Our lost rich heritage-III

This post is offered with my gratefulness, admiration and veneration at the sacred feet of Swami Shri Nityananda of Ganeshpuri whose birth anniversary falls today on 30^th Nov.  These two photos were taken in the temple of Swami Nityananda which is above the multiple caves in Kanhangad in Kerala during my visit in Nov lately.

It so happened that just two days back in the middle of night instead of falling asleep, I fell into a deep state of transcendence. I don’t know how long I stayed in that state of super consciousness, but the outcome of that glorious meditation is the concluding post of the preface of this new segment. These three posts at the beginning are easy to understand but hard to follow because they ask for our participation and contribution towards restoration and revival of our precious planet. I suppose I have told you earlier that the last segment-C contained many articles which had Holy Trees as a protagonists. They gave me prolific knowledge and enlightened me on the current state of affairs on our globe and that we should start restoring it with our serious efforts. In fact, if you notice and go to the first page of this weblog you will observe that I have explicitly dedicated this particular portion segment-D of the blog for a specific cause and a definite mission. A mission and a cause that is very close to Shri Mahavatar Babaji’s heart today because his mantra is “Sarve Bhavantu Sukhina, Sarve Santu Niramaya, Sarve Bhadrani Pashyantu,  Maa Kaschit Dukha Bhagh Bhavet” …

May we all be happy, may we all be disease free, may we all have well being, may none have misery or sorrow of any kind.

Though these posts may be condensed in form but nonetheless they have one portion either in the middle or in the end where I have shared with you all the enlightening words bestowed on me by the holy sages and  saints, holy Spirits and Trees and the other greatly illumined Masters in the celestial world at the moment. It is my humble proposition to you that kindly focus on that particular highlighted portion, contemplate on it and apply those words in your practical life also. Meditation alone won’t help; service towards mankind and the society at large is required and is indispensable for moksha or liberation. Gyan karma and bhakti all go hand in hand. That means that knowledge, action and devotion are inseparable and all go hand in hand.

And after reading these thought provoking lines,   focus your mind on where it should be-always inwards. After finishing the God given seva or service in the day bring your attention to the heart repeatedly, the centre where the Lord dwells . If you practice this, the mind in spite of doing various activities in the day or at night will be in a reposed state, calmness shall prevail throughout the day and you shall remain in equilibrium and symmetry of mind.

And if you have already brought yourself in a state of tranquility at this moment by turning your mind inwards by reading these above written words, then kindly read on…there is one more important message of God for all of us.

In the middle of 27^th Nov night, I unexpectedly fell in a transcendental state and I saw dense Divine Light in my third eye. To remove my doubts if that was normal light from somewhere, I stayed in a quiet state. The Light became larger and denser and I became absolutely motionless to be able to absorb it as much as I could at that fortunate time. Seldom do I see such intense Light and to my good fate it lingered for time enough for me to recognize its purity and quality.  After this sight, I saw a cave on a small mountain. The cave soon showed the same intense Divine Light which I had seen a moment ago and soon the picture became very obvious.

The cave that I had seen at Guruvannam at Kanhangad (please refer post ‘Our lost rich heritage-I ) was blazing with Light of God and I immediately thanked Swami Nityananda for gifting me this benevolent sight on an auspicious day like his birthday which was just two days away. I also thanked him in my heart for unfolding this magical mystery about his cave where he had meditated decades ago. I concluded that there is still Divine Light present at that spot which is almost lying abandoned and obscure and thanked him once again for illuminating this secrecy to me. I bowed at the holy place again with new sense of veneration and gratefulness and felt privileged to have got access to this hidden information.

Just as I got over seeing the sacred Divine Light, a saw a big Banyan Tree. The tree was big enough to elucidate that it was old in age and was surely familiar to me. It was the same Banyan Tree which welcomed us at the gate of Guruvannam. Seeing my penchant for photography on that day , the driver stopped the car for me to take some good shots in spite of time restrain. I loved the tree at the first sight but did not foresee that one day it will communicate with me like some other auspicious trees earlier.

I consider it my good luck to have seen and known such holy Spirits which reside in these sacred trees and I bow to them once again with my full adoration and reverence.

