once, I read an account in *Dharmayug* about the making of counterfeit eunuchs, describing how their private parts were severed and the wound was packed with ash. Among Muslims, ash is plastered over the wound even today after circumcision. When farmers worked in the fields and were injured by a spade or a trowel, the farmer or laborer would immediately fetch ash from a nearby hearth and plaster it onto the cut. Farmers have long scattered ash over young saplings to protect them from disease or termites. There was simply no greater germicide, pesticide, or antiseptic than ash.

Now you might be wondering why I have sat down with this chronicle of rural folk remedies. But my reason for recounting all this is the statement by Narendra Modi’s minister, Satyapal Singh, expressing objections to the immersion of asthi and bhasma in the sacred Ganga. After all, what filth could possibly result from immersing in the Ganga bones or ash imbued with medicinal properties? Why should the minister object to the remnants of that very agni (sacred fire), tempered in which everything becomes pure? Has the minister ever gone with devotion to take a snana (ritual bath) in the Ganga?

Just a few days ago, I visited the Ganga. In the river, which has been cleaned considerably, children and elders were bathing right in midstream. Just then, the floating remnants of a dead body drifted into view. Believe me, rather than being terrified at the sight of that corpse, neither the women nor the children panicked; they looked at it with curiosity and then resumed their snana and achamana (ritual sipping of water for purification). The Ganga is such a place that the moment one reaches her banks, a feeling of spirituality naturally awakens in the heart of even the staunchest atheist, while in the minds of those entangled in worldly attachment and materialism, a sense of virakti (detachment) or moksha (liberation) arises of its own accord. Bathing or performing achamana right alongside burning pyres evokes no fear or disgust. On the contrary, in that moment, all fear of death itself vanishes.

The minister stated that there is no mention in the shastras (sacred scriptures) of immersing asthi in the Ganga. O Minister! The descent of Mother Ganga took place specifically for the immersion of the bone remains of the 60,000 sons of King Sagara! And ever since, the significance of the Ganga in Hindu dharma has endured precisely for the attainment of moksha. This is the very sanctuary that reassures the kin of the deceased of their loved one's sadgati (auspicious afterlife state).

We desire cleanliness—cleanliness of that sacred lap of our moksha-bestowing Mother Ganga, where for a few moments we can forget our worldly sorrows and pains to experience spiritual realization. Not some picnic spot for the wealthy and foreigners with boating in transparent waters, or sea-planes taking flight, or ghats (riverbank steps) developed for drug-taking hippies.

Victory to Mother Ganga!

- Shri Girdhari Lal Goyal, author, President of the 'Rashtriya Agrawal Mahasabha', who vigilantly raises his voice for Hindu rights and national interests.

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