[Guruvayur/Guruvayoor] Chaar Dhaam Pilgrimage

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Interesting travelogue. Being able to visit holy places and getting involved in satsang happens only with God's grace. Thanks for sharing. Om Namo Narayanaya.Lucky <lucky_binu wrote: Hare Krishna!!!! Recently one of my friend forwarded me this pilgrimage report. Have any one visited Mount Kailas,Dwaraka,Kasi...Hrishikesh,Haridwar,Gangotri..etc...if so would anybody be so

kind to share their experience. Regards Lucky Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna krishna Hare Hare Here's a new way to find what you're looking for - Answers Send FREE SMS to your friend's mobile from Messenger Version 8. Get it NOW Chaar Dhaam PilgrimageWed, 2 Aug 2006 09:22:29 +0530"Chandran, Binu \(Binu\)" <binu"Lucky S" <lucky_binu Chaar Dhaam Pilgrimage 04 June 2006, SundayThere was Puja and Homa at the house of Sri Janardhan Reddy in Delhi.We had nice discussions with the Pujari (a Doctor) related to Vedasand with Nareshji.Nareshji explained that the first naama of the Lord in Vishnusahasranaamais "Vishvam". The world is a manifestation of the Lord. Everything in theworld is filled with the Lord. This is what the story of Prahalaadashows. The asura employed various means like fire, water, earth, wildanimals, serpents, murderers, etc to kill Prahalaada. But as Vishnu residedin all of them, the devotee was saved. The asura did not expect Vishnu tobe in an inert stone pillar. The Lord was there too !!!The blessed house of Sri Janardhan Reddy was like an ashram. Anyone whocomes to the house did not go without being fed

well. I have heard ofsuch hospitality, but here I was seeing it with my own eyes.The group that went on the pilgrimage were1. Sri Gopi Krishna - An officer in ILO from Delhi2. Sri Raghava Rao - An educationalist from Hyderabad3. Sri Prasanna Kumar - An MBA student from Hyderabad4. Sri Anjaiah - An officer in an insurance company from Karim Nagar, AP5. Sri Radha Krishna - Anjaiah's friend from Karim Nagar, AP6. Br. Hari Sharanam - A parivrajak brahmachari from Vrindavan7. Sri Gokulmuthu - A software engineer from BangaloreGopiji was the organizer and coordinator of the pilgrimage. He knewa lot of ashrams in the area and arranged accommodation and prasadin those places.The aim of the pilgrimage was to visit the Chaar Dhaam and otherinteresting people and places en route - mainly sadhus and ashrams. The group was very devoted. They chanted Vishnusahasranaamam at

leastonce everyday. They did japa and sang bhajans whenever possible.We left Delhi at night.05 June 2006, MondayWe reached Kailash Ashram, Rishikesh in the morning. We had darshan ofSwami Medhananda Puri. He made coffee for us. As the next day wasGanga Dusshera, we were adviced to go to Gangotri first. The usualChaar Dhaam trip is to visit Yamunotri first and then go toGangotri. We planned to visit Gangotri first to wish Her"Happy Birthday".We left Rishikesh to Uttarkashi. We reached Sivananda Ashram, Ganeshpuri,UttarKashi in the evening. We had dinner and participated in the eveningBhajans. The rooms were very good and the hospitality was excellent.We had a nice sleep.06 June 2006, TuesdayWe started from Uttarkashi towards Gangotri. On the way, we sawa mountain with snow on the top. By coincidence, the shape of thewhite snow seen from the van

looked like the letter OM. The devoteeswere thrilled.We took bath in the hot spring at Ganganani.We reached Gangotri in the midst of a major traffic jam. We were 2kmfrom the Gangotri temple. We decided to get down and walk. No soonerthan we had walked half a kilometer, when suddenly we saw a familiarperson coming towards us. It was Sri Sri Ravishankar. We bowed downto him and made pranams. He greeted us with a smile and quickly wenton his way. We were standing wondering at our good fortune.We went further and we found a very old lady accompanied by two otherladies slightly younger to her, trying hard to walk towards Gangotriwith her heavy bag, etc. We took the bag from her and helped her tothe temple holding her hand. We felt blessed to be able to help themat the holy place.We offered prayers at the banks of Ganga at Gangotri. We had darshanat the temple and started back to

Uttarkashi.On the way, Gopiji was having interesting discussions with our driverSri Prabhakar. Prabhakar was a young naughty youth with a good senseof values, but short temper. Sometimes he gets calculative and triesto get more money (natural). Overall he was a nice and interestingperson.We reached Uttarkashi at nightfall. We had dinner at the ashram andwent to sleep.07 June 2006, WednesdayWe got up early in the morning and went to the banks of Ganga. Thedevotees chanted Vishnusahasranaam. The sun rise from behind themountains, the sound of Ganga flowing mixed with the melodiouschanting of Vishnusahasranaam was enchanting.It was the day of Nirjala Ekadasi. As we are not used to it, wewere served some snacks at the ashram. We had satsangh withSwami Premanandaji Maharaj. Raghavji asked the Swamiji to give usa message. Swamiji said "Be thankful to the Lord for whateverthat happens in life. It is by His will and judgement that thingshappen. Don't complaint against or reject His will." He took someannaprasad of Puri Jagannathji and gave to Radhakrishnanji. Heasked Radhakrishnanji to eat it. He ate it. Swamiji said, "See,today is Ekadasi. But he did not think, 'Why is Swamiji doing afoolish thing? Today is Ekadasi and still he is asking me toeat rice. I will not eat it.' He thought, 'Swamiji knows todayis Ekadasi. Still he is asking me to eat this. So it must be fineto eat it.' This should be your attitude. You should rely on thejudgement of God.He also said that it is the Lord who has become everything in theworld. Learn to see the Lord everywhere. At the same time, useyour intelligence also. He told the story of the Elephant God andthe Mahout God.We took leave of Swamiji and visited the Vishwanath temple atUttarkashi. There was a huge

trident, which was supposed to havebeen used by Shiva.Then we went towards Yamunotri. We reached Hanuman Chatti at night.08 June 2006, ThursdayWe started in the morning. We went upto Janaki Chatti by a localjeep and started trekking to Yamunotri. The village houses wereinteresting. The horses, the palkis, etc were a new experience.The trek was steep. It was compensated by the beautiful scenery.We were in no hurry. We reached Yamunotri. The water in theriver was cold. Some of us took a dip while others just sprinkledthe water on the head. We took bath in the hot spring water.There was a Hanuman and Rama temple near the Yamunotri temple.Thanks to Hari Sharanam Maharaj, our afternoon prasad was arrangedin the temple. After prasad, the devotees chanted Vishnusahasranaamoutside the temple. Then we started trekking down.Gopiji's arthritis gave him a tough time, but he

beared it all withcheer. We reached Hanuman Chatti in the evening and stayed therefor the night.09 June 2006, FridayIn the morning, we started the long drive towards Kedarnath. Thedevotees chanted Vishnusahasranaam and sang some bhajans in the van.On the way, the spring in the van got broken and we had to spend afew hours at Barkot to get it repaired.We had a nice satsangh while waiting for the van to get repaired.Gopiji told us about the plans of the purohit, who did puja inReddyji's house. The purohit wanted to start a Veda Patashala, buthis plans did not materialize fully. He had spend lakhs of rupeeson it. With Gopiji's support, they are planning to revive it. Wealso had various discussions on spiritual life.When the van got fixed, we continued our journey.On the way we had a view of the huge Tehri dam.We reached Shrinagar (Uttaranchal) by night fall.