That night first I saw a Banyan Tree which was copious in form and sturdy in its built. In a flash of a moment, it left the ground on which it was standing and stood firmly on my abdomen. In no time, I felt a lot of energy around me and I was completely revitalized as though I had a walk in a thick forest so full of fresh revitalizing air. Though I recognized the tree, I still wanted to clear my doubts and I questioned it. “Are you the same Banayan Tree that I saw at the entrance at Guruvannam?” It said yes to me and in an instance it began to acquaint me about the spirit world. It said, “I am guarding this place and am about 326 years old in age. Our ecosystem is in danger because we have no reverence for nature and we have disregard for the sanctity of our own planet. Everyone must contribute in physical form, be it physical activity or monetary help for the reason that we owe our life to Mother Earth. Therefore, appreciation and gratitude towards forests, birds, animals and all living beings must be maintained.

People think that just because trees, animals and birds are mute, they can be meted out with any bad attitude and behavior  by humans. All trees, animals and birds have their own Spirit.  When you cut down a tree, you are taking away a life. Nature is made to serve everybody and serve the utility purpose of humans. Even if you have to cut down a tree you must only do so when it is extremely essential and with prior permission of God as well as the Spirit of the tree itself. Trees also bless you. And they curse you if you loot the Earth mercilessly for greed and avarice. The poor quality of man on this Earth today is due to greed and avarice of majority of people. But there are some who are doing commendable job of restoring the Earth by bringing about harmony, stability and afforestation by restoring the ecosystem and biodiversity in nature.

The tree then began to speak to me with a clear message, “Degradation of the planet is because of greed of millions of people and restoration is by very few individuals. Those who have regards and faith in their spiritual masters will repay them through some service to the Earth by educating those who are dirtying the environment,  by greening it, by reducing the carbon levels, increasing oxygen content and correspondingly reducing pollution levels. Reduce non biodegradable things in the atmosphere.  Be a spiritual man and not a materialistic person. Finally, send out prayers and meditation vibrations for preserving our planet.  If the planet survives, we continue to survive.”

A Note.  An endangered species of ficus named ‘Krishne Vat’ was saved from the Byculla Zoo in Mumbai by Vikram  Yende of Green Umbrella Organization.  It is believed that Lord Krishna as a baby used to eat white butter in it because the shape of the leaves when fully grown resemble a cone.

I have adopted this rare tree and kept it at home and will transplant it when I get an open area for it to grow. It is such a lovely plant and has brought so much joy in my home since its auspicious arrival…

These pictures taken today morning when the sun rays fell on them after I watered my Krishne Vat .

(For newcomers on the blog, please read foot notes of Our lost rich heritage-I to know about Green Umbrella Organization in Mumbai.

Pictures of birds contributed by Nishith Patel from Ahmedabad.

Thanks Nishith for all the beautiful pictures that you have sent me today, they are so appropriate for this post)

Our lost rich heritage-II

Today eighteenth of November, twenty eleven is the year. As the day began to conclude and close, out of nowhere there were peaceful vibrations slowly spreading in my house. First I felt the soft rays over my head, the crown chakra, which my mind absorbed smoothly and a sense of comfort arrived along with those vibrations. The rays after falling over the top of my head entered my body along the path of the spine and rejuvenated me absolutely. The running over of gentle vibrations on the spine calmed all the body parts in no time. They were the healing rays. The energy that penetrated from the head moved from the spine to other parts of the body making me recharged and fit enough to concentrate for a good amount of time. The celestial energy waves were removing the layers of accumulated worn out energies in the body and positive healthy energy was coming through. This was a soothing event and the mind and body were in complete unison and a sense of wellness was setting in. During the last week my health was dull due to excess dust in the environment causing it to slow down.

