Bathing
Of purifiers I am the wind, of the wielders of weapons I am Rāma, of fishes I am the shark, and of flowing rivers I am the Ganges.
(BG 10.31)
It has actually been seen that anyone who regularly worships mother Ganges simply by bathing in her water keeps very good health and gradually becomes a devotee of the Lord. This is the effect of bathing in the water of the Ganges. Bathing in the Ganges is recommended in all Vedic śāstras, and one who takes to this path will certainly be completely freed from all sinful reactions. The practical example of this is that the sons of Mahārāja Sagara went to the heavenly planets when water from the Ganges merely touched the ashes of their burnt bodies.
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.9.14)
Lord Jagannātha is the Supreme Lord Himself in the form of wood, and the river Ganges is the Supreme Lord Himself in the form of water.
(CC Madhya 15.135)
Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement has therefore established two very large centers, one in Vṛndāvana and another in Māyāpur, Navadvīpa. There one may bathe in the Ganges or Yamunā, chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and thus become perfect and return home, back to Godhead.
(SB 6.5.27-28 purport)
On the Phalguni Purnima, one who fasts, takes bath in the Ganges here, and worships Gauranga will cross over the material ocean along with his ancestors. Along with one thousand ancestors, he attains Goloka after death no matter where he dies.
(Sri Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya, Chapter 6)
Having fallen upon the matted locks of Lord Siva, who is decorated with a garland of skulls, the Ganges takes on the appearance of millions of gleaming fish as her droplets glitter with the light reflected from the crescent moon on Siva’s head.
Having emanated from the two lotus feet of the Lord, the pleasant, sweet streams of the Ganges purifies the universe as she flows forward in all directions. Indeed, the chaste Ganges has yielded within her spotless waters the most exalted place, Navadvīpa.
Though liquid in form, the Ganges dries up the ocean of material suffering; though white in color, she is famous for refreshing blackish Kṛṣṇa with her waters; though flowing on the earth, she is called by a heavenly name; and though she removes the confusion of the living entities, she is filled with whirlpools and eddies. Having attained the taste of the Lord’s lotus feet, her waves and currents become agitated. Taking up her residence in Navadvipa she adds glory to that tract of land.
(Sri Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya, Pramana-Khanda, Chapter 5)
The Ganges River, who was born from the lotus feet of Lord Visnu, appeared in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as Srimati Ganga-devi, the daughter of Lord Nityananda. Her husband, Sri Madhava, had formerly been Maharaja Santanu.
(Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā 69)