(A decade ago after a
trip to Tibet, Nepal and India, I wrote down my impressions. It was not meant
to be a book, however after it was read by some, it was suggested that if it
gets published, interested persons can use it. However I thought (and still
think) that the narration was more of a personal quest into Bhagavan Shiva and
that it may not interest a wider audience. Therefore instead of commercially
publishing it, I thought of placing it on a website of Publishing house Harper
Collins’s website known as Authonomy.com. It remained on
their website for people to review my narration for many years as “Kailash,
Kathmandu and Kashi, a story of Shiva and me”. However, last year, when Harper
Collins shutdown Authonomy.com and I realized that some people still wanted to read
my account, I decided to place all 26 chapters of that travelogue on this blog.
Reader views and comments are welcome).
Chapter 1. Preface
Chapter 1. Preface
Once I began writing my impression after expedition into the
geographic territories of Bhagavan Shiva and my personal mental territories,
what emerged was a travelogue, or so it was I presumed. However, Nipun, who is
himself a writer on Hindu history felt that it was a story with a plot where
expedition was just an excuse. That it appeared to have an agenda made me
think, why not place it before the world audience.
Description of the places visited may some time take a back
seat when I have found something unusual or of profound importance to talk
about. Besides history-geography and general socio-political scene, it tells a
lot about Hinduism, Bhagavan Shiva and that unique perspective of idol worship
that is completely unknown to rest of the religions. Idol is not a simple
instrument of concentration as most have assumed, but something more profound.
A tool. A tool for human evolution into a better and powerful human. An attempt
is made to underline for double-emphasis certain less known facts and so also refute
certain misinformation that seems to have somehow seeped into our knowledge
banks.
Not many works cover these three, Kailash-Kathmandu-Kashi,
important Shiva destinations in one book. And none of the travelogues covering
Indian pilgrimage destinations, even those written by some of the well known,
have delved upon what could be more profound motivation behind Hindu
pilgrimages. “Washing away sins” is valid but grossly over-simplified, perhaps
for want of any other ‘sensible’ explanation. They can not be faulted, Hinduism
when viewed from non-oriental-prism can often provide confusing spectacle.
It is intriguing and even significant that holy Mount Kailash
and holy Lake Manasarovar
Alps, though large, occupying quarter of the western Europe is
in comparison, only a tiny mountain range; its highest peak Mont Blanc at
15,784 ft (4,810 m), was the height at which we had to actually walk miles
after miles in Himalayas. Dolma-La pass is at 15,900 feet above sea level!
Altitude sickness manifests in different ways to different people but safe to
say that anyone with even any minor illness, handicap or health inadequacy is
bound to experience those magnified several times over. However, the rest of
the destinations are not difficult to endure. Kathmandu is in the midst of lush
green Himalayan valley in Nepal
and Kashi, known also as ‘Varanasi Varanasi and Gorakhpur
fall in natural route from Kathmandu when travelling by land to India
Despite life-threatening nature of pilgrimage to
Kailash-Manasarovar, it has attracted literally millions of people for
thousands of years. Interestingly however, number of people who visited Kailash
progressively diminished owing to terrible disruption of social and religious
lives of Indians due to persistence invasions and occupation by the hordes of
foreign invaders from west and north-west and religious persecution unleashed
by them. Subsequently, it became so rare to visit Kailash that until just
before a century, Kailash was known only among a select few Hindu, Buddhist and
Bon followers and was visited by handful of sanyasis , monks, adventure-bugs
and determined pilgrims. Believe it or not, but in fact, mountain’s identity was
unknown to geographers of the ‘civilized’ world until ‘discovered’ by Swedish
explorer Sven Hedin as late as in 1908. Its perception as a feasible pilgrimage
was almost absent in the general public psyche until beginning of twentieth
century. However the other destinations covered in this travelogue were not
obscure for visitors. Kashi, was a destination for highest learning of Sanskrit
and has been visited by many for thousands of years. Its temples, enriched with
the donations of pilgrims also attracted foreign invaders who had scanty
respect for the traditions of India Kathmandu , also an
ancient city, it did face brutal attacks from invading foreign rulers; however
it’s hard to reach mountainous location kept it relatively safe.