We stayed therein the night. As this falls on the way to Hemakund Sahib, therewere a lot of Sikh pilgrims in Shrinagar and on the roads.10 June 2006, SaturdayWe started towards Kedarnath. We stopped at Guptakashi. We wentto Sri Srividhya Dhaam. It is a residential patashala and acharitable rest house for sadhus and sadhaks. We left our luggagethere.We went to the place where a friend of Gopiji - Sri Ramamoorthyji- is leading a secluded life. There is a shiva temple where Nalahad worshipped. There is a place where Nala did tapas. We alsosaw the samadhi of Damayanti from a distance. There were rice andpotato fields all round. There were rows of mountains one behindthe other in all directions. The place was very beautiful.Sri Ramamoorthyji showed us Bhoj Patra. It is the bark of a treeand is like paper. It is used to write sacred texts. He alsogave some Kedarnath

prasad. He gave Gopiji a magnetic knee cap toalleviate some knee pain.We reached Gauri Kund at the base of Kedarnath before noon. Wetook bath in the hot spring and started trekking up. The placewas very crowded. Horses and palkis were plying in the serviceof pilgrims who could not or did not want to trek by foot. Weheard there were more than 20,000 horses in service there. Thereis helicopter service also. The trek is not as steep as Yamunotri,but it is twice as long. It started raining as we neared theKedarnath temple. We reached the top in the night. We took aroom and slept.11 June 2006, SundayWe got up in the morning. The sun rising over the snow clad peakof Nilakanta was an enchanting sight.We had arranged for a priest to help us worship the Lord. He wantedus to tell lies and cut the queue, etc. We told him that it was okwith us to stand for a couple of hours in the queue, but we didnot want to spoil our spiritual mood by telling lies and fightingwith other righteous devotees. The queue moved fast. After a shortwait, we had a nice darshan of the Lord. We worshipped Him to ourhearts satisfaction. We blessed the Lord that He soon gets freedfrom the corrupt pandas and priests.We had a brunch and started trekking down. We reached Gauri Kundin the early hours of the evening. We sprinkled water from GauriKund on our heads and proceeded.We went to the temple of Triyuginarayan. The tradition says thatthis is where Shiva married Parvati. Lord Narayana was the priestand the homa kund is being kept akhanda since then. We worshippedthe Lord ignoring the modern day priests, who tried hard to helpus lighten our purses.On the way back, Sri Prabhakar shown us a temple with a goldencolor dome like structure, on the distant slope of a

mountain. He said that it was the place where Shiva cut of the head ofGanesha, who did not let him in on the orders of Parvati. Wedid not have time to visit that temple.We reached Sri Srividhya Dhaam at Guptakashi at night fall. Wehad prasad there and spent the night there.12 June 2006, MondayWe reached Chopta, the base of Tunganath. We decided tovisit Sri Tunganathji after long deliberation. It is a threekilometers steep climb. We took the services of horses. Anjaiahwas very frightened to climb on a horse. He walked all the wayup to the great appreciation of the rest of the group. Thescenery on the way up was very beautiful. Its beauty wasexcelled only by the scenery on the top of the mountain, wherethe temple of Sri Tunganathji was situated. It was a very calmplace. There were not many people. We had a nice darshan andsat quietly for sometime facing the vast

stretches of openmeadows. This place was too high up for the pine trees to grow.We could clearly see the line above which the tall pine treesdared not to set their foot. Only humble ferns, grass, and somesmall plants and creepers grew in this place. Most of the plantshad beautiful small flowers. This seemed to teach us the attitudewe should have when approaching the Lord.Upon enquiry, we found that accommodation is available at the topof the hill with all facilities for a very low price. We decidedto plan to come there and spend a week or so, in solitude sometimein future. It is a very good place to test your nerves on asolitary life.We reluctantly came down from Tunganath. We started towardsJoshimath. We reached Joshimath at night. We had a darshan ofSwami Swaroopanandaji Maharaj, the Shakaracharya of the Math.Gopiji and the other devotees had the privilege of renderingsome personal service to the Swami. They felt very blessed. Wehad prasad in the Math and our accommodation was also arrangedthere. After enquiring about our whereabouts and welfare, the Sankaracharyaencouraged us to ask questions. Gopiji asked a question, after muchhesitation.G: Of the two great devotees of Lord - Bhishma and Vibhishana - inKaliyuga, whom should we follow? Bhishma has waged war in favorof Kauravas and against Pandavas knowing fully well that Kauravasare on the wrong side and God and Truth are on the side of Pandavas,whereas Vibhishana has deserted his own brother, who committed amistake, and surrendered to their enemy, Sri Rama, and then becameresponsible in killing his own brother, Ravana, in the hands of Sri Rama.S: Bhishma is a sign of ego. Bhimshma has promised to his father thathe will not claim either the kingdom or the crown and, at the same timetaken a

vow to protect the throne and the kingdom of Kauravas as longas he is alive. And, he stuck to his vow till his last breadth. Bhimsha saysto Draupadi, when he was on the bed of arrows, that he could not objectto the misdeeds of Duryodhana and Kauravas earlier, as his blood waspolluted by the food offered to him by Kauravas, and now that bloodwas taken out by the arrows of Arjuna and is now in a position to teachDharma to Yudhishtara.In the case of Vibhishana, he has not left the company of his brotherRavana of his own volition. He was asked to leave Lanka by Ravana,when the former pointed out Ravana's mistakes. Instead of getting killedin the hands of an Asura like Ravana, Vibhishana thought it better to surrenderto Sri Rama, who is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, and serve Him. Due tohis devotion and surrender to Sri Rama, Vibhishana, has not only got thelove and protection of Sri Rama, but

also became the king of Lanka.Coming to the present conditions, one has to protect Dharma whilesurrendering one's own actions to Lord. Though adharma appears to bewinning, ultimately Dharma will emerge victorious and the present dayhuman being should follow what is dharma. In other words, one shouldhave the dedication to duty of Bhishma and devotion of Vibhishana inthis Kaliyuga.13 June 2006, TuesdayWe visited the place where some of the Sankaracharyas had donea lot of Tapas. Then we visited the temple where Sankara wassaved by his disciple from death at the hands of a Kapalika.We had breakfast and started towards the last of the ChaarDhaams - Sri Badrinathji.We reached Badrinath before noon. We took accomodation at theAnnadaana Chatram of Sri Chinna Jeeyar. We went to see the temple.We wanted to take bath in the hot spring before lunch. As theywere