Along with what was happening inside me, side by side my heart was also thanking God for the benevolence being cascaded over me. I expressed my heartfelt thanks to God as I could sense that the dead and worn out energies were fading away and fresh, energy filled waves of divine rays were encircling me. The vibrations apart from rejuvenating me also had some portions in them which were making me quieter and introverted. They were the calming rays. By now I could sense that I should comply accordingly and not have some will of my own as the situation was so very amicable for me to meditate. That implied that I should stop doing the current activity and sit quietly in my sacred space! And while I was contemplating about wrapping up everything, the waves of genteel rays brushed me tenderly once more on the left side of the body like the soft touch of gentle evening breeze as though it was cajoling me to obey its command in a very supple and sweet manner.

Alongside this extremely pleasant occurrence, the room began to smell lightly of fresh roses although there were none in the room. A waft of rose scent was prevailing near me. The pervading benevolent vibrations and the mild fragrance of sweet pink roses in my astral mind not only obliged me but compelled me enough to disengage myself immediately from what I was doing. There was enough evidence of a prelude of the arrival of a heavenly being at that hour at my doorstep and therefore I quietly sat myself on my bed with two white pillows to support my tired back without losing any valuable time.

Outside my window, I saw the bright daylight receding and the lavender and pink sky taking over the bright colours of the day thus setting for me the perfect mood and ambience for turning my mind inward gently. Quickly the mind settled down in deep peace and was in its natural state-devoid of any thoughts or any of its usual mental activity. My mind fell complete vacant and everything was quiet inside. Silence sheer silence!

As I was floating in divine peace and tranquility, at my third eye I began to see a fair hand coming from my left side and passing over my right arm and then holding my hand. I had a silver pen between my thumb and index finger. That hand made me write on and on; moreover it would not stop. After this vision, I saw His Holiness Shri Mahavatar Babaji meditating in a cave made of small round grayish stones in the Himalayas. Seeing this glorious image made my breath and body perfectly still. I began to focus on my incoming and outgoing breath and in a few seconds the breath paused and a sense of complete liberation from the body was attained. There was more peace and if you ask me to summarize this wonderful experience all I can say is that it was pure bliss.

After being in bliss some moments flew by and I began hearing these ragas played in flute like words in my inner ear as though there is someone who is talking to me mentally sitting far away. The mental transference began from the remotest cave in the Himalayas to the island city on the Arabian Sea here in Mumbai, the overcrowded commercial capital of India. I could see a silver string originating from Shri Mahavatar Babaji in that cave and running all along the way and terminating on me. A silver coloured string, which was actually a telecommunication  path, was seen between the two of us-me and His Holiness Shri Mahavatar Babaji. As soon as I comprehended that a communication channel has been established between both of us, I heard these gracious words coming to me from the caves near the mountainous region near river Alaknanda in the Himalayas-

“Whenever your mind is so impeccably united and connected with me, there is a bond, a telepathic conveyor, a telecommunication path built between us in the astral space. At this moment I am in deep meditation and I am speaking to you through mental communication or telepathy.”

I could again see Shri Mahavatar Babaji sitting in a perfect lotus posture with my inner vision.

“When two people have strong love and understanding for each other, this phenomenon occurs on the subtle astral plane. Just a few know and appreciate this means of communication.”

I was absorbing wholly what was being given to me with my heart so full of gratefulness.

“Now tell me, what is the cause of man’s pathetic living condition on this Earth today?” an unexpected question was thrown at me.

“Ignorance”, I replied to him without losing any time for thinking.

“Ignorance and lack of foresight,” he said. “Man has been living on this planet since millions of years. It has taken him millions of years to evolve and make this Earth fit for living.Many civilizations with their glorious cultures, race and heritage have risen and fallen back in dust. Awesome structures and cities were built and have been razed to the ground, so many men have come and so many have gone. They have left behind some of their essence, their essential core being behind for us to know how developed they were in terms of creativity, sculpture, literature, knowledge and realizations. The essence of man’s spiritual awakening as well as knowledge is embedded in the Holy Scriptures now.

However, because man lacks foresight, he has not been able to preserve the past inheritance and legacy so richly endowed with their experiences, knowledge and hindsight. Because of lack of foresight in humans, they do not acknowledge and preserve the inherent knowledge stored in scriptures, realized souls as well as in the illumined Masters. Sacred knowledge is passed on by the realized Masters to their chosen devoted disciples who have faith and devotion in their Masters and is in this way stored and preserved through ages, eras and civilizations.

