The sacred tree of Ashwatha

A sacred Ashwatha tree on the bank of River Ganga

Ashwatha or Pipal tree is considered very sacred. The above is a conversation between Sage Narada and Lord Brahma regarding the sacred tree 'Ashwatha'. On top is the customary respect to the teacher or Guru.  I intend to translate each verse into English, beginning with 'Guru vandane',  in my new found craze tweets. You may follow them verse wise (e.g, v1 will be translation of verse 1, v2 is verse 2 and so on.) in my twitter at www.twitter.com/msbhat

Disclaimer (Chap 7)

Hope you have read an account of my 2nd trip to Kashi.
If these write ups encourage at least some people to contemplate a trip to Kashi, I will be happy. I will be truly grateful, if at least few of them, actually undertake the trip.
For the prospective visitor, I must warn about two important factors:
Firstly, if one intends to visit the place purely on a pleasure trip just like a tour to any other place, I am sure he will get disappointed soon. Quite likely he may see only filth, narrow lanes, excessive crowd, cheating of their money at every point and may even skip a bath in Ganga.
On the contrary, Kashi is THE place to be visited if one is ardently religious, has a firm belief in Hindu philosophy of life and a strong resolve to put up with any difficulties.
Secondly, there can be many obstacles and setbacks from the moment you conceive the idea of pilgrimage till you actually complete it. I too faced many obstacles. Some of them are getting the right dates to travel, frequent change in the schedule of exams and vacation of daughters, strike of pilots of Air India, aborting of trip on 29th Sept, anxiety due to the failure of the driver who was supposed to drop us at Babatpur airport etc. Each one may face different obstacles. Please be prepared to counter those hurdles with innate resourcefulness.
शुभमस्तु पन्थानः (Bon voyage)
I conclude with a verse from Bhagavatha. (Verse 6-2-18)
अज्ञानादथवा ज्ञानादुत्तमश्लोकनाम यत् ।
संकीर्तितमघं पुम्सो दहेदेधो यथानलः ॥
(Reciting names of god knowingly or even unknowingly burns the sins of man like fire destroying the wood)

Blessings (Chap 6).

On 3 rd Oct 09, we had few hours free time in the morning. We decided to visit Ganga once more. Father, me and Vaishnavi were eager to bathe again while Mother, Bha and Sri chose to sit and watch. I swam for a while and Vaishnavi learnt few strokes of swimming.


Thereafter, we went on a boat ride in the river. It gives a great view of many ghats on the banks of the river, pilgrims taking bath in those ghats and many rituals being performed. Most of them are public bathing ghats, some are privately owned and in a few ghats like Harischandra and Manikarnika cremation takes place. One of the ghats that we saw was Narada Ghat where husband and wife are NOT supposed to bathe together. If they do so, it is believed that soon they will start quarelling even before they reach their home. I do not know what would happen if the husband and wife have been quarelling even before taking bath in Narada Ghat.
Mornings and evenings are ideal for a boat ride. Foreign visitors generally spend lot of time in the boats trying to satisfy their curiosity in the strange beliefs and rituals we perform. The normal boating charge is around Rs.100 per hour. However, they quote Rs500. If you can spend some time in bargaining and willing for a verbal duel, they scale down the rates. I had not utilized the guide and hence was able to hire a boat for Rs.200. The guides generally make us to pay around Rs.450. I guess, hefty share is flowing back to the guide and the host. After floating down the river for about 20 mins, they turn back. Boating up is very taxing, especially against heavy current, and takes about 40 mins.
After returning from the river, I went to the house of Sri Vishwanatha Sharma to offer my pranams. He is aged more than 90 years, bit hard in hearing, frail and a great scholar with fluency in Sanskrit and English. He complimented me for bringing my parents to Holy Kashi at their old age and remarked “You are a Noble Son…”. I was suddenly overcome with emotions. Thereafter, upon paying my respects, he blessed me in eloquent Sanskrit. I must say I was doubly happy for he not only blessed me but also did so in Sanskrit. I honestly felt that the blessing is worth all the trouble faced while taking the parents on a pilgrimage. Regarding fondness for blessings in Sanskrit, I must recall a story. It appears there was an illiterate person. He was fond of bowing before scholars and asking for blessings in Sanskrit. However, one scholar, desired to put an end to his insistence. Thus, once as soon as the illiterate person bent down too close to comfort and sought for blessings in Sanskrit, the scholar reportedly came up with this retort: मम वृषणौ तव शिरसि भवतः ।
(You need translation? Well, it means “My testicles are resting upon your head”)

Set to return: We finished packing. Took food at Vadiji’s house. At 11.30 am we were set to proceed to airport. The van which was to take us to airport failed to turn up. Since I had booked the van directly and the guide was deprived of his hefty commission, I guess he played the spoilsport. In any case, Shri Sharma immediately arranged an alternate vehicle. With narrow roads and busy traffic, the journey took longer than expected and we were just in time to board the plane back to Mumbai. We reached Mumbai around 4pm. We went to Kumara Bhava’s house. Later in the night he took us for another ride in the city and we traveled in the Bandra-Worli Sea link, a new landmark of Mumbai.