cleaning the tank, we just wetted our mortal frames andhad prasad at the Chatram where we were staying.We had darshan of Sri Badrinathji. It is a staggering feelingto even think that Lord Narayana is doing Tapas in this place.We came back to the Chartam in the evening. At 6pm, thevolunteers managing the Chatram chanted Vishnusahasranaamand did puja to Sriman Narayana in the small temple in theChatram. It was a small devoted gathering.14 June 2006, WednesdayWe had a nice bath in the hot water spring in the BadrinathTemple. Gopiji and Raghavji wanted to do some puja for theirancestors. After the puja, we had darshan of the Lord. Wegot some bhog prasad of the Lord. We had lunch at the Chatram.We wanted to visit some mahatmas in the areas. Gopiji had alist of such people. We could locate a great saint. His namewas Taatambari Baba. He wore only a jute gunny bag. He

spokein a charming rustic Hindi. He called us "kapadevaalon".Here is a gist of our conversation with him.Hari Sharanam Maharaj: Babaji, we have come to see you by yourgrace.Babaji: You have come here by the effect of your prarabda. Soit is by the grace of your karma that you have come here. Itis really your grace.HS: Babaji, give us a message.B: If I tell you what I want to tell, you won't follow. Whatis the use?HS: It is ok. Please tell us what you want to tell. We will try.B: Stay here.HS: What do you mean?B: What you seek in the world is a place to live, clothes towear and food to eat. I will give you all these at this place.Just stay here and do nothing. Which of you is ready for this?HS: How is that possible? What about our prarabda? Where westay and what we do is directed by the prarabda.B: A jnani can do what he wishes. He does not have any karma.All karma gets

burnt away in the jnanaagni. A jnani is free.HS: But we are not jnanis.B: That is in your hands. You are just not willing to breakaway. That is the problem.Raghavji: But Babaji, we are grihastas. We have family, joband other duties and responsibilities. Who will take care ofthem?B: See. Everyone's life goes according to their prarabda.Just because you decide to stay here, their life will notbecome anything different from what their prarabda is. Justbecause you decide to stay with your family, their life willnot become anything different from what their prarabda is.You really dont make any difference to anyone.(Great silence prevails in the minds of the devotees.)R: But Babaji, being in the midst of family and otherresponsibilities, how should we lead our life?B: Live like a sannyasi. Be unattached. Know that everyone'slife happens according to their prarabda and you really

don'tmake any difference to anyone's life.(Silence again.)B: Did you have darshan of Sri Badrinathji?HS: Yes, Babaji.B: Did you close your eyes and ask God anything?HS: Yes, Babaji.B: What did you ask?HS: I asked for Bhakti.B: Why should He give you Bhakti? Do you want Him or doesHe wants you? Who are you to Him? Why should He give youBhakti because you asked for it?HS: Then what should we ask, Babaji?B: Why should you ask anything at all? Just go, have darshan,feel happy and come back. Why should you ask something?(Silence.)HS: We will take leave Babaji.(HS tries to take the rug being used to sit on by the devoteesand fold them away.)B: Hey, no, no. You are a Sant. Why should you do that? Iwill take care of it.HS: No Babaji. You are a Sant. We are ordinary people.B: No. You are a renunciate. You are a Sant.(The other devotees take the rug from HS and complete the job.)We were so enchanted and amused by the dialogue with Taatambari Babathat we were recollecting and discussing his words again and againthroughout the rest of the pilgrimage. We were trying to imitatehis unimitable rustic Hindi and other mannerisms. Hari SharanamMaharaj decided to visit him again during another trip to Badrinathwhen he had more time to spend with Babaji.In the early evening, we visited the village of Mana in our van.At Mana, we visited Ganesh Guha and Vyasa Guha. This was theplace where Mahabharata was written. The good natured priests inboth the caves explained tirelessly to the pilgrims the historyof these caves and made us feel edified and happy. There were alot of pilgrims visiting these places and everyone felt veryhappy with these priests and donated happily and generously. Oh,how different were these noble priests from those at the templeswe

have visited before.These caves are on the banks of river Sarasvati, which is saidto vanish into the ground shortly downstream and reappears atPrayag (Allahabad). The river forces its way violently througha narrow gorge and tumbles down a steep fall. It was a nicescene to watch. There were some boys taking the risk of collectingsome water from the top of the fall for a few rupees. There isa natural bridge called Bhim Ful (Bhima's bridge) over whichwe had to cross to reach the Sarasvati temple. A short distancefurther on the path is a small temple of Tripurasundari. Wepaid a visit to the temple too.All along the way, the villagers were selling woollen waremade by themselves at their home.On the way back, we met an old woman who was doing some farmingon a patch of land overlooked by a huge steep cliff. It wasan enchanting sight to see the puny little figure of the oldlady

tottering before the majestic mountain. It was impossibleto say who was greater - Nature or Man. Nature and man seemedto be made for each other, as long as they respected each other.It reminded us of the verses in the Gita where Krishna tellsArjuna - "You offer to the Devas in sacrifice and the Devas willreward you in plenty. Thus you support each other and liveprosperously."We came to know that the old lady had trekked to Swargarohan,Gomukh, etc several times. We bowed down to her and she blessedus with motherly affection. We wondered at the simplicity andcordiality of these people.We spent the night at the Chatram at Badrinath.15 June 2006, ThursdayWe left Badrinath early in the morning and reached the kutir ofSwami Swayambodhanandaji at the village of Jakhwadi in theevening. The Swamiji is the guru of Gokulji. Swamiji has beenliving in that Kutir for the past

ten years. It is a verycalm and picturesque place with paddy fields on the mountainslopes surrounded by higher mountains. There is an ancientsmall Shiva temple besides a perennial spring of crystalclear water flowing ceaselessly making a gentle murmuringsound. This seems like the mountain's unceasing japa ofShiva naama at this ancient temple. In the vicinity of thistemple is the small kutir of the Swamiji and another smallkutir that serves as the guest room. The place does not haveelectricity. The villages nearby have electricity supply.The Swamiji said that he did not want electricity and othermodern amenities to keep away casual visitors. Only sinceresadhaks who are ready to bear a lot of hardship are welcome tohis small ashram, which is called "Sanathana Jnanashram".Gokulji had told earlier that the Swamiji had told him oncethat an ashram is not made of brick and mortar, but ofsincere sadhaks. We were all reminded of that statement andseemed to understand the meaning of that sentence.Swamiji asked us if we were planning to spend the night there.We told him that we would like to, if it was not aninconvenience to him. He replied that it was no inconvenienceto him, but it was we who should be ready to bear with theinconvenience of the place if we want to stay. We were morethan willing to face any inconvenience to spend more timewith this great sadhu. We decided to spend the night at his"ashram".Gopiji asked the first question, "We went to the Chaar Dhaamsjust now. We had to face a lot of physical hardship to havedarshan of the deities. To come here too, we had to face alot of hardship. This place is very deep in the mountains,with bad road access, across several mountain streams, etc.Why do you sadhus and other places of pilgrimage are

alwayslocated at almost inaccessible places?" Swamiji gave a verydetailed reply to this question. The jist of his reply was,"I am a rejected person in the society. I came from a middleclass family. So the poor people, who form majority of thepopulation rejected me. At work, I was an honest person. SoI was always a suspect in the eyes of my peers and was rejectedby them. As I was an officer, I was rejected by the workerstoo. I wanted to lead the life of a Brahmacharin. I wasrejected by my family and the society for that. I did notfind any place in the social circles of the people of my agegroup. Even in the ashram of my Guru, I was a rejected person.My aim in life is Jivan Mukti. I was not interested in anypower or position or name in the ashram. As most of the peoplein the ashram are after these things, I was rejected theretoo. I had to leave the ashram. In this world, anyone whofollows

