Nathdwara yathra 2

Pushkar

         Radhekrishna. We boarded the train for Jaipur on 28th of Feb. from Bangalore and reached Jaipur on 2nd March 6 am. As the hotel where we were to stay had pick up arrangements from the station we reached there without any problem. We checked in to the hotel (The Golden Hotel) room which was very comfortable. We got ready by 9am. ready to see around Jaipur. We can get autos, taxis, etc. to take us around the city in plenty. We had hired an auto and started our tour. 

       Rajasthan in total is a state of fine architecture and Jaipur is no exemption. We first reached Birla mandir dedicated to Lord Lakshminarayana with His consort Goddess Lakshmi. The temple is  made up of marble as almost all structures in Rajasthan are! It is situated on an elevated place with a beautiful garden around.

      Our next destination was Jaipur zoo and museum. In the museum we can see various things used by the people in those days including the royal dresses, armours etc.

 

   

 From there we visited Amber Fort. It is a beautiful old palace situated on a hill top total area of 4 sq.kms around. It was built by Raja Mansingh. It is built with red sandstone and marble consisting of Diwan-e-aam or for public audience and Diwan-e-khas for private audience. There is a 'sheesh mahal' a wonder with mirror work. The walls and roofs are laid with intricate mirror designs which is a sight to see. 

Inside the palace artificial water cascade is made. The wind blowing through it kept the atmosphere cool even during summers. There is also a temple dedicated to Sila Devi, a goddess of Chaithanya cult, given to Raja Mansingh, when he defeated the Raja of Jessore (Bangladesh). A big lake is in front of the palace meant to supply water for the people around. An old township existed around this palace which was the old Jaipur. Now almost all the buildings are dilapidated. 
      Next we saw the pink city which is separate from the town with Hawa mahal as its centre of attraction. All buildings inside the Pink city are retained as such and only pink colour is used there.Next we saw Jal mahal which is situated amidst the Man Sagar lake. It was built for the purpose of entertainment for the Royal family. Dance programs were held here on special occasions for special guests. The first floor remains under water. We can see only the top floor from the banks. Nobody is allowed to go there they said.
     
We also visited Jantar Mantar which is a marvel in astronomy. How they calculated date, time, astrological signs etc from the shadow falling on the structures designed by great men. Seeing all these we feel very proud of our country's rich heritage and culture. We saw Nahargarh fort only from a distance as our auto man did not take us there.
                          
 We went around some beautiful gardens and reached our hotel by evening. Next day we were planning to go to Pushkar by bus. But the  taxi driver rang up to say that there are some people who would like to share the trip. So we decided to go by the taxi itself. We met two tamil speaking couples who had come from Chennai and the trip turned out to be a nice one. 
       Pushkar is situated near Ajmer. Some say that when Lord Siva shed tears after the death of his wife Sati, two ponds were formed. One is Pushkar in India and the other is supposed to be Ketaksha in the Chakwal district of Pakistan. According to another legend Pushkar was formed when the lotus (pushpa) from his hand (Kar) fell down on the earth and water appeared there. There is a temple for Lord Brahma but no pujas are conducted to the deity due to the curse of Lord Siva. It is said to be good to offer pirthru tharpanam in this place. In Srimad Bhagavatha this place is referred when Balarama conducts a pilgrimage. We did the offerings and sprinkled the water over us. A separate kumbha mela is held in Pushkar. Camel fair is also conducted annually. 

       On our way back we had to pass through Ajmer where a famous darghah is situated.  We reached back our hotel by evening. We finished our dinner and started by the night train towards Udhaipur which was our next destination. We will be back with more news of Udhaipur in the next issue. Radhekrishna !

 

Nathdwara Yathra 1.

Bangalore.

             "Guroranugraheneva pumaan poorna prashanthaye."

      Radhekrishna! Bhagavan Sri Krishna tells Sudama His school friend about the greatness of sadguru. It is only with the grace of Guru that man finds fulfillment in his life. Without the grace of guru one cannot achieve completeness.  
     H.H.Swamiji Sri Shanthanantha Puri maharaj of Vasishta guha was to stay in Bangalore for about a week. We wanted to make use of this golden opportunity of being with him for a week. We planned to continue our trip forward upto Rajasthan after that.  So the tickets were booked accordingly for our pilgrimage. With the full blessings of our guruji Brahmasree Gopalavallidasar, Chennai, we started this thirtha yathra from Trivandrum to Bangalore on 22-2-13.

 

      We reached Bangalore on 23rd morning. We had booked our accommodation at Aurobindo ashram guest house in J.P. Nagar. Swamiji came from Thiurvannamalai with few of his disciples. They came in a mini bus to Bangalore. Before reaching Bangalore they stopped at an old age home run by one of Swamiji's disciples Sri.Srinivasa Reddy.  Swamiji spoke a few words in English as well as Tamil for the inmates. The bus driver wanted to take a photo of himself with swamiji. Miss Guhapriya who was in the group agreed to take the snap in the driver's mobile phone. She took one snap, checked it and took one more snap and handed the phone over to him after checking it. The driver saw the photos and shrieked in surprise. Puzzled, Guhapriya took the phone from him and looked and she too shrieked in surprise. The photos had come like this:

           

The incident was narrated to us as soon as we met the group. All were busy with their cell phones switching on the bluetooth  to get the photos transferred. We were all excited by this. Somebody asked Swamiji how this could be explained. He laughingly waved it aside saying "I am not the culprit! I plead not guilty!" We were thrilled how the driver who knew Swamiji only for just a few hours got saroopya!