Our past builds our future.

Those who wish to have the sacred knowledge must know their Spirit. The Spirit has the hindsight and all the knowledge is endowed in it. The Spirit has the foresight that will prevent you from regressing in your soul.

Practicing meditation alone will not help. One must plan his future, plan the coming events well, plan his life thoroughly and should have a vision, a sight for himself/herself.

To materialize those goals, one has to do karmas, actions accordingly. Correspondingly, your karmas have the ability to shape your future. They have the potential, the power, the shakti endowed in them. Unleash that energy that is stored in the karmas, unleash that power of manifestation that is stored in your karmas!”

Hari Om Tat Sat!! Hari Om Tat Sat!! Hari Om Tat Sat!!

                                                                                                                        

A note-The following pictures are of Kailashnathar temple situated outside the outskirts of modern day Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. It is one of the oldest temples in Tamil Nadu and is said to be constructed by the Pallava king Rajasimha. No other edifice has been so elaborately filled with the 64 aspects of Lord Shiva than this one. The temple is unique in its architecture and is viewed more as an architectural wonder than a holy place. Hence it is never crowded with the locals.

Visited this place in 2007 from Pondicherry. The temple was freshly restored with funds from a world heritage organization if I can recall well.

Kanchipuram is one of the most ancient towns of India. It is a city of temples and saris where weavers and crafstmen from Telugu speaking areas settled down here to make silk saris for the Goddess Mother Kanchi in Kanchi temple about eight hundred years ago.During the times of the rule of Pallavas, the ‘town of thousand temples’ was an an epicentre of learning of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jain  learning.  Adi Shankaracharya established his first ‘math‘   or seat of learning out of the all four that he established in India to revive the eroding Vedic knowledge. Lord Buddha is also believed to have visited this holy city. Since then its glory has declined due to apathy of the following rulers.

(To be concluded)

                                                  

Our lost rich heritage-I

Preface

 Welcome back all my revered readers!  It has been quite some time since I posted an entry on the blog. Some of you have been in constant touch with me yet I have missed my long writing sessions because blogging is such a wonderful way of further learning for me. The last few weeks have been like a whirlwind, a lot has happened on domestic and personal front apart from making a short trip to Karnataka and Kerala on Diwali. I celebrated Diwali quietly in an ashram without any noise and loud festivities. However, before I start narrating my travel stories, first of all I would like to wish all of you friends a happy belated Diwali. This is for the reason that I have wished none of you personally on that happy occasion. Somehow, lamps and lanterns induce some kind of subconscious utterance of ‘Astoma sadgamaya…..in me . So with these lovely thoughts let us pick up from where we left on 10^th Sept’11- new light, new awakening and new learning each day. Let us throw out all the darkness in us consciously and invite cheer, joy and new light in our lives.

And as the year ends, the plan for my next year activities, travel, family commitments etc have already been chalked out and will be executed as per the will of the Divine. Next year has more travel plans than the previous years so there could be some breaks in blogging, hence kindly bear with me. In spite of intermittent breaks do not leave the connection and bond that you have created with me as this friendship and fellowship of spiritual learning is unending.

In the last post of segment C “Why is it mandatory to have a divine guru?-II” I had said, “I am eternally grateful to Shri Mahavatar Babaji and all my other gurus whom I have never met on the physical plane but they have been my spiritual guides and teachers since I have known them. Then there are many highly advanced sadhus and yogis who are alive doing their advanced sadhana, secretly in the caves or on trees of the mountains of the Himalayas. Many a times, they have appeared before me in my meditations at home to further elaborate to me the nuances of yogic practices and have given me tips to enhance and speed up my spiritual journey. My sincere heartfelt thanks to them at this juncture of blogging. You might wonder as I did in the past, pray why do they come to me of all the people? The answer to that question is that they all want to contribute in some way in Babaji’s mission of mass human liberation and emancipation on this planet! Then there are the Holy Spiritual Trees who do the same. I bow to them in thanks for making my blog so entrancing and adding a touch of mysticism to it apart from enriching my bank of spiritual knowledge. I am so much richer today!! I once wanted to know what is occultism and why do people use it to harm others as I myself was a victim of this malpractice many a times in the past. I can never forget the invaluable counsel of Shri Mahavatar in 2002 when He told me this one morning, “Occult Science is also a Yogic Science used since eternity even by Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati but if the science is used for petty personal gains, selfish goals or plain greed, then you are punished by God severely. Any force of God if misused creates a very negative impact in one’s life at some point.” And

