Spirituality | June 2008

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Time spent laughing is time spent with the Gods. - Japanese Proverb  

A Temple Dedicated to 'Shakti'   Kanayalal Raina * Vaishno Devi Mandir is one of the holiest Hindu temples dedicated to Shakti. Vaishno Devi, also known as Mata Rani and Vaishnavi, is a manifestation of the Mother Goddess. The temple is near the town of Katra, in Udhampur district. It is one of the most revered places of worship in Northern India. Million of pilgrims visit the temple every year and is the second most visited religious shrine in India, after Tirupati Balaji Mandir. The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board maintains this shrine. 'Vaishnavi' means the one who is related to lord "Vishnu''. Goddess Vaishnavi is the manifestation of the collective spiritual strengths of Mata Maha Kali, Mata Maha Lakshmi and Mata Maha Saraswati. It is described in Durga Sapatshati that the goddess was born as a young girl of extraordinary beauty and strength, out of the collectively pooled 'Tejas' of various 'Devtas' and three lords Brahma, Vishnu and Shankar.

The immediate purpose of the creation of the goddess was the annihilation of Asura (Devil) Mahishasura. However another purpose of her creation was that she might usher on earth an era of pious and ascetic life so that the peace could prevail upon the world and she through her penance could rise to higher levels of spirituality and ultimately merge with Vishnu. 

It is said Vaishnavi, after immense hardships reached the foot of the Trikuta Hills and after setting up her ashram there she began to meditate. As predicted by Lord Rama, her glory spread far and wide and people began to flock to her Ashram to seek her blessings. As the time passed, a Tantrik named Gorakh Nath who had a vision of the episode between Lord Rama and Vaishnavi in the retrospective time frame, became curious to find out whether Vaishnavi has been able to attain a high level of spirituality or not. He, therefore, sent his most able disciple 'Bhairon Nath' to find out the truth.

Bhairon Nath on locating the ashram started observing Vaishnavi secretly and realised that though a 'Sadhvi' she always carried bow and arrows with her and was always surrounded by langoors (apes) and a ferocious looking lion. Bhairon Nath was enamoured by Vaishnavi's extraordinary beauty and losing all good sense he began to pester Vaishnavi to marry him. Meanwhile a staunch devotee of Mata Sridhar organised a Bhandara (Community meal) in which the whole village and Guru Gorakh Nath along with all his followers including Bhairon were invited. During the course of Bhandara Bhairon Nath attempted to grab Vaishnavi but she tried her best to daunt him. On failing to do so, Vaishnavi decided to flee away into the mountains to continue her 'Tapasaya' undisturbed. Bhairon Nath however chased her to her destination. The goddess after halting at Banganga, Charan Paduka, and Adhkwari, finally reached the holy cave Shrine. When Bhairon Nath continued to follow her despite the goddess trying to avoid a confrontation, the goddess was compelled to kill him. On arriving at the Holy Cave at Darbar, she assumed the form of Maha Kali and cut off Bhairon Nath's head which was flung up the mountain by the force of the blow and fell at the place where the Bhairon Temple is now located. The boulder at the mouth of the Holy Cave according to the legend is the petrified torso of Bhairon Nath who was granted divine forgiveness by the benevolent Mata in his dying moments.

The Goddess Mata Vaishno Devi's abode is in 100 feet long cave with a very narrow opening. The holy cold and crystal clear water washes the lotus feet of the Mata's "Pindian". There are three natural pindies representing Maha Sarswati, Maha Lakshmi, Maha Kali, which represent creative, preservative, and destructive aspects of the Super Power. It is an ancient shrine whose reference is found in the Vedas and ancient scriptures.

There is a common faith among the folk that Goddess-Vaishno sends a 'Call' to her devotees: and that once a person receives it, wherever he or she is, marches towards the holy shrine of the great Goddess. I along with my family have also visited this holy shrine first time in 1979 using the old track which was very difficult to trek upon. No lights were there en-route to shrine. Since then however, more elaborate arrangements have been made as well a new pathway/road constructed to reach the shrine. The new road is quite wide and tiled. Besides, the whole path is lit up every night by powerful sodium vapour lamps. To help the yatries during the pilgrimage, the Shrine Board has operationalized information booths at various locations, which are open 24-hours. Yatries can find/ obtain important information about various aspects of the Yatra. Yatries are unaware that this journey shall take them to this awesome wilderness and winding pathway of 14 kilometres high, a place so holy and sacred, a place of mystery and adventure scarcely known to most in modern world. High, High to the north, amidst snow capped mountains and sprawling forests arise from within the holy shrine of Maa Vaishno Devi.

It is no wonder that every hour, every day, every year a mass of humanity surges up steep pathways that cut across the hillside for mile after mile. Popular belief holds that anybody who walks the Himalayan trail to her abode to ask for a boon rarely goes back disappointed. There are many who journey here year after year to pay obeisance regardless of their faith or belief, creed or class, caste or religion, for Mata Vaishno Devi transcends all such barriers.

Journey to Mata Vaishno Devi

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[Kanayalal Raina is a Brampton based engineer by training, project consultant by profession and free lance writer by passion.]

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