Since Mount Kailash, is considered a permanent abode of
Hindu God Lord Shiva and His family and since Kathmandu is a place where he is
said to have lived once and as for Kashi, it is a city that He craved to live
in and kept dear to Him due to quality and characters of its inhabitants who
were indulgently nurtured and educated by King Divodas, it has become necessary
that my travelogue tries to familiarize God Shiva to the readers along with
some relevant truths from Hinduism.
At what stage in my life Lord Shiva became my quest can not
be accurately pinpointed. But seed must have been casually sown while watching
my parents humming the famous three-word Sanskrit mantra “Om, Namah Shivaay”
(O, God, I reverently bow to Bhagavan Shiva) during their morning prayers or
perhaps during their repetitive utterances while moving beads of rosary. I do
not recall if any of my parents actually ‘taught’ me that mantra. I too used to
repeat this mantra sitting in front of a picture of Lord Shiva with childlike
total trust in Him. Fortunately or unfortunately, as I grew from childhood to
adolescence under the spell of ‘modern education’, the new-age science and
rationalism, my childlike trust slowly gave way to its playful neglect and
skepticism. By the time I had passed my teens, I become a hardened atheist and
Lord Shiva became a subject against which I could debate with any Shaivaite
(person or group who practice worshipping of Bhagavan Shiva) and turn him into
a nonbeliever. For a long time I romanced with atheism and various shades of
communism. Stalin and Mao seemed to be guys to go to for solving every problem,
until one day my thought process took a turn in opposite direction. The story
in this book begins from that stage.
Most writers use the term ‘Lord’ before the name ‘Shiva’,
perhaps in the sense of God. They mean, Shiva to be a ‘Lord’. In actual fact,
in Hinduism, there is no scope of any ‘Lord’ or ‘Malik’. A lord who ‘owns’, who
‘controls’ who ‘orders’, who gives ‘commandments’ or whose instructions are
inviolable and if violated, ‘punishment’ follows; an individual is a slave or a
subordinate who can never be his equal. In Hinduism, man is free to act (or not
act) and decides his own destiny and is potent enough to rise to same eminence
to who he worships. Lord Shiva should ideally be called as ‘Bhagavan’ Shiva.
The English word ‘Lord’ or the Arabic-Persian-Urdu word ‘Malik’ has lead to a somewhat
distorted understanding of Hindu concepts of God. This travelogue hence tries
to use more appropriate word ‘Bhagavan’ in its text. However the word ‘Lord’ is
purposefully used in its title for the reader to make a smooth transition from
what he or she knows. Word ‘Lord’ has a lot of goodwill in religious domain,
and rightly so, therefore, I have absolutely no quarrel with it. As the word
Bhagavan also exists in the official dictionaries, why not use the available
more appropriate English word? English language is in many ways like Indian
culture, always eager to embrace others.
Excitement of seeing new places, exhilarating sense of
adventure in the desolate empty expanse of Tibet Ganges . To imagine their exalted personalities, to
imagine intensity of their work, especially that work which compelled even Gods
to seek them out. We thought the possibility of experiencing the same or
similar supernatural phenomena as experienced by many previous visitors could
become our bonus prize. We were not disappointed. We did experience some, first
hand!
Unexpectedly, this trip also turned out to be a family
discovery trip in which I got to know my ‘Gotra’-giver, that is, my earliest
ancestor. Also it took me to my later ancestors, their city and their work. A
canvass of 10,000 years?
If purpose of life according to Hindu philosophy is the
‘self-development’ then I must confess that I learnt many things enduring this
travel and then, even more writing this travelogue. I hope the readers would
experience more than what I could when they visit these places. My ultimate
purpose is not merely to add geographic and touristic knowledge but to increase
spiritual and self capital of the reader.
. Nilesh Madhusudan Shukla
E-mail: NileshMShukla@gmail.com
Blog: www.nmsresolution@blogspot.com
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