“In due course of time, Divine Mother of Pondicherry taught me occultism or the hidden psychic powers in a human to counteract the unrelenting attacks on me and my family. She also educated me on this science and I am briefly sharing with you the condensed form of that knowledge for your satisfaction here. She said, “Occult Science is all about mind power. Human mind can connect to the unrevealed Forces in nature for its healing properties, to bring about balancing the panch tatvas or five natural elements like air, space, fire, earth and water in our self. It is good because one can connect with other minds for a good righteous cause also and we can benefit by it by transference of shakti or knowledge or both from one agency to another. There are two types of Forces in Nature- constructive and destructive. If this knowledge of Forces in Nature is applied to gain something by harming somebody living far away by sending out negative thoughts and will, then one day the same Force will harm you in higher magnitude in long or short duration of time. One should use the Universal Forces only at the behest of God with a definite higher purpose otherwise all is in vain.”

The subsequent posts will be based on this topic and new light will be dispensed on our past heritage which has intense glorious past and a huge store house of ancient knowledge.

Prior to the onset of a new segment ‘D’ which has a title ‘Our lost rich heritage’ which will deal with the unknown, unseen, untapped hidden forces in ourselves, let me tell you something about my journey down South in this post to begin with. Some of you have been curious to know about it and I have replied to you quite briefly apart from sharing a few selected pictures.

Let me now narrate a bit about my travelogue too. The short pilgrimage that I made recently if it is to be summed up briefly was both- awesome yet little disheartening.

For many years I was very much inclined to visit the caves where Swami Nityananda of Ganeshpuri had meditated in Kanhangad, Kerala. Finally the day came when I and my daughter packed our bags in excitement to spend three days of Diwali peacefully in a quiet and spiritual place. But as soon as we reached there on 26^th Oct’11 evening from Mumbai, we became quite unsettled as the basic amenities and needs for our living were badly missing; a sense of apathy in the premises saddened me. The night was somehow managed and it was decided that we shall leave the very next day for Mangalore where we had alighted and instead a few other religious and spiritual places shall be explored and visited. I assured my daughter that the trip will not be a waste and there is definitely some divine plan for us. As we know most of the pilgrimages are either impoverished because of lack of funds or sadly the funds are misused without people realizing that the rich heritage that we have inherited from our spiritual fathers have inestimable value and worth and that it should not be squandered away, but who really wants to know and cares!!

On 27^th Oct morning, I got up happily at 7 am and as my eyes opened I got to see a beautiful morning sky as though a painter had painted his canvas recently and with my groggy eyes I ran for my camera and took some delightful shots. It had rained the previous night and the sky in the morning had a mystic touch and tranquility about it!

We got ready after this and headed straight towards ‘Dhyan Mandir’ and  entered the caves and meditated for half an hour in that dynamic place where Swami Nityananda had lived in maun or silence.   One wonders why did he make so many caves with his own hands carved out of a huge rock? How many of us know the greatness of such dynamic places? As I sat there meditating, it was hard for me to leave the place as I got glued to it; it was so powerful. I did not want to leave the place in such a short time. It was at this place that Swami Nityananda began telling me a lot through mental transference about the greatness of the spot where he used to meditate and about the land’s past rich heritage. Some hundreds of years ago, there used to be a temple of a Goddess, a Devi. It was a Shaktipeeth where the caves exist today hence Baba chose this place. Baba came here to meditate in these caves before he embarked on his global mission to serve humanity. Some photographs for you to cherish please …

On top of these group of  caves is made an open white temple of Swami Nityananda.

