From Thought to Living: What Jahnu Drinking Ganga Really Means

Question

When Ganga followed behind Bhagiratha and swept away the sage’s sacrificial altar, the sage drank her up. Could you explain that briefly?

Answer

Yes, of course.
That episode points to the stage after the fourth one—Bhagiratha’s stage.
Bhagiratha, as we discussed, represents a firm resolve—a steady conviction in the mind and intellect that “I am the soul.”
But even that isn’t enough. Firm resolve alone doesn’t complete the journey.

After long practice, the mind and intellect reach a state where the old “body-conscious vision”—the feeling “I am the body”—completely falls away.
In the word Jahnu, the Sanskrit root jah means “to renounce” or “to give up.”
So Jahnu represents the dropping of body-consciousness—the total renunciation of the idea “I am the body.”

When that vision drops away, two things happen:
first, Self-knowledge is assimilated deep within; we absorb it completely.
Just like when someone keeps teaching you something and, after hearing and practicing it again and again, you finally internalize it—you say, “I’ve really taken it in.” That’s why the story says Jahnu drank the Ganga water—it means our purified mind and intellect have fully absorbed the truth “I am the soul.”

But even assimilation isn’t enough. One more step remains: the knowledge we’ve absorbed must also show in our conduct.
It must be visible in our behavior.
If Self-knowledge stays inside but never appears in our actions or relationships, what’s the use?
Until it’s lived, it brings no benefit.

So the story says—first drink it (absorb it), and then, once it’s absorbed, it turns into “śruta-jñāna”—knowledge that is experiential and practical.
Only when knowledge becomes experiential can it be expressed in daily life.
Before that, it’s only theoretical.

That’s why the story adds: “Jahnu released Ganga through his śrotra (ears).”
This symbolizes that the absorbed knowledge has now become practical, lived knowledge.
We start acting according to it—not just “can act,” but do act in that way.

Now, if someone translates śrotra simply as “ears,” the real meaning is lost.
It doesn’t literally mean ears—it points to śruti, or inner, experiential knowledge.
In Sanskrit, the word choice is very important.
If we interpret it only as “ears,” we miss the depth—that it refers to śruta-jñāna, the realized, applied form of Self-knowledge.

And what about the ṛṣis in the story—the ones who prayed and caused Ganga to be released again?
Those are not external sages sitting somewhere.
Raja Jahnu is not a historical king or person either.
He represents our pure, noble mind.
Similarly, the ṛṣis represent our own higher thoughts—our elevated consciousness, our refined inner awareness.

So when the story says the sages prayed and Jahnu released Ganga through his śrotra, it means:
our own higher consciousness tells us, “Now you are ready—bring this knowledge into action.”

Earlier, the knowledge was only “on Shiva’s head”—meaning in thought.
Knowledge that stays only in thinking cannot change life.
It must come into action—into living and behavior.
Only when knowledge is lived does it give fruit.

That is why the episode of Raja Jahnu is included in the story:
first absorb Self-knowledge completely, and then let it flow out into your actions—into practical application.
Thinking and reflection are necessary beginnings, but finally, that knowledge must come into application.