Adi Shankaracharya had traversed most of the Indian sub continent and visited sacred shrines along the way performing rituals and reawakening sacred life into each shrine that had paled away with time.
He was now briskly heading towards the doors of the sacred shrine of Kashi Vishwanath, Varanasi, where he was stopped by an untouchable savage who dared to break his momentum. He purposefully ushered the man to move aside but the man stood in his place and asked him a few profound question...
"Do the Sun and the moon show bias when they shine on this earth. Do they shine any lesser in the home of an untouchable as much as they shine around a man of high intellect?
Isn't a man as good as a 4 legged animal if he studies the Vedas and still doesn't understand anything of it?
How blind can people be if they fight among each other and still consider Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Sadashiva 3 separate entities and not part of the same potent seed of spiritual energy?"
Shankara stopped, for these were not illiterate words that came out of the untouchable who stood smiling at him, they were the sacred sayings of the Lord himself. Shankara recognized the untouchable savage and broke into a dialog with him that were later penned down into 5 divine verses of wisdom called the Manishapanchakam. Those were precious moments of spiritual history that graced this world in that time and silently blessed the people who mindlessly walked on the same street, not realizing the miracle of the moment until it was long gone.
Shankara stopped, for these were not illiterate words that came out of the untouchable who stood smiling at him, they were the sacred sayings of the Lord himself. Shankara recognized the untouchable savage and broke into a dialog with him that were later penned down into 5 divine verses of wisdom called the Manishapanchakam. Those were precious moments of spiritual history that graced this world in that time and silently blessed the people who mindlessly walked on the same street, not realizing the miracle of the moment until it was long gone.
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Hrishikesh, sacred land locked in the lap of the Himalayan foothills and washed by the pure waters of the Ganges has its own story to say. One can find faith here in the old traditional ritualistic style - controlled and disciplined - or the more sort after Bhairava approach - wild and high spirited.
The Ganges here is pure, as it cuts through the rocky hills that pave the way for this beautiful river to glide through. We were pilgrims without purpose as we walked through the bustling streets looking up shops and new age mendicants as we stroll by. The winters were setting in, and a hot cup of chai anytime was most welcome. While we admired the shimmering night light across the Ganges, we noticed a white man turned sadhu who had left his home and family back in Germany to become a Sanyasi here. He spoke perfect Hindi, with the tune of the local dialect as he explained his journey through his life and how Hrishikesh was now his home. While on one end we found it courageous and amusing, we also suspected that he probably didn't get onto the right side of the spiritual road...
And then it happened... a strange man briskly walked by and disappear into the darkness even before I could prepare to take a picture of him. He was awesome to look at, half covered in rudraksha beads and the rest covered in saffron. He had a divine "smartness" about himself with a stern purposeful gaze, as he walked by silently but aggressive at the same time. Power oozed out of him as he stared at us with a magnetic gaze before he disappeared. He held a beautiful trishul in his hand, covered in beaded malas. The trishul itself was breath taking, looking divine as it faintly glowed in the night light. It was exquisitely carved with floral patterns along its sides rolling over its graceful bends, yet it looked deadly in its aura and sacred to the Shiva loving devotee.
Within minutes he was gone, he came in like a flash, graced this earth and looked entirely different from the other lesser mendicants on the street. He was strong, silent and defiant towards anyone who intended to get into small talk with him. He walked through the crowd like a flash of lightening as the darkness covered the space between him and me and I never saw him again.
His presence captured my mind, his power shook the air and his gait was graceful yet sure footed. I felt a weird excitement within me, something that sensed "What if he was Lord Shiva himself?"
Would I have run behind and chased him till as far as he went, would I just take a picture of him and admired his persona in silence or would I bow to him and ask him to accept me as his disciple. There definitely was no room for a profound dialogue, though I was certain if he obliged we would definitely get into a spiritual monologue, or maybe I would have just been happy to sit far away from him and watch him perform in all his splendor. Shivahood gleamed in his being, even if he aped the great God, he did such a sure job of it, it was completely overpowering.
And then I wonder...how times had changed... how different do people view the world at large now. How strange it would be considered to walk up behind the man and accept fate leaving every thing behind, because that moment defined the profound miracle of potent spiritualism. To leave the safer beaten track and accepting the lesser known way of life as my own. To treat the familiar world as passerby in this dense cloud of maya and consider the Potent Lord as my own. To completely detach from this world and its various demands and feel the freedom of non attachment as my own...
To finally see the Lord himself... wherever... and hold my little personal dialog of love, intrigue and mysticism as I swim in the adrenalin of divine science... Ah! What a completely different life it would be!
7 comments:
Om Namah Shivaya...