Back to Mangalore: On 4th Oct 09 Sunday morning, Kumara Bhava very thoughtfully took us to Bandra Kurla Complex where National Stock Exchange is situated. I saluted the imposing building. Thereafter he dropped us in Mumbai airport. Reached Mangalore at noon. My colleague Santhosh greeted with a broad smile and dropped us home. Later, parents took a bus to native place. Thus, the trip which is more like a dream came to an end. Once in Mangalore, the bliss experienced in Varanasi gave way to the hard realities of life.
I must quote from Garuda Purana [Verse 6-26]
गर्भे व्याधौ श्मशाने च पुराणे या मतिर्भावेत ।
सा यदि स्थिरतां याति को न मुच्येत बंधनात ॥
(The feelings one get while in mother’s womb, or during illness, or at cremation place or while listening to religious discourses, if remain permanent, every one would have attained Moksha easily) .
My colleague Ramakrishnayya sent the following sms which is echoing in me ever since.
भगवता विश्वेश्वरेण भवान पुनरपि अनुग्रहीत: ।
(You are once again blessed by Lord Vishveshwara !)

Snana and Darshana (Chap 5)

Early morning we left ‘Balananda Ashram’ to the river. The distance was just about 100 mtrs. Water was flowing well and it was very clean. Firstly, parents took bath. Mother finished quickly while Father took more time. He was visibly contented on fulfilling heart’s desire. Thereafter, it was the turn of daughters to take plunge. They chanted the stotra “Devi sureshwari bhagavathi Ganga….”. I joined them and later my wife. We took dips for ourselves and all near and dear ones. Certainly it was ablissful experience. The worldly things do not come to our mind at all. After changing over, we were to visit the Vishwanatha Mandir, nearly 2 km away. We took an auto.

The Mandir is a highly protected area with screening by security at every stage. Mobiles, Pens and Camera’s are not allowed inside the temple. We can keep our belongings and chappals in any of the shops which are lined up on either side of the narrow lanes leading to the temple. If you enquire as to what the charges are for the safe custody of your belongings, the shop keepers generously announce that there are no charges and is free! The only hitch is that they force us to buy flowers or sweets or whatever the shop sells at exorbitant rates. There was lengthy que for the Darshan of Jyothirlinga. Thorough personal search was there in 2-3 points with cops totting with assault rifles. Lady visitors were also thoroughly frisked. Though the lady officers search for any weapons etc, they minutely observe whether the visitor has hidden a purse or not at vantage points. So intense would be the frisking. If some male readers desire to get immense job satisfaction by joining police force and relish the prospect of frisking women visitors, I must disappoint them. Only lady officers are allowed to do so, that too within an enclosure! Though the que moved slowly, we kept ourselves occupied by chanting stotras and also by watching the wholesome entertainment provided by the monkeys who were plenty in number. Once inside the ‘Garbha Gruha’, the feeling we get is beyond description. A sense of satisfaction encompasses. The reality soon dawns as we are pushed out. There are no special poojas or Seva’s to the best of my knowledge which are typical of South Indian Temples. Generally it takes 2 hours once you stand in que to visit the deity and come out. We collected our belongings and came to lodge.

Food on the previous day and instant day’s breakfast was not up to the mark. I made by displeasure known to Jagadish, our guide, in no uncertain terms for taking to such mediocre hotels and insisted for better place. Hence, for lunch, we were taken to Mr.Vadiji’s house{Address: B-4/20, Purnananda Math, Hanuman Ghat. Phone:097933 31480} who is a priest in one of the temples. The lunch was homely, very good and served in a traditional way. We decided to visit him for supper and also next day’s lunch. However, Vadiji was not much enthused by our mere readiness, but promptly collected advance for supper and next day’s brunch!. His eating joint was just 2 min walk from Balanand Ashram.
Afternoon, our guide arranged a Maruti Omni for the city tour. We visited Kala Bhairav Temple. Lord Kala Bhairav is considered as the protector of Kashi and belief is that his consent is needed for anybody’s stay in Kashi. It is also the place where the famous Kashi threads or wrist bands are sold. Daughters dutifully chanted the ‘Kala Bhairavashtaka’ which they had learnt in Chinmaya Balavihara classes. Later we visited Benares Hindu University and the Birla Mandir situated in the campus. I was greatly elated to see the Sanskrit department in the University campus. Therafter, we went to Sankata Mochana or Hanuman Temple. Here also the security is very tight. Plenty of monkeys were freely roaming and parading their acrobatic skill with gay abandon. We wanted to chant the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ but had forgotten to carry the books. Luckily we saw heaps of books kept near by and pulled a few and started chanting the Hanuman Chalisa wth all the devotion, we could summon. Soon a big monkey came very close, stood within a meter distance from us, observed our chanting for a while and majestically moved away.
Though we were supposed to see few other temples, we decided come back and take rest for the day.
असारे खलु संसारे सुखभ्रान्तिः शरीरिणम् ।