the path of Truth has to face this rejection at sometime or the other. So, it is not that we choose to stay ininaccessible places. It is the world that rejects people likeme and these are the places where we land up in." Gopijisaid, "But Swamiji, we have come in search of people like you.How can you say that you are a rejected person?" Swamji said,"Tell me what percentage of the society wants a person likeme?"Raghavji asked, "We are Grihastas. We have a family, joband other duties and responsibilities. In the midst of allthese and along with all these, how can we strive for God?What is the way for us?" Swamiji replied, "God is the goal.Your wife, children, job, bank balance, and all other thingsare good only as long as they are not obstacles to yourspiritual life. If you are serious about spiritual life,you should not hesitate to forsake anything that is anobstacle between you and

for God. Prahalada forsook his father.Vibhishana forsook his brother. Bharata forsook his mother.Mahabali forsook his guru. The goal is God. You will getHim only if you are willing to drop anything that is anobstacle. Keep this in mind and use your own intelligenceand make your life."Swamiji talked to us about various things. During thecourse of our conversation, he told us this. "Our mindhas various layers - like the conscious, sub-conscious,unconscious, etc. The aims and thoughts in one layercontradict with those in another layer. Sadhana is nothingbut bringing the contradictions in the various layers ofthe mind to the conscious realm and making the choicethat leads us to God. The objective of all the variousyogas - Bhakti yoga, Jnana yoga, Karma yoga and Rajayoga - are the same: to bring out the contradictionsin the mind into conscious vision. When you are consciousof the

contradiction, you have to make the right choiceand move forward. Keep doing this. It is not the jobof a single lifetime to remove all the contradictions.It may take a few lifetimes. But this is the spiritualpath. You have to do this. There is no other way. Youhave to face it."Swamiji talked about giving in charity. He said, "Evenfrom the common sense point of view, you should givein charity to reduce the tension between the rich andthe poor. The big gap between the rich and the poorcreates jealousy. This leads to a lot of problems inthe society. To balance this, the rich have to give incharity to the people whom he faces everyday. This hasto be done by the rich to save his own life. This issimple common sense."Swamiji made herbal tea for us in the early evening.He made kichadi for the night. He gave each one of usa small part of the task of preparing kichadi. Someof

us washed the vessels. Some of us fetched water.Some of us cut vegetables. It was fun. Then Swamijiled us to sing some bhajans. He played on the harmonium.We all clapped our hands to keep the beat and sangwith him. He sang the song "hey roma roma mein vasanevaale Ram". We were all thrilled by the deep meaningof the song.Gopiji and Gokulji slept in Swamiji's room. The othersslept in the guest room. The toilet in the guest roomhad more facilities than the one in Swamiji's room. Forexample, the toilet in the guest room had a door whichcan be locked. We had a nice sleep in the night.16 June 2006, FridayIn the morning, Swamiji gave a leaf of a plant to chew.He said that chewing that leaf had a better cleaningeffect than the modern toothpaste and toothbrush. Wehad some herbal tea in the morning and left. Many ofthe devotees donated jackets, shawls, biscuits anddry

fruits to Swamiji, which he promptly distributedthen and there among the villagers. He was truly agreat example of renunciation. He seemed to knoweach person in the village intimately and knew who needswhat.We reached Kailash Ashram in Rishikesh in the evening.Anjaiah and Radhakrishna wanted to go to Delhi soonand decided to carry on.We went to Paramartha Niketan and saw the Ganga Aratiin the evening. It was a great show. There was greatpomp and grandness. The puja was not impressive, butthe music was good. We left the place after the mainarati. We went to visit some old sadhus living inRishikesh. Gopiji knew them personally. We could meettwo of them.We came back to Kailash Ashram in the night.17 June 2006, SaturdayWe went to Vashishta Guha. It is about 20km fromRishikesh on the way to Badrinath. The cave is supposedto have been used by several

great sages to do tapasya.It is believed that many sages are doing tapasya therein their astral bodies. Recently Swami Purushottamanandaji,a disciple of Swami Brahmanandaji (Rakhal Maharaj), thespiritual son of Sri Ramakrishna lived there for severalyears. After his mahasamadhi, his discipleSwami Chaitanyanandaji Maharaj is managing the place.He is an old sadhu with a soft nature. The cave has ashivalinga. We worshipped the linga and sat in thesilent atmosphere of the cave for sometime.We spent some time at the banks of the Ganga in theashram. Gokulji had a nice bath in the Ganga. We spentsome more time in the cave and then had prasad at theashram.We reached Kailash ashram in the evening. We went toSivananda ashram. We took part in the evening bhajansand arati. The Ganga Arati at Sivananda was a smalldevoted one. It was a big contrast with the arati that weattended the

previous day. We enjoyed this arati muchmore than the previous day's. We spent some quiet timeon the banks of the Ganges at this hallowed place, wherethe great Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj lived.We spent the night at Kailash Ashram.18 June 2006, SundayRaghavji and Prasannaji left for Delhi early in the morning.Gokulji had decided to go to Vrindavan with Hari SharanamMaharaj. Later they decided to stay back and visitSwami Jnanananda Giri, who lived in Musoorie and Dehradun.Gopiji knew the Swamiji personally. The old Swamiji was aSwiss national, who has been living in India for more than50 years. We visited him at his kutir in Musoorie. He wasmore Indian in culture than most of us. We visited thetemple built by one of his disciples nearby. The Swamiwas on his way to Dehradun. We decided to drop him athis place in Dehradun. Thus we were able to spend sometime with

him.Gopiji and Gokulji started back to Delhi in the afternoon.Hari Sharanam Maharaj joined his other friends in Rishikesh.

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Forwarding the Vaishnodevi Pilgrimage details.

 

Vaishnodevi is located at the Height of 5200 Feet from the sea level and 61 Km at the North of Jammu on the Mountain Trikuta. There are millions of devotees, regularly visit Mata Vaishnodevi, throughout the Year. There are images of three dieties or known as Pindies i.e Maha-Kali, Maha-Lakshmi and Maha-Saraswati.

** All Tourists/Yatris are requested to collect their Yatra Slip from the Yatra Registration Counter at the Tourism Reception Centre, Katra Bus Stand, otherwise you will not allowed to go ahead from Banganga Check Post. There is no Fee/Charge for this Yatra Slip and It is Free. Don’t forget to inform and Mention How many Persons are going for Yatra (Including male/female/childrens etc.). Those who are going to Yatra by Walking are advisable to take regular routes and those who are unable to walk can hire the Horses from the Starting Point. The Yatra takes at least 5 to 6 Hours. The normal Rates for Hiring a Horse are from Rs:130 to Rs:170 decided by the Office for the single way and there is also a facility of carrying small childrens on the

shoulders of Pithus at reasonable charges also.

The Route from Katra to Vaishnodevi (Bhawan) is from: - Katra to Banganga, From Banganga to Charan Paduka, From Charan Paduka to Adhkunwari, and From Adhkunwari to Vaishnodevi (Bhawan). The total Route is about 13 Kms and there are very good facilities provided by the Shrine Board and the Government for taking Halt / Rest. This Yatra takes 5 to 6 Hours, so it is strongly recommended by us to start early in the Morning by 4'Oclock and you will reach by 10'Oclock at Bhawan.

