Kedarnath – A Place for Renunciation and Tapas (Translation of the Telugu article of Sadguru Sivananda Murty in Andhra Bhoomi dated 27 June 2013) Courtesy - VVS Sarma Kedarnath is a place for renunciation and tapas and not a pilgrimage place meant for ordinary householders. Till about 100 years ago, very few people used to go there. There were no amenities then for pilgrims and it was not considered a pilgrimage place meant for ordinary householders, where they can go for fulfilling their vows and for thanks-giving for wishes fulfilled. In fact, Kedarnath is not a place to visit with commonplace desires and for those with strong ties to the material world. We have been hearing the news of flash floods in Kedarnath, following heavy rains for several days now. More than five thousand people died and more than eighty thousand people were rescued and sent home safely with the efforts of government agencies. In few days, the remaining relief operations will be completed. The Indian Air Force and the Army have played a remarkable role in the relief operations. The event has caused uproar in the media and many types of comments are heard in this context. Some attributed it to the superstitions of the pilgrims for travelling to such an unsafe place in the first place. Had they not gone on the yatra, they could have been safe in their homes. “Why should such large number of people in our society hold these blind beliefs?” is the question posed by some others. Let us also remember that five thousand people may be dying every fortnight on our four lane highways, built with excellent technology. Here there is no so called superstition involved. These accidents are due to our uncivilized behaviour in a presumably civilized modern world. Who was responsible for the sinking of the ship, Titanic, built with the best available technology at that time? 1400 people, who would have reached their destination happily, perished in the disaster. There have been many such accidents where no real cause can be determined. In our own country about 15 crores of people might be on a pilgrimage visiting temples near and far, on a single day. More than 99% of them return safely to their homes. Even with accidents, the devotion of the people will not decrease. Such calamities do happen some times in the lives of humans. Life goes on as usual. It is not the fact that five thousand perished that is a miracle, but the fact that eighty two thousand people were saved by God’s grace. God’s grace always far exceeds the fury of the nature. It is not necessary nor is it worthwhile to search and pinpoint a cause for such a thing. It is not possible to trace it to one root cause. On the other hand explosion of a bomb placed by a terrorist, even it kills only hundred, the root cause and the motive can easily be determined. That is a man-made event and it is to be addressed and analysed to determine the action to be taken. Whether the deaths are in tens or hundreds, the incident itself merits careful consideration and appraisal. Kedarnath never attracted a large number of pilgrims even sixty years ago. Because of lack of any facilities there, people never used to go there with families and children. It was never a place for asking God for favours, fulfilling vows, thanks giving, performing poojas, and offering prayers with desires in mind. There are many temples elsewhere in India catering to that class of devotees. The history of Kedarnath is linked to the final departure of Pandavas and their wife Draupadi in the Mahabharata. The journey was called mahaprasthana (the great departure). The temple has the images of the Pandavas. For the final journey, they walked from this place till they shed their mortal coils. They had no facilities on the way and their thoughts were centred on Paramesvara. Only Yudhistira (also called Dharmaraja) could walk up to a point where Gods appeared before him. All others died but only a dog could follow him till the end. The God of justice and death Dharma invited him to heaven but he said he would accept the proposal of Gods only if the dog following him also accompanied him to Heaven. Gods appreciated his fairness and the dog is none other than the God of death (Dharma Devata, Yama). Mahaprasthana means leaving this world permanently in order to move to higher worlds through leaving this material body here. Several people used to undertake this pilgrimage with this attitude. People who relinquished attachments, householders in a similar frame of mind, mendicants, some people who felt that they reached the end of the journey, used to go there without making any arrangements. They went with a mood not to return. Even after reaching there they never used to carry on with the mortal body for long. They used to you do pranayama, hold the breath and jump into the Alakananda valley, keeping their mind focussed on the Supreme Lord (Parameswara). Through yoga, only the lifeless body used to fall in the river with life breath (prana) leaving the body during the fall itself. It is a yogic technique for shedding the body called Bhrigupata, and is not suicide committed in a mood of depression. This is an act done with utmost faith in the Lord as the giver of final redemption moksha, with long practice. Obviously such people will be very few. The Himalaya has been a place for doing penance in solitude. It is the final abode of sage Veda Vyasa, Krishna, Aswatthama for atoning his sins, Hanuman and such others, with each noble soul with a purpose. Even now thousands of people are in yoga in the caves of mountains such as Nandadevi seeking the divine. These were never meant to be picnic spots and tourist places for undertaking pleasure trips. Comfortable bus rides and lodging facilities, casual tours, and gross commercialization are the factors which contributed to the present state of affairs and the magnitude of the tragedy. Leaving aside the safety and security aspects of what happened, and looking at the problem in a philosophical way, do we know whether the pilgrims who were washed away experienced bliss or sorrow at the final moments of their present lives. Even if they returned home safely there is no escape from death at an unknown future date. In a natural calamity, the impending death is not under anyone’s control. No one knows what type of death awaits each person and is good for his journey to the final destination. Body is in the control of nature and life’s journey and death are decided by their karma. Each individual is guided by his personal relation with Iswara. From our side we can to pray to Siva to shower his grace on the departed souls who completed their life-journey at his feet. We offer our condolences to their family members. Let Mother Nature be kind and not display her fury again to the pilgrims who will visit these places in future. In this context a story from our Puranas comes to mind. A Brahmana was walking in hot sun to a nearby village. By the time he reached a lake he was affected by sun stroke and was on the verge of collapse. A Brahmin householder was living by the side of the lake. He made the unexpected visitor sit, comforted him and after he recovered a little told him “Please go and take a bath in the lake. In the meanwhile please take this sweet milk dish (payasa)”. The visitor recovered somewhat and said “I shall consume this after my bath” and went to the lake and left the vessel with the pot in which the dish was placed, in the shade of a lake side tree. He went for a bath in the lake. In the meanwhile an eagle caught a snake and was flying above the tree. The snake discharged its venom, which fell into the dish. The Brahmana without realizing what happened drank the milk and died. The person who played host came and was confused about what happened? In the meanwhile villagers assembled there and started to find the cause of his death and were wondering to whom the sin of killing a Brahmana would accrue. Has the host committed the sin by suggesting the tired Brahmin to take a bath before offering him the sweet dish? Has the Brahmin himself committed the mistake of not consuming payasa when the host had given him? Has the eagle committed a sin or the snake, the poison from which, killed the Brahmana? As usual everybody had an opinion and a sage in saffron robe was passing that way. They asked him for his judgment. He said that none of the parties involved in this event committed any sin. The sinners are those who do useless post-mortem discussions searching for scapegoats in such a situation. This is the real truth. Unfortunately we live in any society where such events are discussed and attempts are made to apportion blame. This is the real truth that may be understood.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 07:22:34 +0000
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