Teerth

 

Babaji always said, “ You are worrying unnecessarily my child, the most magnificent temple exists within you, in the silence of your body where your soul lights a candle.” Babaji was truly mystical, dressed in saffron , white hair and beard, a 100 wrinkles on his face as if telling that the man was over a 100 years old, blue eyes which had a supernatural quality to intoxicate anyone who looked into them, face emanating a moon like glow, calm like a lake somewhere in the cold mountains of Himalayas.

The effect of Babaji’s presence was immensely impactful on Teerth’s life. A 24 year old engineer , a pious human who wished to visit the various temples of Bharat. Apart from his academic goals, the only thing he was passionate and curious about was to explore the temples and understand their spiritual significance. Life. Life takes unexpected turns at times. Just when Teerth had started becoming financially independent he met with an accident. A truck hit his bike while he was on his way back home after work. He sustained severe head injuries, landing him in a coma. It was three months back. Three months and he had not moved, opened his eyes or uttered a single word.

The cave was dark. Blackness bloomed. Misery showered.  That was the first time Teerth met Babaji. He was meeting him for the first time yet he felt he always knew him. Babaji held some wooden sticks in his hands and peacefully sat beside him. From a small bag he removed a matchbox and ignited the wooden sticks. Through the light of the Bonfire, Teerth saw clearly the blue eyes of Babaji. He was already impatient. He had so much to say, for 3 long months he had no one to talk to and now there was this man, maybe 100 years old, walking to him and igniting a bonfire.

“ Why me?”, asked Teerth in a very monotonous tone, but reflecting great depths of pain.

“ How will I go to the temples now? I had dreamt of them all my life, and now I’m reduced to this state where I can’t even move an inch!”

Babaji chose not to reply. He gave him a smile and pointed towards the fire. Inside the fire, Teerth saw himself for the first time. Yes, the first time. He had seen his body multiple times before in the mirror, but for the first time he saw his spirit. It was made up of minute flames chasing dreams, hustling with daily battles of life, the core of those flames had some magical sparkles which were scintillating yet they appeared to be not chasing something but contemplating on their existence. Teerth did not understand when he fell into Babaji’s lap and was lost in the same deep sleep.

Over the next few weeks Teerth and Babaji had similar sessions numerous times. At times Teerth would start crying looking into the fire, at times he would ask himself questions, and for most parts he would close his eyes after looking into the fire and let himself fall in Babaji’s lap. Babaji would then run his long fingers through Teerth’s hair. He would then sing him lullabies in his deep voice-

“ Sleep O child in the warmth of this heart

   Play in the meadows of hope

   Run in the rains of light

   Sleep O child in the warmth of this heart

   When your gods shall find you

   They shall kiss your cheeks and make them pink

   Your cheeks and the sky which is pink

   Shall tell how close you are to nature

   Sleep O child in the warmth of this heart

   And when you shall wake up

   Wake up as an adult but don’t forget that little child

   Rainbows embedded with chocolates shall wait

   For the optimistic soul you would have become

   For you will have realised the ways of god

   And drowned in the love for god, So

   Sleep O child in the warmth of this heart”

While some days were filled with soulful lullabies, some consisted of little adventures to the Milky Way river, a small river a few miles outside the cave. The path to the river was covered with fresh green grass, small daisy flowers and wild violets, covered with a thick layer of mist. As both of them would walk, their feet would not even be visible, it seemed they floated. Babaji had told Teerth, that just like the fire from the cave, this river was magical too, it knew everything about the truth of his soul. Sitting on the shore , seeing his and Babaji’s reflection in the river water, Teerth would sing in his enthralling voice, his songs conveyed messages, messages to the gods. Ma Durga, Shri Ram, Lord Shiva, Shri Krishna. Those songs were like calls, as If someone was calling god with all his heart, shedding tears incessantly in the process. If he could not go to their temples, can’t they come to his abode?

As months passed, Teerth felt more cleansed and pristine. All he knew was his Gods, the only emotion which was left inside him was the love for his Gods. His voice deepened, his face started glowing just like Babaji and his eyes had already started emanating something, the light of the fire. One such day inside the cave, Babaji said- “ I’m going to wake you up my child”

“ I’m aware of my identity, the nature of my spirit and the purpose why I breath, I think I’m already awake….from the sleep of illusions Babaji”

“ I’m going to wake you up in the physical world my child”, replied Babaji with a big smile.

