The Holy Himalayas and the Glorious Rishi Culture

[Guest guest]

(Translation of a discourse in Hindi on " Guru-tatva Ki Mahima Aur Garima "

Delivered by Rev. Gurudev Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya on Guru Purnima, 1981 -

Continued from previous issue)

 

Let us begin with a collective chanting of the Gayatri Mantra:

 

" Om bhurbhuvaha svaha tatsaviturvarenyam bhargo devasya dhimahi dhiyo yo nah

pracodayat "

 

Sisters and Brothers,

 

Special crops grow in special soil and climate. The oranges of Nagpur, bananas

of Bhusawal, mangoes of Lucknow, etc are popular all over the world for their

special taste. But these fruits won't taste the same if grown elsewhere, say

here in Hardwar. You must have heard of the sandalwood of the Neelgiri Hills.

What a heavenly fragrance! The plant might grow at your place as well, but won't

have the same smell. Then what about the unique herbs and the fruits and flowers

- like Devkand and Brahmkamal - grown in the serene regions of the great

Himalayan heights? These paradise-species won't even grow anywhere else. The

soil, the climate, the subtle environment of every place has its distinct

effects.

 

The holy Himalayas are unique because of the vibrant spiritual ambience

generated here by the long-term dedicated tapa-sadhanas of the Rishis - the

seer-sages, saints of Vedic Age. Indeed this land is divine land that nurtures

virtuous tendencies and induces angelic inspirations. Every seeker of spiritual

realization and inner light wants to spend sometime in the pristine shelter of

the Himalayas. I had also got this opportunity. You are all sitting here in

Shantikunj, Hardwar; this is the land where the Ashrams of the Sapatarshis1 were

located thousands of years ago. This is the sacred land where these preeminent

saint-sages, whose glory continues to sparkle like the unique cluster of seven

stars in the sky, had undertook devout tapashcharya.

 

The holy Ganga surrounds this place much like a mother's lap protecting a child.

This is the place where, once upon a time, lion and cow would drink water from

the same water pond, standing besides each other on these banks of the Ganga!

Indeed, there are such spiritually energized locations and the siddhas2 whose

company can awaken the divinity hidden within us! This Ashram of Shantikunj is

established at such a place. Have you seen the temple of Devatma Himalaya here?

There is no deity-idol for worship in this temple; there is only a model of the

holy Himalayas. As you know, the idols of God enshrined in the temples symbolize

the divine powers. This temple should make you aware of the divine nature of the

Himalayas.

 

Why refer the Himalayas as " Devatma " (embodied divinity)? Because divine spirit

indwells the serene ambience of these great heights. The Himalayas appear to be

the playfield of God. You can feel His subtle presence here. Many elevated souls

- the rishis, great yogis and spiritual masters - have pursued long-term

sadhanas here and invoked divine powers; many continue to do so even now in the

intractable regions of the Himalayas. The divine Indian Culture is a majestic

bequest bestowed on us by our rishis of Vedic Age, whose devout spiritual

endeavors intensified the divine aura pervading the Himalayas. This temple is to

remind you of their angelic sadhanas and this mission of ours is an attempt to

revive, to the extent possible, the Rishi Culture - the divine Indian Culture.

Let us look at some of these efforts and introspect whether and to what level we

have imbibed the noble values of the Rishi Culture in our lives.

 

The great rishi (maharshi) Ved Vyas had written eighteen Puranas and the

Darshanas. In an attempt to remind people of the Vedic scriptures, as my homage

to the maharishi, I have translated the compilations of the four Vedas and the

six Darshanas in Hindi so that vast majority of people in the present times, who

may not be scholars of Sanskrit or Vedic Literature, would also get an

opportunity to study and benefit from these invaluable pearls of knowledge.

 

You all have heard of yoga. Do you know who was the great rishi, who discovered

through personal experience this great science of healthy, happy and illumined

human life? Yes! It was Maharshi Patanjali. His treatise on " Ashtanga Yoga " is

the magnum opus for guiding researchers and practitioners of yoga since yore. He

had researched and carried out enormous types of yoga-experiments on his own

body and mind. In the sadhana courses here, we also teach the yoga-asanas,

prañayams and meditation practices most suitable for present times. The

discourses here aim to enlighten the students with the rare pieces of knowledge

of the philosophy of the " Ashtang Yoga " and its roots in the spiritual science

of consciousness. I have experimented it on myself sincerely and have been

blessed by its immeasurable beneficial effects. All the sadhakas who teach you

and give you practical demonstration here have also practiced it thoroughly.

 

Rishi Yagyavalkya,(likewise Rishi Kanad) is notable among the Vedic seer-sages

who discovered the science of Nature and methods of benefiting from it while

also maintaining its perfect balance and resources. He also had undergone

rigorous sadhanas in the Himalayas. He grasped the principles of Yagya

underlying the visible and invisible systems of Nature and systematized the

Vedic Science of Yagya. He had developed the experimental methods of doing Yagya

as a fire-ritual with chanting of Vedic Mantras and sacrificing of selected

herbs/plant medicines. Yagya was an integral part of people's life and used to

play a key role in their physical and mental well-being. But, this superscience

got distorted in the vicissitudinous tides of time; and largely became only an

elaborate ritual of arbitrarily putting into fire tons of ghee and precious

metals and even animals. As a result the scientific thinkers and wise people

spurned it and discarded its practice.

 

The challenge of reinvestigating, confirming and expanding this ancient science

in new light was taken up by our mission. We have been able to achieve success

in this endeavor to a great extent. The yagya you do here at Shantikunj every

day, the path-breaking scientific research in the Yagyopathy lab at our research

centre " Bramvarchas Shodh Sansthan " and its findings, the revival of the

original method of performing yagya and its dissemination among the masses, are

standing examples of this success. We have to reestablish and expand Yagya-based

therapies to counter the psychosomatic disorders and dreaded diseases that are

infecting and killing more and more people today.