After visiting this temple and taking many photos of vast expanse of clean blue sky around it, we went to see another cave where Swami Nityananda hid himself and meditated in the jungles. It is just three kilometers away from the previous place and its name is Guruvanam which means the forest of the Guru. The approach to this place is very beautiful, full of thick green vegetation and the place nearby is not at all inhabited and understandably the thick woods were so, so welcome and refreshing. When did I see so much greenery? I asked myself several times at this place. I devoured all the visuals of the massive old Banyan trees standing as a guard and testimony of a quiet epoch and a witness to Swami Nityananda’s penance and silence in this forest.There were trees of varied variety whose names I do not know. Oh! It is still unbelievable that suddenly out of nowhere I saw a forlorn forest. I have used the word forlorn as it hardly has any friend in the thick jungle of urbanization!

Guruvanam is under the control of the trust now and can be visited by anyone who would like to explore the inner recess of his core being. I experienced that the forests make you still and quiet without any effort and make you meditate without your knowing it! My mind was still and quiet like the inner bed of an ocean and stayed connected to the Higher Forces throughout those times!

I also realized there that my mind must have been tranquil naturally like this many lives ago because of the stillness, quietude, beauty of Nature and the human race must have been a calmer lot unlike modern humanity who has long forgotten about our lost rich natural and spiritual heritage! It is so natural to remain calm in Nature!

There is a non – stop stream that is flowing from this cave even today at Guruvanam since Baba was here and is called ‘Paap Nashini Ganga’. It is because of his intense ‘tapas’  that the stream has been flowing incessantly since Baba has meditated here more than sixty years back. I drank the pristine clear mineral water and found it so sweet and heavenly… As a gesture of thanks  and in remembrance of Baba’s kind and compassionate grace towards humanity, while I drank this clean and cool water I decided to do more tapas and sadhana so that I could also contribute more of myself to others in terms of my time, energy, love, understanding, knowledge, etc… It will always be a memorable visit and I shall recall this wonderful experience whenever I wish to plunge in silence and tranquility in moments of solitude. A temple is now constructed near the cave in memory of Swami Nityananda.

A random thought- Who will really appreciate this kind of gesture given to us from God and Gurus? Should we not fill our hearts more with devotion and gratitude rather than willful desires and monkey like aping of senseless modernity and urbanization? Should we not fill up our hearts with silence and peace than never ending desires? Isn’t this past heritage more useful than today’s modern technology world?

When I sat in meditation in Kanhangad, Swami Nityananda directed me to go to pay my obeisance and take Divine Mother’s blessings before I embark my new year that will be full of challenges and new feats. So in Mangalore which falls in Karnataka on 28^th Oct, we made our way to Kollur in the morning where the temple of Shri Mookambika Devi is constructed. It used to be on a hill top they say but now a new temple is constructed at the base for convenience of all people while the ancient idol and the temple still exists on the hill top.

Kollur is around 90 kms from Mangalore and the road is not so great but in spite of all this the last patch before we reached the temple in the hilly region made me thrilled as there was very little human inhabitation and more of greenery.

We saw cashew plantation, paddy fields and vast stretches of forest reserves. I asked the driver to switch off the AC so that I could breathe in more and more oxygen. The air was so rich and laden with oxygen that automatically the energy levels in the head and body shot up steadily as we left the city behind. There was a sense of great expansion and the cramped sense of feeling in an overpopulated city appeared unnatural. I don’t remember seeing such thick green woods and forests recently except in my childhood when we used to go to Rishikesh or Dehradoon in summers. During those days when we used to travel by buses or taxis, there were forests, vast fields, rivers, wildlife and long green stretches in between two cities and there was obviously far lesser level of noise pollution.

The forests have so much silence and peace trapped in them that all along the three hour journey towards Kollur I recalled each and every word that Shri Mahavatar Babaji, Maharishi Agastya and Mother Earth has told me earlier in times of my meditations regarding their concern about the rapid erosion of our planet’s biodiversity and fast vanishing forests and their negative impact on our whole race . Those of you who have been following this blog, if you can recall so many of my articles in segment C speak volumes about their concern on how to recover our past natural heritage and those posts ask for everyone’s contribution in restoration and revival in some way or the other in this mammoth endeavour!

