(June 09, 2021)
The festival of Ganga Dussehra is celebrated on Jyeshtha Shukla Dashami. On this day, Gangaji's incarnation on earth took place in Hasta Nakshatra. This year there is a handshake on 29th June. Jyeshtha Shukla is considered to be the face of Dashami Samvatsara. Bathing, charity and fasting on the Ganges river have special significance on this day. It is said in Brahmapuran that Jyeshtha Shukla Dashami, combined with Hasta Nakshatra, is called 'Dussehra' due to defeating ten types of sins. These are the ten sins:
    Three Bodies :
1. Taking someone else's goods without permission,
2. Violence,
3. Adultery;
    Four Speakers :
4. To speak bitterly,
5. Lying,
6. To speak evil or slander from behind,
7. Talking unnecessarily and
    Three Mental :
8. Thinking about taking others' things unjustly,
9. Thinking about the evils of others and,
10. Have an atheistic intellect.
It is said in Skanda Purana that
ज्येष्ठे मासि सिते पक्षे दशम्यां बुधहस्तयो:।
व्यतीपाते गरानन्दे कन्याचन्द्रे वृषे रवौ।
दशयोगे नर: स्नानात्वा सर्वपापौ: प्रमुच्यते।।
If Jyeshtha Shukla Dashami is Wednesday, Hasta Nakshatra, Vyatipat Yoga, Gar Karan, Anand Yoga, Sun is in Taurus and Moon is in Virgo, then such Apoorva Yoga is very fruitful. All the sins of a person are destroyed. On this day sadhak should take bath in Gangaji or nearby holy river or lake. Thereafter one should worship Gangaji and in the end chant the following mantra as far as possible:
ॐ नमः शिवाय नारायण्यै दशहरायै गंगायै नमः।।
If possible, in place of 'Namah' in the above mantra, do 'Swaha' and do Havan. After that, ‘ॐ नमो भगवति ऐं ह्रीं श्रीं हिलि हिलि मिलि मिलि गंगे मां पावय पावय स्वाहा।’. By offering five wreaths with this mantra, one should worship Bhagirathji who had descended Gangaji on earth and Himalaya. In the end, ten handfuls of grains and other things should be donated to ten brahmins. Sattu is also donated on this day. The fast should be broken only after listening to the story of Ganga Dussehra.
Ganga Dussehra Vrat Story
Maharaja Sagar, the king of Ayodhya, was saddened by the arrogance and wicked nature of his sixty thousand sons along with his confusion. As a result, in place of the confused and sixty thousand sons, he made his grandson and confused son Anshuman as his successor. When Maharaja Sagara performed the Ashwamedha Yagya, Indra took Ashwamedha's horse to Hades and tied it to Kapilmuni's ashram. The horse is tied in his ashram. When Sagara's sixty thousand sons came to know that a horse was tied in Kapilmuni's ashram, they went to kill Kapil Muni. Kapilmuni consumed sixty thousand sons of Sagara with his effulgence. When Anshuman came to know about this, he prayed to Kapilmuni. Pleased with Anshuman's prayer, Kapilmuni gave him the horse of the Yagya and said that by the touch of the Ganges water, sixty thousand sons of Sagar could be liberated. Ashwamedha Yagya of Maharaja Sagara was completed. After some time, Sagara made Anshuman the king, but Anshuman was worried about the salvation of his uncles, so after ruling for some time, he handed over the throne to his son Dilip and went to the forest to do penance for the purpose of bringing Ganga to earth. went away. While doing penance, he gave up his life, but Ganga could not descend on earth. After some time, Maharaj Dilip handed over the throne to his son Bhagirath and went to do penance to bring Ganga from heaven to earth. He did penance till his death, but Ganga could not descend on earth. Bhagiratha, who became the king after Maharaja Dilip, did penance to Brahma like his father to bring the Ganges from heaven. In the end, pleased with the penance of three generations, Brahma appeared to Bhagirath and asked him to ask for a boon. Bhagiratha asked for Gangaji's descent on earth, on which Brahmaji said that "I can send Gangaji from heaven to earth, but who will handle her velocity on earth? For this you should worship Lord Shiva."
According to the advice of Brahmaji, Bhagirath started the penance of Lord Shiva by standing on one leg. Pleased with Bhagirath's penance, Lord Shiva agreed to handle the velocity of Gangaji on earth. When Gangaji descended on the earth, Lord Shiva held the Ganges in his hair and left one of them towards the earth. Thus Gangaji walked towards the earth. In front was Maharaja Bhagirath and behind him was Gangaji. When Jahnushi's ashram was found on the way, Gangaji washed away his Kamandlu etc. Seeing this, the sage became furious and he drank Gangaji. When Bhagiratha looked back and saw that Gangaji was not following him, he learned the situation and prayed to the sage. Pleased with the prayer of Bhagiratha, the sage made Ganga his daughter and removed it from his right ear. This is the reason why Ganga is also known as 'Jahnavi'. After that Gangaji followed Bhagirath to Kapilmuni's ashram and sixty thousand ancestors of Bhagirath got salvation. Due to the efforts of Bhagiratha, Gangaji descended on the earth. That is why Gangaji is also called 'Bhagirathi'.