swami vivekananda visit to amarnath

[Guest guest]

dear shivbhakts

om namo bhagawate rudraya

 

the annual amarnath pilgrimage is on now and ends on 16th august.

shivbhakts may like to visit the most miraculous shrine which i have

been visiting for the past 15 years and have experienced several

miracles.

 

once swami vivekananda said " Since visiting Amarnath, I feel as

though Shiva were sitting on my head for twenty-four hours a day and

will not come down. "

 

following is the narration (courtesy www.vitasta.org) of how swami

vivekananda visited amarnath in july/august of 1898, i.e. 110 years

ago:

 

On July 10 he left alone for a pilgrimage to Amarnath ji by way of

Sonamarg. On the 15th he returned, having found that route

impracticable because the summer heat had melted some of the

glaciers.

 

On July 25 the party went on to Achabal and in the afternoon came

back to Anantnag. It was at Achabal that the Swami announced his

intention of going to Amarnath with the two or three thousand

pilgrims then en route to that shrine. As a special privilege, Sister

Nivedita was allowed to join him as a pilgrim. It was settled that

his other Western disciples would accompany the party as far as

Pahalgam and there wait for the Swami's return.

 

On July 27 they halted for a night at Bhavan (Martand, also called

Matan) and reached Pahalgam on July 28. Throughout the rest of the

journey Swami Vivekananda would bathe in the holy waters, offer

flowers, fruits and sweets to the object of worship before breaking

his fast, make obeisance by prostrating himself on the ground, tell

his beads, make ritual circumambulation, and the rest. At every halt,

the Swami's tent was besieged by scores of monks seeking knowledge

from him. Many of them could not understand his broad and liberal

views on religious matters. The Muslim Tehsildar, the state official

in charge of the pilgrimage, and his subordinates, were so attracted

to the Swami that they attended his talks daily and afterwards

entreated him to initiate them.

 

On July 30 the Swami left for Chandanwari. Next day a steep climb

towards Pishu top followed and then a long walk on the narrow path

that twisted round the mountain-side. At last they camped (July 31)

at Wavjan at a height of 12,500 ft.

 

Next day (August 1), after crossing the Mahagunus Top, a pass at

14,500 ft., they reached Panchtarani, the " place of five streams " .

 

On August 2, the day of Amarnath itself, there was first a steep

climb followed by a descent, where a false step would have meant

death. They walked across a glacier till they reached a flowing

stream. When Swami Vivekananda reached the cave, his whole frame was

shaking with emotion. The cave itself, says Nivedita, was " large

enough to hold a cathedral, and the great ice-Shiva in a niche of

depressed shadow, seemed as if throned on its own base. " His body

covered with ashes, his face aflame with devotion to Shiva, the Swami

entered the shrine itself, nude except for a loin-cloth, and

prostrated in adoration before the Lord. A song of praise from a

hundred throats resounded in the cave, and the shining purity of the

great ice-linga over-powered him. He almost swooned with emotion. A

profound mystical experience came to him, of which he never spoke,

beyond saying that Shiva Himself had appeared before him, and that he

(the Swami) had been granted the grace of Amarnath, the Lord of

Immortality, namely not to die until he himself should choose to do

so. Shri Ramkrishna had prophesied regarding this disciple of

his : " When he realizes who and what he is, he will no longer remain

in the body! "

 

Never had the Swami, in visiting a holy place, felt such spiritual

exaltation. Afterwards he said to his European disciple, " The image

was the Lord Himself. It was all worship there. I never have been to

anything so beautiful, so inspiring! " Later on, in the circle of his

brother disciples and his own disciples, he said dreamily : " I can

well imagine how this cave was first discovered. A party of

shepherds, one summer day, must have lost their flocks and wandered

in here in search of them. What must

have been their feeling as they found themselves unexpectedly before

this unmelting ice-Linga, white like camphor, with the vault itself

dripping offerings of water over it for centuries, unseen of mortal

eyes! Then when they came home, they whispered to the other shepherds

in the valleys how they had suddenly come upon Mahadeva! " Be that as

it may, for the Swami this was truly so : he entered the cave and

came face to face with the Lord!

 

On the journey back the Swami and party returned to Anantnag, and

from there by boat to Srinagar which they reached on August 8.

 

In Kashmir the Swami and his party were treated with great respect by

the Maharaja; and during his stay various high officials visited the

Swami's houseboat to receive religious instruction and converse with

him on general topics. The Swami had come at the invitation of the

Maharaja, to choose a piece of land for the establishment of a

monastery and a Sanskrit college. It was a disappointment to the

Swami when, about the middle of September, he heard that official

discussion of the site that he had chosen, had been twice vetoed by

the British Resident.

 

Following the pilgrimage to Amarnath, the Swami's devotion became

concentrated on the Mother. It was touching to see him worship, as

Uma, the four-year old daughter of his Muslim boatman. He once told

his disciples, during these days, that " wherever he turned, he was

conscious of the Presence of the Mother, as if she were a person in

the room. "

 

Later at Belur Math he said : " Since visiting Amarnath, I feel as

though Shiva were sitting on my head for twenty-four hours a day and

will not come down. "

 

with best wishes and blessings

pandit arjun

www.rudrakhsaremedy.com