If you are going by Walking, Please take online Route only and do not go by Shortcut way by climbing Steps. You will feel yourself very tired and from Halfway it is difficult to hire a Horse. As you reach Adhkunwari, You can rest for a while. There are Two Stones, in Standing Position and you have to pass between this stones. It is believed that any type of Person, whether thin or Thick, Slim or Fat can pass through, without any Fear.

After taking Rest at Adhkunwari and Darshan, Proceed towards Vaishnodevi i.e. Bhawan, You can take Bath and Go for Darshan. You will not allowed inside carrying Cameras and wearing Leather Items and Comb and you have to show them your YatraSlip. You will have to wait for at least 2 Hours because of Long Que. When you are entering in a Cave, Please note that, here, you can have Darshan of the Deities in the Form of Pindies and not in a form of any Statue or Photograph. So, you can have darshan of this Three Pindies i.e. Maha-Kali, Maha-Lakshmi and Maha-Saraswati.

 

After this Darshan, You can have your lunch or take rest and Proceed towards Bhairav Temple. It is stronly believed that without The Darshan of Bhairav Temple, Your yatra is not complete. So Please Visit Bhairav Temple and then only Return back to Katra. It is strongly advisable that, you walk for sometime and Sit for sometime on the Horse; otherwise you will get yourself tired.

 

Pray always god you won't feel tired at all.

 

With Love,

Sree

 

Lucky <lucky_binuguruvayur Sent: Saturday, 12 August, 2006 12:58:41 PM[Guruvayur/Guruvayoor] Chaar Dhaam Pilgrimage

 

 

Hare Krishna!!!!

 

 

Recently one of my friend forwarded me this pilgrimage report.

 

Have any one visited Mount Kailas,Dwaraka, Kasi...Hrishikes h,Haridwar, Gangotri. .etc...if so would anybody be so kind to share their experience.

 

Regards

Lucky

 

 

 

 

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna krishna Hare Hare

 

 

Here's a new way to find what you're looking for - Answers Send FREE SMS to your friend's mobile from Messenger Version 8. Get it NOW

 

 

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Chaar Dhaam Pilgrimage

04 June 2006, SundayThere was Puja and Homa at the house of Sri Janardhan Reddy in Delhi.We had nice discussions with the Pujari (a Doctor) related to Vedasand with Nareshji.Nareshji explained that the first naama of the Lord in Vishnusahasranaamais "Vishvam". The world is a manifestation of the Lord. Everything in theworld is filled with the Lord. This is what the story of Prahalaadashows. The asura employed various means like fire, water, earth, wildanimals, serpents, murderers, etc to kill Prahalaada. But as Vishnu residedin all of them, the devotee was saved. The asura did not expect Vishnu tobe in an inert stone pillar. The Lord was there too !!!The blessed house of Sri Janardhan Reddy was like an ashram. Anyone whocomes to the house did not go without being fed well. I have heard ofsuch hospitality, but here I was seeing it with my own eyes.The group that went on the pilgrimage

were1. Sri Gopi Krishna - An officer in ILO from Delhi2. Sri Raghava Rao - An educationalist from Hyderabad3. Sri Prasanna Kumar - An MBA student from Hyderabad4. Sri Anjaiah - An officer in an insurance company from Karim Nagar, AP5. Sri Radha Krishna - Anjaiah's friend from Karim Nagar, AP6. Br. Hari Sharanam - A parivrajak brahmachari from Vrindavan7. Sri Gokulmuthu - A software engineer from BangaloreGopiji was the organizer and coordinator of the pilgrimage. He knewa lot of ashrams in the area and arranged accommodation and prasadin those places.The aim of the pilgrimage was to visit the Chaar Dhaam and otherinteresting people and places en route - mainly sadhus and ashrams. The group was very devoted. They chanted Vishnusahasranaamam at leastonce everyday. They did japa and sang bhajans whenever possible.We left Delhi at night.05 June 2006, MondayWe reached Kailash

Ashram, Rishikesh in the morning. We had darshan ofSwami Medhananda Puri. He made coffee for us. As the next day wasGanga Dusshera, we were adviced to go to Gangotri first. The usualChaar Dhaam trip is to visit Yamunotri first and then go toGangotri. We planned to visit Gangotri first to wish Her"Happy Birthday".We left Rishikesh to Uttarkashi. We reached Sivananda Ashram, Ganeshpuri,UttarKashi in the evening. We had dinner and participated in the eveningBhajans. The rooms were very good and the hospitality was excellent.We had a nice sleep.06 June 2006, TuesdayWe started from Uttarkashi towards Gangotri. On the way, we sawa mountain with snow on the top. By coincidence, the shape of thewhite snow seen from the van looked like the letter OM. The devoteeswere thrilled.We took bath in the hot spring at Ganganani.We reached Gangotri in the midst of a major traffic jam. We were

2kmfrom the Gangotri temple. We decided to get down and walk. No soonerthan we had walked half a kilometer, when suddenly we saw a familiarperson coming towards us. It was Sri Sri Ravishankar. We bowed downto him and made pranams. He greeted us with a smile and quickly wenton his way. We were standing wondering at our good fortune.We went further and we found a very old lady accompanied by two otherladies slightly younger to her, trying hard to walk towards Gangotriwith her heavy bag, etc. We took the bag from her and helped her tothe temple holding her hand. We felt blessed to be able to help themat the holy place.We offered prayers at the banks of Ganga at Gangotri. We had darshanat the temple and started back to Uttarkashi.On the way, Gopiji was having interesting discussions with our driverSri Prabhakar. Prabhakar was a young naughty youth with a good senseof values, but short temper. Sometimes he

gets calculative and triesto get more money (natural). Overall he was a nice and interestingperson.We reached Uttarkashi at nightfall. We had dinner at the ashram andwent to sleep.07 June 2006, WednesdayWe got up early in the morning and went to the banks of Ganga. Thedevotees chanted Vishnusahasranaam. The sun rise from behind themountains, the sound of Ganga flowing mixed with the melodiouschanting of Vishnusahasranaam was enchanting.It was the day of Nirjala Ekadasi. As we are not used to it, wewere served some snacks at the ashram. We had satsangh withSwami Premanandaji Maharaj. Raghavji asked the Swamiji to give usa message. Swamiji said "Be thankful to the Lord for whateverthat happens in life. It is by His will and judgement that thingshappen. Don't complaint against or reject His will." He took someannaprasad of Puri Jagannathji and gave to Radhakrishnanji. Heasked