 

Rishi Vishwamitra had attained the preeminent knowledge of Gayatri by devout

tapashcarya and spiritual sadhanas in this Himalayan land. The Gayatri Mantra

that we chant here was revealed to him in syllabic form. In the classification

of this supreme Vedic Hymn you may find that the divine power center associated

with this mantra is Savita and its rishi is Vishwamitra. You may find his idol

enshrined in front of the temple of Goddess Gayatri here in Shantikunj. I have

performed 24 mahapurashcaranas3 of Gayatri. The sadhana of Gayatri Mantra has

been the root, the nectar-source of our mission's origin and ascent. I regard

Rishi Vishwamitra as my Guru and pay my reverence to him. You should not be

surprised to know that my noble Guru in this life, who is in the Himalayas, is

incarnation of Rishi Vishwamitra only. Such are the supernormal powers of these

great Himalayan yogis! Beyond our imagination!

 

You must have heard of Rishi Bhagirath and his ascetic tapashcarya in the

Himalayas to bring the heavenly Ganga on the earth. The scriptures describe that

if the holy Ganga had directly descended from the heavens, its gigantic force

would have shattered the earth into pieces. Therefore, as a reward for

Bhagirath's supreme Tapasya, Lord Shiva controlled the flow of the Ganga by

giving it shelter on His head. From there its currents emerged in the form of a

stream. As it followed the path of rishi Bhagirath who was walking ahead, the

sacred river is also named as Bhagirathi. Well, the narration has deep

philosophical significance. What is important for us at present is to recognize

what our ancient rishis have beatified us with. And ponder over what we have

done to the divine culture they had founded!

 

Rishi Bhagirath is not there in physical form with us but the place where he

carried out his epochal tapa-sadhana is - it is the Bhagirath Shila, a rock

besides Gaurikund near Gangotri. As per the guidance and inspiration of my Guru,

I have also carried out one year's ascetic tapa-sadhana, anushthaana, sitting on

the Bhagirath Shila. This was before commencing our " Vichar Kranti Abhiyan "

aimed at resurrecting the Ganga of divine knowledge in this world, with a view

to awakening and enlightening the masses. Our Vichar Kranti movement is to

purify peoples' intellect, and give a constructive, righteous direction to their

thinking; to make them happy, bright and righteous in heart, head and conduct.

 

Tapa and Sadhana have been an integral part of every moment of the lives of the

rishis. I have also tried to follow their tradition. It is the impact of the

tapa-sadhanas of the rishis that has enriched the Himalayas with divine

spiritual vibrations. Otherwise what is so distinct here - the marvelous height,

snow peaks, the amazing beauty of Nature? But these things can be found in some

other mountains, elsewhere in the world as well. This unique, majestic glory of

the Himalayas is because of the Rishi Culture that originated and flourished

here. This is why the great tirthas - the 'Char Dham' of pilgrimage are also

here; maximum number of rivers of the world emerge from here and feed nearly

one-sixth of the population of the world; there are four Gupta Kashis and five

paradise - like lakes here, the paeans of which are sung at length in the Vedic

religious scriptures.

 

It seems all the treasure of Nature, all the sublime vibrations of divinity and

sources of spiritual illumination and ascent have been gathered and condensed

here in the Himalayas. Little efforts of spiritual elevation, noble deeds here

result in manifold beatitudeous effects. If there were paradise anywhere on the

earth, it must have been here.

 

Obeying the subtle instructions of the Himalayan Rishis, I am trying to develop

Shantikunj as a live tirtha that will remind people how the tirthas used to be

during the time of these rishis, and will also serve the purpose of a true

tirtha where one gets virtuous light, practical guidance and courage to follow

the path of authentic spirituality. The spiritual ambience here rejuvenates one

from within and elevates one's noble tendencies.

 

Rishi Parashuram was blessed by Lord Shiva who gave him a divine 'axe', which

the rishi had used to 'destroy' evil-minded people on the earth for twenty-one

times. This is a rhetoric narration. The 'axe' and use of the 'axe to destroy'

people symbolize that he was gifted with chiseled courage and trenchant

reformative skills to uproot the vices from people's mind and eliminate the evil

tendencies pervading the lives of the mighty kings. As suitable and relevant

today, our Vichar Kranti Abhiyan is also doing the same. Also, the reformative

programmes of our Yug Nirman Yojana of personal, familial and social upliftment

are aimed at the same purpose - elimination of the outmoded customs, corrupt

mentality and ignorance, refinement of attitude, establishment of angelic human

values.

 

Almost all the rishis of the ancient times and many great spiritual sages of the

later times have chosen Himalayas for conducting their sadhana experiments.

Following them, I have also made similar attempt. In view of its great

responsibilities as an institute for spiritual refinement of the masses, I have

chosen to establish Shantikunj in Hardwar on way to Rishikesh. Hardwar is the

doorstep of Himalayan region. At the same time, the climate here is bearable by

ordinary people. Going further high to the snow-covered mountains in chilling

weather with bare minimum accessories would make life difficult for many of you.

Up till this place (Sapt-Sarovar, in Hardwar), the purity of the Ganga is also

fairly well maintained . So this is an ideal location for an Ashram like

Shantikunj. Most importantly, as I told you earlier, this is the place where

Ashrams of the seven preeminent Vedic Rishis existed.

 

(To be continued in the next issue available at

http://www.akhandjyoti.org/?Akhand-Jyoti/2006/Nov-Dec2006/RishiCulture/ )

 

 

Shantikunj.

 

 

 

 

 

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