Questioner: Sadhguru, is it just our emotion or is it genuinely true that different types of water can impact us in different ways?
Sadhguru: This would have been the argument about 10 years ago, that people would say water is water. How can one water be different from another? If water is cleaned off impurities, all water is same. This would have been the argument 10 years ago, but not anymore. Modern science is clearly saying that depending upon what the water has been in touch with, accordingly it behaves differently. This is an established fact now, because water has memory.
Modern science is clearly saying that depending upon what the water has been in touch with, accordingly it behaves differently
Now, when we say Ganga jal – why it’s been important is, it is flowing through certain lands. It is flowing through certain terrain which has a certain impact. And it is not for one or two generations, for hundreds of generations people have been doing spiritual sadhana, and they have been in touch with this water. The quality of that is there in the water. Sunderlal Bahuguna went about proving this to people. Nothing much happened unfortunately. But his own health got transformed tremendously, just living on the Ganga bank.
His [Sunderlal Bahuguna] own health got transformed tremendously, just living on the Ganga bank
Now, is this just emotion? No. But at the same time, is the water what it used to be before, in Ganga? No, because the water that you’re drinking today is held in a dam – in two, three different places – and one dam which holds it there for a long period of time, and then let out. It is not the same thing anymore unfortunately. This is one thing we should have not done. If you want electricity, there are so many other ways to do it. This is one thing we should have not done because Ganga had a special quality.
Now we put a dam across this, in Himalayas, which is absolutely unnecessary – just for little bit of electricity. Anyway, the amount of sediment that comes in Himalayas, all these dams will be filled with sediments in no time – believe me! In another 25 years these dams will be useless, unless some major dredging activity has to happen. And where will you put that… there will be… none of dams, we have been able to dredge successfully. Dams across Mahanadi, Hirakund – everything is totally loaded up. It’s useless now, simply because the amount of sediment. The amount of sediment that is coming in the Himalayan region is probably 25 times to 50 times higher than in a normal river – simply because of the terrain, and the nature of the terrain. So I think it was a sacrilege that we put a dam on Ganga for electricity. We could have generated it in so many different ways.
Well, it is the necessity of the people. On the planes, we do it. But that one river, which is the consciousness of this country, we could have left it alone. Most of the water that’s coming in Ganga river today flows through tunnels. It’s going through turbines and then coming. So I cannot assure you that it’s the same quality now. But still, whether you believe or you don’t believe, if you touch the water you will see it’s very different.
If you go to the upper regions, if you go towards, you know, Gomukh and those areas – the water is definitely special
Because I’ve trekked in Himalayas for 27 years. Continuously, 27 years I trekked – every year, I went back. Many times I have seen, just a glass of water I drink, I don’t have to eat anything. Whole day I’m walking, with just one glass of water. You drink a stomach full of water, it just keeps you going. That won’t happen anywhere else. If you go to the upper regions, if you go towards, you know, Gomukh and those areas – the water is definitely special. As it comes down with all these turbines and stuff, it’s not the same. But still, it is different from what you would find elsewhere. So this is not an emotional aspect, there is a scientific basis to it. Unfortunately, we are not maintaining that atmosphere. We are destroying the atmosphere, and expect the water to be same. It won’t be after some time.