Radhakrishnanji to eat it. He ate it. Swamiji said, "See,today is Ekadasi. But he did not think, 'Why is Swamiji doing afoolish thing? Today is Ekadasi and still he is asking me toeat rice. I will not eat it.' He thought, 'Swamiji knows todayis Ekadasi. Still he is asking me to eat this. So it must be fineto eat it.' This should be your attitude. You should rely on thejudgement of God.He also said that it is the Lord who has become everything in theworld. Learn to see the Lord everywhere. At the same time, useyour intelligence also. He told the story of the Elephant God andthe Mahout God.We took leave of Swamiji and visited the Vishwanath temple atUttarkashi. There was a huge trident, which was supposed to havebeen used by Shiva.Then we went towards Yamunotri. We reached Hanuman Chatti at night.08 June 2006, ThursdayWe started in the morning. We went upto Janaki Chatti by a

localjeep and started trekking to Yamunotri. The village houses wereinteresting. The horses, the palkis, etc were a new experience.The trek was steep. It was compensated by the beautiful scenery.We were in no hurry. We reached Yamunotri. The water in theriver was cold. Some of us took a dip while others just sprinkledthe water on the head. We took bath in the hot spring water.There was a Hanuman and Rama temple near the Yamunotri temple.Thanks to Hari Sharanam Maharaj, our afternoon prasad was arrangedin the temple. After prasad, the devotees chanted Vishnusahasranaamoutside the temple. Then we started trekking down.Gopiji's arthritis gave him a tough time, but he beared it all withcheer. We reached Hanuman Chatti in the evening and stayed therefor the night.09 June 2006, FridayIn the morning, we started the long drive towards Kedarnath. Thedevotees chanted Vishnusahasranaam and sang

some bhajans in the van.On the way, the spring in the van got broken and we had to spend afew hours at Barkot to get it repaired.We had a nice satsangh while waiting for the van to get repaired.Gopiji told us about the plans of the purohit, who did puja inReddyji's house. The purohit wanted to start a Veda Patashala, buthis plans did not materialize fully. He had spend lakhs of rupeeson it. With Gopiji's support, they are planning to revive it. Wealso had various discussions on spiritual life.When the van got fixed, we continued our journey.On the way we had a view of the huge Tehri dam.We reached Shrinagar (Uttaranchal) by night fall. We stayed therein the night. As this falls on the way to Hemakund Sahib, therewere a lot of Sikh pilgrims in Shrinagar and on the roads.10 June 2006, SaturdayWe started towards Kedarnath. We stopped at Guptakashi. We wentto Sri Srividhya Dhaam. It

is a residential patashala and acharitable rest house for sadhus and sadhaks. We left our luggagethere.We went to the place where a friend of Gopiji - Sri Ramamoorthyji- is leading a secluded life. There is a shiva temple where Nalahad worshipped. There is a place where Nala did tapas. We alsosaw the samadhi of Damayanti from a distance. There were rice andpotato fields all round. There were rows of mountains one behindthe other in all directions. The place was very beautiful.Sri Ramamoorthyji showed us Bhoj Patra. It is the bark of a treeand is like paper. It is used to write sacred texts. He alsogave some Kedarnath prasad. He gave Gopiji a magnetic knee cap toalleviate some knee pain.We reached Gauri Kund at the base of Kedarnath before noon. Wetook bath in the hot spring and started trekking up. The placewas very crowded. Horses and palkis were plying in the serviceof pilgrims who could not or

did not want to trek by foot. Weheard there were more than 20,000 horses in service there. Thereis helicopter service also. The trek is not as steep as Yamunotri,but it is twice as long. It started raining as we neared theKedarnath temple. We reached the top in the night. We took aroom and slept.11 June 2006, SundayWe got up in the morning. The sun rising over the snow clad peakof Nilakanta was an enchanting sight.We had arranged for a priest to help us worship the Lord. He wantedus to tell lies and cut the queue, etc. We told him that it was okwith us to stand for a couple of hours in the queue, but we didnot want to spoil our spiritual mood by telling lies and fightingwith other righteous devotees. The queue moved fast. After a shortwait, we had a nice darshan of the Lord. We worshipped Him to ourhearts satisfaction. We blessed the Lord that He soon gets freedfrom the corrupt pandas and

priests.We had a brunch and started trekking down. We reached Gauri Kundin the early hours of the evening. We sprinkled water from GauriKund on our heads and proceeded.We went to the temple of Triyuginarayan. The tradition says thatthis is where Shiva married Parvati. Lord Narayana was the priestand the homa kund is being kept akhanda since then. We worshippedthe Lord ignoring the modern day priests, who tried hard to helpus lighten our purses.On the way back, Sri Prabhakar shown us a temple with a goldencolor dome like structure, on the distant slope of a mountain. He said that it was the place where Shiva cut of the head ofGanesha, who did not let him in on the orders of Parvati. Wedid not have time to visit that temple.We reached Sri Srividhya Dhaam at Guptakashi at night fall. Wehad prasad there and spent the night there.12 June 2006, MondayWe reached Chopta, the

base of Tunganath. We decided tovisit Sri Tunganathji after long deliberation. It is a threekilometers steep climb. We took the services of horses. Anjaiahwas very frightened to climb on a horse. He walked all the wayup to the great appreciation of the rest of the group. Thescenery on the way up was very beautiful. Its beauty wasexcelled only by the scenery on the top of the mountain, wherethe temple of Sri Tunganathji was situated. It was a very calmplace. There were not many people. We had a nice darshan andsat quietly for sometime facing the vast stretches of openmeadows. This place was too high up for the pine trees to grow.We could clearly see the line above which the tall pine treesdared not to set their foot. Only humble ferns, grass, and somesmall plants and creepers grew in this place. Most of the plantshad beautiful small flowers. This seemed to teach us the attitudewe should have when approaching the

Lord.Upon enquiry, we found that accommodation is available at the topof the hill with all facilities for a very low price. We decidedto plan to come there and spend a week or so, in solitude sometimein future. It is a very good place to test your nerves on asolitary life.We reluctantly came down from Tunganath. We started towardsJoshimath. We reached Joshimath at night. We had a darshan ofSwami Swaroopanandaji Maharaj, the Shakaracharya of the Math.Gopiji and the other devotees had the privilege of renderingsome personal service to the Swami. They felt very blessed. Wehad prasad in the Math and our accommodation was also arrangedthere.

After enquiring about our whereabouts and welfare, the Sankaracharyaencouraged us to ask questions. Gopiji asked a question, after muchhesitation.G: Of the two great devotees of Lord - Bhishma and Vibhishana - inKaliyuga, whom should we follow? Bhishma has waged war in favorof Kauravas and against Pandavas knowing fully well that Kauravasare on the wrong side and God and Truth are on the side of Pandavas,whereas Vibhishana has deserted his own brother, who committed amistake, and surrendered to their enemy, Sri Rama, and then becameresponsible in killing his own brother, Ravana, in the hands of Sri Rama.S: Bhishma is a sign of ego. Bhimshma has promised to his father thathe will not claim either the kingdom or the crown and, at the same timetaken a vow to protect the throne and the kingdom of Kauravas as longas he is alive. And, he stuck to his vow till his last breadth. Bhimsha saysto Draupadi, when he was

on the bed of arrows, that he could not objectto the misdeeds of Duryodhana and Kauravas earlier, as his blood waspolluted by the food offered to him by Kauravas, and now that bloodwas taken out by the arrows of Arjuna and is now in a position to teachDharma to Yudhishtara.In the case of Vibhishana, he has not left the company of his brotherRavana of his own volition. He was asked to leave Lanka by Ravana,when the former pointed out Ravana's mistakes. Instead of getting killedin the hands of an Asura like Ravana, Vibhishana thought it better to surrenderto Sri Rama, who is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, and serve Him. Due tohis devotion and surrender to Sri Rama, Vibhishana, has not only got thelove and protection of Sri Rama, but also became the king of Lanka.Coming to the present conditions, one has to protect Dharma whilesurrendering one's own actions to Lord. Though adharma appears to bewinning,