“Babaji’s work includes helping humanity to rise above nationality, religion and individual self. He is extremely concerned about the current world issues and the worsening situation. The various cause of concerns are -the rapid erosion of the world environment, the unchecked spread of consumerism, greed and exploitation by the politicians and people in power, unhealthy environment and increasing pollution, the indifference of man towards his fellow men and other living animate and inanimate creatures as well, the rude and shocking exploitation of the natural resources and most important of all these is -the slow erosion of eternal spiritual values and principles known as Sanatan Dharma on which humanity thrives. He believes in and wishes to create an egalitarian society for man’s happiness, prosperity and well being.”   (From The Light of the world Shri Mahavatar Babaji-I)

On return journey we stopped at Udupi and visited the famous Krishna temple. This is the only temple of Bhagwan Krishna in India where Lord Krishna hides from you as there is a beautiful window in front of the idol which stops you from seeing the idol.  To see the idol of the lord residing there, we have to look through a beautiful golden window and we found it quite bizarre and unique. As we glimpsed through the small holes of the window after our turn came, we were told by the caretaker that our ‘darshan ‘  is over but  we were expecting something more. A devotee in the temple later narrated this story to us. There was a dedicated devotee of Lord Krishna in Udupi about 600 years ago who belonged to a lower caste in society. His name was Kanak Das. He belonged to Bhakti cult. During those dark ages, as per the social norms, men belonging from the lower caste system were not allowed entry in the temples but Kanak Das came to have a glimpse of his favourite Lord. The priests and other people were outraged on discovering about this incident. As a punishment, Kanak Das was kept standing in the courtyard near a window in the hot sun. Standing there through a window he could get a small glimpse of Lord Krishna. He called out to his protector Krishna with devotion. They say that the idol of Lord Krishna which was facing a pond earlier seeing this ill fated event, turned its face towards Kanak Das by shifting from its original position! And since then Lord Krishna is behind a window and everyone gets to see him through the window only! How fascinating, isn’t it?

As photography was not allowed inside the premises, I can only show you the idol of Lord Krishna which I purchased from there. In this idol you can see Lord Krishna with his favourite bird peacock at his feet.  While I was strolling in the sprawling compound of this old temple in Udupi, I was very overwhelmed by the kind and miraculous gesture of Lord Krishna for his true devotee named Kanak Das. At this point, I also remembered how Lord Krishna, the lover of beauty and nature had picked up a mountain called ‘Govardhan’ in Vrindavan to save others from heavy rains and storm and earned the title ‘Giridhar.’

  (To be continued…..)

Footnote- From the time when I came to Mumbai in 2001, I had a strong desire to grow Banyan and Peepul trees on a large ground or piece of land but it never materialized. About a year and a half back, I came across a small news in my local newspaper about one young man from Kalwa, Mumbai who has a passion for nature and who along with his group of friends rescues Banyan or Peepul trees growing on buildings. I was too engaged in writing articles on serious matters and without a clear vision and blessings of my gurus, I never embark on any crucial or highly useful projects like that of afforestation and tree plantation. During my break of two months from writing, I reconnected with Vikram Yende and invited him home.

It was a delight meeting him with his compatriot Mahendra who practices Ayurveda. They have marvellous ideas and concepts about reviving old, useful medicinal trees, making ‘butterfly gardens’, nurturing, planting trees etc. They recommend native trees like Banyan instead of foreign trees because native trees which have fruits also invite birds thereby increasing the number of birds in our environment and propagation of trees is facilitated naturally. Though they are passionate about their ideals and have love for nature, they need to be groomed, directed in the right direction and their noble cause should be encouraged and supported in every sense. Any of you who wish to return or repay Mother Earth and wish to contribute in time, talent, skill, experience or money can write to me at spiritinlife@wordpress.com and I shall forward you the pdf files about his NGO ‘Green Umbrella Organisation’ or you could talk to him personally on his mobile no-9967435681 or contact him at vikram.yende@gmail.com. NGO’s, funding agencies, professionals who can collaborate, guide or just compare each other’s work shall also be very encouraging and rewarding for this group of young boys.