            We enjoyed a wonderful week with Swamiji. The nectar of his words kept flowing out of his mouth all through the days.We were immersed in inexplicable bliss forgetful of our worldly ties! Though Swamiji felt tired at times he was never reluctant to satisfy the thirst  of a sincere aspirant. 

          Swamiji was telling about the importance of reading the Puranas like Srimad Bhagavatham. He said it is always good to read the Bhagavatham, each syllable of which has the powers to elevate our 'spiritual antenna'. But he also insisted that hearing the stories rejuvenates one's self. He quoted the gopikas in 'gopika geetam' from Srimad Bhagavatham. (Thava kathamritam.......)
Somebody asked whether anything has to be done when faced with other's jealousy. Swamiji replied not to worry about such things and to concentrate on one's namajapam. Then the question came how to tackle the tendency of one's own jealousy. Pat came the reply "Pray  sincerely to the Lord to remove such obstacles from the mind". Sadhana should be very systematic Swamiji said. We must fix a particular time in our daily routine for japam and meditation. Under any circumstances should that time be directed for any other thing in the world. Swamiji quoted his own experiences as a sadhak while he was holding an important post in the office. Even when the senior most boss rang up for Swamiji his poorvasram son would reply that Swamiji can be contacted only after the particular time of his meditation. He never deterred from his path for any reason at all. 
     In the beginning stage there would be no concentration. When we start chanting the mind would bring a whole world of things in front of us to divert us. Only by practice we can prevent ourselves being carried away by the mind's fantasies. We should never lose courage and must stick to our routine strictly. By and by the mind will get used to the new habit and start accepting it. As the concentration increases it leads to meditation, said Swamiji.
       Another question put to swamiji was how to get the grace of the Lord and Guru. Swamiji replied "See usually grace marks is given for whom? For one who has written the exam but not upto the pass mark. If somebody has written nothing and submitted a blank paper the question of grace marks does not arise at all. Similarly when you start doing sadhana the grace will automatically flow from the Lord and the Guru. If you do nothing and expect the grace to raise you it is only impossible! 
       Swamiji used to quote many anecdotes. Once a staunch disciple of Mahatma Gandhi came to meet a great mahan of Brindavan. He prostrated before the saint and humbly asked "Sir, It has been said in Yogavasishta and other great books that in the spiritual path the mind should be destroyed completely - manonasa. Can you please guide me as to how it should be done?" The mahan with a look of surprise asked him in return "What? You say you have been a follower of Mahatma Gandhi for the past 30 years who preached non violence and here you are asking for violence. How can it be? Well tell me what were Gandhiji's main ideals?" The man replied hesitatingly 'non violence and non co operation'. Pat came the mahan's reply "That is it! You just dont co operate with your mind. Keep ignoring it. Don't think of destroying anything". 
     It was wonderful being with Swamiji. His sweet words were a solace to the parched hearts of the devotees. Swamiji also took us to places like Rajarajeswari temple, Sri Ramakrishna mutt, Shirdi Saibaba temple etc. In Ramakrishna mutt they have kept a stone slab on which Swami Vivekananda used to sit during his visit to Bangalore years back. Mother Saradamba too had visited the place and the place where she sat in meditation is being maintained. We met the present head of the mutt there. We had the opportunity to meet many mahans in the course of our stay with Swamiji. 

       Maha Mandaleswar Sri Jayendrapuri swamy of Rajarajeshwari peetam who is the disciple of Sri Sri Tiruchi Mahaswamigal had invited Swamiji and his disciples to his place. We were taken inside the mutt where the swamy was waiting for us. He gave us a beautiful talk after we were all seated. The swamy knows many languages like Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Sanskrit, German etc. Swamy was talking about the founder of the Peetam, Sri Shivapuri maharaj who lived up to 137 yrs and who was a gurubhai of Sri Thothapuri maharaj. Sri Shivapuri maharaj has done a world tour by foot! He is the only Hindu who has entered Mecca! He has also written a book on his experiences - 'The long Journey'. Sri Jayendrapuri swamy told us that Sri Shivapuri maharaj preached the 'Right Life'. Then my husband politely asked him to be more specific. Immediately he turned towards him and answered in perfect tamil - 'Karka kasadara katravai katrapin nirka atharku thaka'. We were all taken aback. Then my husband who is very weak with tamil requested swamy to explain. Then he said one should listen to the words of the guru attentively and fully imbibe them without any blemish. Then one should follow the words implicitly. This is 'Right Life' according to swamy. 
      We had forgotten ourselves so much that we didnt know 6 days had rolled by! It was time to bid bye. Swamiji was to leave Bangalore on 28th night. We left earlier on the same day itself for Jaipur! It was a memorable sojourn for us! We will meet in our next issue in Jaipur! Radhekrishna! Radhekrishna!