ultimately Dharma will emerge victorious and the present dayhuman being should follow what is dharma. In other words, one shouldhave the dedication to duty of Bhishma and devotion of Vibhishana inthis Kaliyuga.13 June 2006, TuesdayWe visited the place where some of the Sankaracharyas had donea lot of Tapas. Then we visited the temple where Sankara wassaved by his disciple from death at the hands of a Kapalika.We had breakfast and started towards the last of the ChaarDhaams - Sri Badrinathji.We reached Badrinath before noon. We took accomodation at theAnnadaana Chatram of Sri Chinna Jeeyar. We went to see the temple.We wanted to take bath in the hot spring before lunch. As theywere cleaning the tank, we just wetted our mortal frames andhad prasad at the Chatram where we were staying.We had darshan of Sri Badrinathji. It is a staggering feelingto even think that Lord Narayana is

doing Tapas in this place.We came back to the Chartam in the evening. At 6pm, thevolunteers managing the Chatram chanted Vishnusahasranaamand did puja to Sriman Narayana in the small temple in theChatram. It was a small devoted gathering.14 June 2006, WednesdayWe had a nice bath in the hot water spring in the BadrinathTemple. Gopiji and Raghavji wanted to do some puja for theirancestors. After the puja, we had darshan of the Lord. Wegot some bhog prasad of the Lord. We had lunch at the Chatram.We wanted to visit some mahatmas in the areas. Gopiji had alist of such people. We could locate a great saint. His namewas Taatambari Baba. He wore only a jute gunny bag. He spokein a charming rustic Hindi. He called us "kapadevaalon".Here is a gist of our conversation with him.Hari Sharanam Maharaj: Babaji, we have come to see you by yourgrace.Babaji: You have come here by the effect of your

prarabda. Soit is by the grace of your karma that you have come here. Itis really your grace.HS: Babaji, give us a message.B: If I tell you what I want to tell, you won't follow. Whatis the use?HS: It is ok. Please tell us what you want to tell. We will try.B: Stay here.HS: What do you mean?B: What you seek in the world is a place to live, clothes towear and food to eat. I will give you all these at this place.Just stay here and do nothing. Which of you is ready for this?HS: How is that possible? What about our prarabda? Where westay and what we do is directed by the prarabda.B: A jnani can do what he wishes. He does not have any karma.All karma gets burnt away in the jnanaagni. A jnani is free.HS: But we are not jnanis.B: That is in your hands. You are just not willing to breakaway. That is the problem.Raghavji: But Babaji, we are grihastas. We have family, joband other duties and

responsibilities. Who will take care ofthem?B: See. Everyone's life goes according to their prarabda.Just because you decide to stay here, their life will notbecome anything different from what their prarabda is. Justbecause you decide to stay with your family, their life willnot become anything different from what their prarabda is.You really dont make any difference to anyone.(Great silence prevails in the minds of the devotees.)R: But Babaji, being in the midst of family and otherresponsibilities, how should we lead our life?B: Live like a sannyasi. Be unattached. Know that everyone'slife happens according to their prarabda and you really don'tmake any difference to anyone's life.(Silence again.)B: Did you have darshan of Sri Badrinathji?HS: Yes, Babaji.B: Did you close your eyes and ask God anything?HS: Yes, Babaji.B: What did you ask?HS: I asked for Bhakti.B: Why should He give you

Bhakti? Do you want Him or doesHe wants you? Who are you to Him? Why should He give youBhakti because you asked for it?HS: Then what should we ask, Babaji?B: Why should you ask anything at all? Just go, have darshan,feel happy and come back. Why should you ask something?(Silence.)HS: We will take leave Babaji.(HS tries to take the rug being used to sit on by the devoteesand fold them away.)B: Hey, no, no. You are a Sant. Why should you do that? Iwill take care of it.HS: No Babaji. You are a Sant. We are ordinary people.B: No. You are a renunciate. You are a Sant.(The other devotees take the rug from HS and complete the job.)We were so enchanted and amused by the dialogue with Taatambari Babathat we were recollecting and discussing his words again and againthroughout the rest of the pilgrimage. We were trying to imitatehis unimitable rustic Hindi and other mannerisms. Hari SharanamMaharaj

decided to visit him again during another trip to Badrinathwhen he had more time to spend with Babaji.In the early evening, we visited the village of Mana in our van.At Mana, we visited Ganesh Guha and Vyasa Guha. This was theplace where Mahabharata was written. The good natured priests inboth the caves explained tirelessly to the pilgrims the historyof these caves and made us feel edified and happy. There were alot of pilgrims visiting these places and everyone felt veryhappy with these priests and donated happily and generously. Oh,how different were these noble priests from those at the templeswe have visited before.These caves are on the banks of river Sarasvati, which is saidto vanish into the ground shortly downstream and reappears atPrayag (Allahabad). The river forces its way violently througha narrow gorge and tumbles down a steep fall. It was a nicescene to watch. There were some boys taking the

risk of collectingsome water from the top of the fall for a few rupees. There isa natural bridge called Bhim Ful (Bhima's bridge) over whichwe had to cross to reach the Sarasvati temple. A short distancefurther on the path is a small temple of Tripurasundari. Wepaid a visit to the temple too.All along the way, the villagers were selling woollen waremade by themselves at their home.On the way back, we met an old woman who was doing some farmingon a patch of land overlooked by a huge steep cliff. It wasan enchanting sight to see the puny little figure of the oldlady tottering before the majestic mountain. It was impossibleto say who was greater - Nature or Man. Nature and man seemedto be made for each other, as long as they respected each other.It reminded us of the verses in the Gita where Krishna tellsArjuna - "You offer to the Devas in sacrifice and the Devas willreward you in plenty. Thus you support

each other and liveprosperously."We came to know that the old lady had trekked to Swargarohan,Gomukh, etc several times. We bowed down to her and she blessedus with motherly affection. We wondered at the simplicity andcordiality of these people.We spent the night at the Chatram at Badrinath.15 June 2006, ThursdayWe left Badrinath early in the morning and reached the kutir ofSwami Swayambodhanandaji at the village of Jakhwadi in theevening. The Swamiji is the guru of Gokulji. Swamiji has beenliving in that Kutir for the past ten years. It is a verycalm and picturesque place with paddy fields on the mountainslopes surrounded by higher mountains. There is an ancientsmall Shiva temple besides a perennial spring of crystalclear water flowing ceaselessly making a gentle murmuringsound. This seems like the mountain's unceasing japa ofShiva naama at this ancient temple. In the vicinity of