Teerth did not smile. He just went back to looking at the bonfire inside the cave. He was lost in meditation when suddenly he heard some noise from outside the cave, it seemed to be coming from the river. Teerth took an ignited stick from the bon fire, held it like a torch and walked outside the cave. The mist was even thicker now. It was cold too, for that matter abnormally cold. In a matter of seconds Snow fell from the sky, in elegance with a divine charm. As Teerth took a few steps he saw something which made him awestruck. From the water very slowly, Ma Durga appeared on her lion, emanating brilliance, behind her Shri Ram originated from the water with Mata Sita, Laxman and Hanuman ji radiating angelic light, behind them originated from the holy water of the Milky Way river Lord Shiva with his trident….and at the end there was this cute little naughty Kid, who looked like a kid but had the vibe of the strongest force of this cosmos, Shri Krishna with his flute. They walked together towards Teerth and Teerth walked towards them. He was reminded of Babaji’s golden lines-“You are worrying unnecessarily my child, the most magnificent temple exists within you, in the silence of your body where your soul lights a candle”. With every step his eyes became more moist and he could hear temple bells ringing, even when there were no temple bells there. He could smell marigold flowers even when there were only daisies and violets there.  With every step he felt that he was in Vaishno Devi, Vrindavan, Ujjain, Ayodhya even when his body was motionless in the hospital bed. When the divine spirits and Teerth finally met, he fell on their feet and cried incessantly. All he had desired was their feet, and he had found them at last. He couldn’t go to their temples yet they reached him. For he called them, every time he breathed, such was his Bhakti(Devotion). He cried so much that he lost consciousness…..he lost consciousness? Or was he gaining consciousness?

After 6 months of struggling with coma, multiple pneumonia infections, multiple bed sores, Teerth opened his eyes for the first time. His family members looked at him with eager eyes, some emotional, some happy and some who could just not believe their eyes that he had got out of the coma. It took him another 6 months to recover completely, physiotherapy sessions, exercises, medications… After 6 months he was absolutely alright and had resumed his job too. Very soon he and his family planned a trip to Kashi Vishwanath temple, Varanasi. Teerth’s excitement knew no bounds. All through the trip his lips chanted “Om Namah Shivaya”, after taking a bath in the river Ganga , as he proceeded towards the the temple he started reciting the Shiv Panchakshara Strota-

nāgēndrahārāya trilōchanāya

bhasmāṅgarāgāya mahēśvarāya ।

nityāya śuddhāya digambarāya

tasmai "na" kārāya namaḥ śivāya ॥ 1 ॥

mandākinī salila chandana charchitāya

nandīśvara pramathanātha mahēśvarāya ।

mandāra mukhya bahupuṣpa supūjitāya 

tasmai "ma" kārāya namaḥ śivāya ॥ 2 ॥

śivāya gaurī vadanābja bṛnda

sūryāya dakṣādhvara nāśakāya ।

śrī nīlakaṇṭhāya vṛṣabhadhvajāya

tasmai "śi" kārāya namaḥ śivāya ॥ 3 ॥

vaśiṣṭha kumbhōdbhava gautamārya

munīndra dēvārchita śēkharāya ।

chandrārka vaiśvānara lōchanāya

tasmai "va" kārāya namaḥ śivāya ॥ 4 ॥

yajña svarūpāya jaṭādharāya

pināka hastāya sanātanāya ।

divyāya dēvāya digambarāya

tasmai "ya" kārāya namaḥ śivāya ॥ 5 ॥

   

On finally reaching the main shrine of the temple, he offered water on the Shiva Linga performing the Abhishek, later he bend down and surrendered himself to Shiva as his forehead touched the ground. He asked for strength to serve, he asked for selflessness, he asked for the oil which would ignite the lamp of love for his gods till eternity, even when he stopped to breath. When he rose he saw someone, on the other side of the Shiva Linga, sitting peacefully as if he was always there. Babaji. In the same attire, the same blue eyes, with the same glow on his face.Teerth smiled, both their eyes drowned into each other briefly, inside his eyes he touched Babaji’s feet, and Babaji clearly saw that Teerth had kept the flame of the bonfire alive in his heart, and with blood, streams of the Milky Way river ran in his veins too!