Thank you for sharing your experience regarding the foreign sadhu in Rishikesh. Not only in Rishikesh, but all over Bharata-varsa (as well as the world) there are many foreigners who are practicing some sort of Vedic lifestyle (some privately and some openly).
It is mentioned in sastra that during the Kumbha-melas, some of the devas/devis appear as ordinary humans to mingle with the sadhus and take bath. In this regards, we should be respectful to all everyone since we simply do not know who may be standing next to us!
Jai Sankara Bhagavan!
Jai Gangadhar, Jai Jaleshwar
God is impersonal but powerful enough to personify itself in any form. Lord Shiva also called 'Bhola', personifies itself and has been seen in body by his devotees. Only the Bhakta can see him but he can not prove/show it to the world if asked. God's presence is only a feeling which stays there for a while and goes away like a flash. But His presence makes the moment 'memorable' and 'unforgetable' Even thinking of that moment takes one deep into the ocean of bliss.Believe me or not a real devotee( who aspires for his darshan) can see the Lord sleeping on the banks of Ganges, walking along the Yatris to Char Dham. Form may or may not be like one in the photograph .It needs the vision and the His grace. These are called spiritual experiences and one should aspire and long to have few of these before leaving this body.
Om Namah Shivai. Jai Sambh Sadashiva
Gosh I wish I had your eyes to see the magnetic saint walk by.Lucky you..
"By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them." Bhagavad-gita 9.4
Hi Kavitha, As I have said earlier also, wise ancient 'Hindus' realised the truth, (ie, 'satya' that is 'satva' or essence, as in the saying, "Brevity is the soul of life"), of physical form to consist of two components: the external form that is mortal, temporary or illusory, while it is the internal energy form (called soul) that alone is immortal...And that the individual souls within the various different appearing forms are components of the one and only Paramatma or Supreme Soul that pervades the entire universe...
However, thankfully perhaps it was also realised by the wisest of the wise ancient 'Hindus' after in-depth all round studies that out of all animal forms it is the human form alone, (which, although generally remains ignorant of the truth depending on the Yuga concerned), that irrespective of 'time' is capable of reaching the Absolute Truth, of existence of the one and only immortal as well as the All Knowing formless being, called Shiva (Earth-moon in physical form to which all life-forms, (irrespective of sex, creed or belief etc), or various instruments on earth in God's eye, are 'naturally' attached for a limited period serving His purpose and not ours)!
After realisation, say taking hint from the Musk Deer in the Himalayas, exclaimed the wise, "Shivoham!" and advised others also to seek the immortal one inside one itself, for according to the realised souls whatever infinite is outside is within each form too as its finite essence!
Reference CM (UP), 'Maya'wati, wearing garlands made from paper money, maybe one could recall what a poet has already said, to the effect, "Truth cannot remain hidden through false (human) laws/ Just as paper flowers cannot smell as sweet as (natural) flowers."
Hi Kavitha, As an average man would generally say, 'Every coin has two sides', although one knows that he obviously takes for granted or overlooks the third ('3', 'Om', the symbol adopted for the unseen and immortal energy represented by 'Treyambakeshwar'): The blank or 'neutral' side, which is absolutely necessary for the so-called two sides ('positive' and 'negative') to exist...
Returning to the 'dwaitwad', or 'Maya', believably created by the one and only Shiva (who can manifest Himself in any physical form: that 'Krishna' also alludes to in The Gita), one could perhaps say that the divine person 'you' apparently saw was also there for many years in search of the 'Absolute Truth',,,and your encounter with him could perhaps be explained as one of the parts of the script of the human life drama,,,as 'I' too had once narrated in your blog in detail about my encounter with a strong bull (dark tan in appearance, like 'bhagwa' garment worn by a 'sadhu' in human form, while Nandi the Bull is believed to be Shiva's vehicle) at Gauhati 'the Shaktipeeth' in the year '83 :)
The 'Hindu belief' about Shiva being 'Ardhanarishwara' (Half man and half woman) - to start with - and the Christian belief of Adam being alone in the beginning and 'Eve being created from one of his own ribs', both support the idea of existence of one and only formless God reached in the 'past'...
And, appearances of multitude forms as result of 'maya' or illusion created by that very mischievous one, called 'Natkhat Nandlal', ie 'Krishna' born in confinement: of a prison in Mathura, on the banks of River Yamuna (where 'Yam Raja' is believed as the agent of death! and is the brother of Yamuna!)...while Parvati the daughter of Himalaya is indicated as the (illusory) form of Sati the better half of Shiva the Ardhanarishwara, also called the Destroyer (that is responsible for appearance of infinite illusory images - as in 'magical mirrors' :)
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