thistemple is the small kutir of the Swamiji and another smallkutir that serves as the guest room. The place does not haveelectricity. The villages nearby have electricity supply.The Swamiji said that he did not want electricity and othermodern amenities to keep away casual visitors. Only sinceresadhaks who are ready to bear a lot of hardship are welcome tohis small ashram, which is called "Sanathana Jnanashram".Gokulji had told earlier that the Swamiji had told him oncethat an ashram is not made of brick and mortar, but ofsincere sadhaks. We were all reminded of that statement andseemed to understand the meaning of that sentence.Swamiji asked us if we were planning to spend the night there.We told him that we would like to, if it was not aninconvenience to him. He replied that it was no inconvenienceto him, but it was we who should be ready to bear with theinconvenience of the place if we want to

stay. We were morethan willing to face any inconvenience to spend more timewith this great sadhu. We decided to spend the night at his"ashram".Gopiji asked the first question, "We went to the Chaar Dhaamsjust now. We had to face a lot of physical hardship to havedarshan of the deities. To come here too, we had to face alot of hardship. This place is very deep in the mountains,with bad road access, across several mountain streams, etc.Why do you sadhus and other places of pilgrimage are alwayslocated at almost inaccessible places?" Swamiji gave a verydetailed reply to this question. The jist of his reply was,"I am a rejected person in the society. I came from a middleclass family. So the poor people, who form majority of thepopulation rejected me. At work, I was an honest person. SoI was always a suspect in the eyes of my peers and was rejectedby them. As I was an officer, I was rejected by the

workerstoo. I wanted to lead the life of a Brahmacharin. I wasrejected by my family and the society for that. I did notfind any place in the social circles of the people of my agegroup. Even in the ashram of my Guru, I was a rejected person.My aim in life is Jivan Mukti. I was not interested in anypower or position or name in the ashram. As most of the peoplein the ashram are after these things, I was rejected theretoo. I had to leave the ashram. In this world, anyone whofollows the path of Truth has to face this rejection at sometime or the other. So, it is not that we choose to stay ininaccessible places. It is the world that rejects people likeme and these are the places where we land up in." Gopijisaid, "But Swamiji, we have come in search of people like you.How can you say that you are a rejected person?" Swamji said,"Tell me what percentage of the society wants a person likeme?"Raghavji asked,

"We are Grihastas. We have a family, joband other duties and responsibilities. In the midst of allthese and along with all these, how can we strive for God?What is the way for us?" Swamiji replied, "God is the goal.Your wife, children, job, bank balance, and all other thingsare good only as long as they are not obstacles to yourspiritual life. If you are serious about spiritual life,you should not hesitate to forsake anything that is anobstacle between you and for God. Prahalada forsook his father.Vibhishana forsook his brother. Bharata forsook his mother.Mahabali forsook his guru. The goal is God. You will getHim only if you are willing to drop anything that is anobstacle. Keep this in mind and use your own intelligenceand make your life."Swamiji talked to us about various things. During thecourse of our conversation, he told us this. "Our mindhas various layers - like the conscious,

sub-conscious,unconscious, etc. The aims and thoughts in one layercontradict with those in another layer. Sadhana is nothingbut bringing the contradictions in the various layers ofthe mind to the conscious realm and making the choicethat leads us to God. The objective of all the variousyogas - Bhakti yoga, Jnana yoga, Karma yoga and Rajayoga - are the same: to bring out the contradictionsin the mind into conscious vision. When you are consciousof the contradiction, you have to make the right choiceand move forward. Keep doing this. It is not the jobof a single lifetime to remove all the contradictions.It may take a few lifetimes. But this is the spiritualpath. You have to do this. There is no other way. Youhave to face it."Swamiji talked about giving in charity. He said, "Evenfrom the common sense point of view, you should givein charity to reduce the tension between the rich andthe poor. The big

gap between the rich and the poorcreates jealousy. This leads to a lot of problems inthe society. To balance this, the rich have to give incharity to the people whom he faces everyday. This hasto be done by the rich to save his own life. This issimple common sense."Swamiji made herbal tea for us in the early evening.He made kichadi for the night. He gave each one of usa small part of the task of preparing kichadi. Someof us washed the vessels. Some of us fetched water.Some of us cut vegetables. It was fun. Then Swamijiled us to sing some bhajans. He played on the harmonium.We all clapped our hands to keep the beat and sangwith him. He sang the song "hey roma roma mein vasanevaale Ram". We were all thrilled by the deep meaningof the song.Gopiji and Gokulji slept in Swamiji's room. The othersslept in the guest room. The toilet in the guest roomhad more facilities than the one in Swamiji's room.

Forexample, the toilet in the guest room had a door whichcan be locked. We had a nice sleep in the night.16 June 2006, FridayIn the morning, Swamiji gave a leaf of a plant to chew.He said that chewing that leaf had a better cleaningeffect than the modern toothpaste and toothbrush. Wehad some herbal tea in the morning and left. Many ofthe devotees donated jackets, shawls, biscuits anddry fruits to Swamiji, which he promptly distributedthen and there among the villagers. He was truly agreat example of renunciation. He seemed to knoweach person in the village intimately and knew who needswhat.We reached Kailash Ashram in Rishikesh in the evening.Anjaiah and Radhakrishna wanted to go to Delhi soonand decided to carry on.We went to Paramartha Niketan and saw the Ganga Aratiin the evening. It was a great show. There was greatpomp and grandness. The puja was not impressive,

butthe music was good. We left the place after the mainarati. We went to visit some old sadhus living inRishikesh. Gopiji knew them personally. We could meettwo of them.We came back to Kailash Ashram in the night.17 June 2006, SaturdayWe went to Vashishta Guha. It is about 20km fromRishikesh on the way to Badrinath. The cave is supposedto have been used by several great sages to do tapasya.It is believed that many sages are doing tapasya therein their astral bodies. Recently Swami Purushottamanandaji,a disciple of Swami Brahmanandaji (Rakhal Maharaj), thespiritual son of Sri Ramakrishna lived there for severalyears. After his mahasamadhi, his discipleSwami Chaitanyanandaji Maharaj is managing the place.He is an old sadhu with a soft nature. The cave has ashivalinga. We worshipped the linga and sat in thesilent atmosphere of the cave for sometime.We spent some time at the

banks of the Ganga in theashram. Gokulji had a nice bath in the Ganga. We spentsome more time in the cave and then had prasad at theashram.We reached Kailash ashram in the evening. We went toSivananda ashram. We took part in the evening bhajansand arati. The Ganga Arati at Sivananda was a smalldevoted one. It was a big contrast with the arati that weattended the previous day. We enjoyed this arati muchmore than the previous day's. We spent some quiet timeon the banks of the Ganges at this hallowed place, wherethe great Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj lived.We spent the night at Kailash Ashram.18 June 2006, SundayRaghavji and Prasannaji left for Delhi early in the morning.Gokulji had decided to go to Vrindavan with Hari SharanamMaharaj. Later they decided to stay back and visitSwami Jnanananda Giri, who lived in Musoorie and Dehradun.Gopiji knew the Swamiji personally. The old Swamiji

was aSwiss national, who has been living in India for more than50 years. We visited him at his kutir in Musoorie. He wasmore Indian in culture than most of us. We visited thetemple built by one of his disciples nearby. The Swamiwas on his way to Dehradun. We decided to drop him athis place in Dehradun. Thus we were able to spend sometime with him.Gopiji and Gokulji started back to Delhi in the afternoon.Hari Sharanam Maharaj joined his other friends in Rishikesh.