लालापानामिवंगुष्ठे बालानां स्तन्यविभ्रम: ॥
{People look for peace in the worldly affairs forgetting the divinity elsewhere just like infants suck the thumb believing it to be breast milk.}

In Kashi (Chap 4)

From Babatpur, we went to Kashi. For arrangements in Kashi, I had requested Sri Prasanna Sharma (ph: 094153 03222). He has a younger brother Sri Kedara Sharma (Ph:94505 46017). They are sons of Sri Vishwanatha Sharma M.A, {Address: S/O Late Mysore Krishna Shastry, Krishna Rukmini Nivasa, 27, Hanuman Ghat, Varanasi 221 001. Phone:0542-2275291}. They originally belong to Karnataka and speak Kannada amongst other languages. Sri Vishwanatha Sharma is a scholar and more than 90 years old. I was more in touch with Sri Prasanna Sharma who runs a shop “Annapoorna Sarees” {Address: D-35/76, Jangambari, Jangam Math, Varanasi-221001, Phone:0542-2450865 / 2451026}and has shades of typical business acumen. On prior request, they make arrangements to receive us at Railway station, accommodation, rituals, Darshans, shopping etc. I knew them well as during my previous visit to Kashi in December 2006, I was very satisfied with the arrangements they had made. Initially, I came to know about them on the recommendation of my uncle Gopappachi, Jodukallu.

Accommodation: Mr. Sharma had booked our accommodation at ‘Sree Sree Balanand Tirthashram’ {Address: B 3/179, Shivala, Varanasi -221001. Phone 0542-6457897. email: vishwatmananda@ yahoo.co.in } and hence we proceeded to the said place. It is situated in Hanuman Ghat (next to Harishchandra Ghat) on the banks of holy river Ganga. The surrounding roads leading to the said place are very narrow and just wide enough to accommodate a small car. However, the narrow roads somehow manage two-way traffic, cows, cycle rickshaws, autos, lined up shops, houses, pedestrians and filth. The normal charge for a room in the said Ashram is Rs.150 per bed (i.e., Rs.300 for a double room). It is more like a charity house and not a commercial lodge or hotel. They collect charges as donation and not as rent. However, rooms are good. I stayed in the same place during my earlier visit too. We reached there around 2.30pm on 1.10.09.
Ganga Aarathi: Mr। Sharma suggested us to complete shopping, if any and to witness the grand show of Ganga Aarathi in the evening। Mother bought sarees to gift to her daughters, daughters in law and elder sisters। The Sarees were all economy versions bought from the shop of Mr। Sharma. Thereafter, we went to Dashashwamedha Ghat, where every evening, after sunset, a grand show of Ganga Aarathi a sort of worshipping of the river was being performed. Crowd was gathering at large numbers including plenty of foreigners. Visitors were occupying every inch of the place available. We chose to sit in a stationary boat and watch the show from the river for a better view. Enough number of docked boats are available to sit and watch the show and boatmen collect about Rs.10 per head for an hour. The Aarathi started slowly and gathered momentum in a very grand manner blended with soothing bhajans and was very impressive. The show lasted for about 30-45 mins.

Thereafter, we returned to the Ashram for rest. Next day was scheduled for Ganga snana and Darshana of Lord Vishwanatha and other deities.
Quote from Bhagavad Gita (Chap 9- verse 26)
पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं यो मे भक्त्या प्रयच्छति ।
तदहं भक्त्युपहृतं अश्नामि प्रयतात्मनः ॥
{Leaves or flowers or fruits or even water is acceptable to me as long as it is submitted with Bhakti}

Reaching Varanasi (Chap 3)

In the last 2 postings you have read about Kashi, my plan to visit the said holy place, how the travel got aborted initially and how the trip was miraculously saved at the last minute.
Let us proceed further.

On the early morning of Wednesday, the 30th Sept 09, parents came from my native place by bus. Mother was shivering with cold and father was pale as he could not bring required money for expenditure and the ATM card he had was long expired.

We kept our luggage as light as possible by stuffing all our items in 8 handbags. Daughters took their dress and other items in their school bags and also enthusiastically carried the bags of their grand parents.

We reached Bajpe airport by 9.45 am. I was keen to explain father and daughters, who were curious on their maiden air travel, the normal sequence of check in, filling baggage tags and collecting boarding card etc. However, I could not do so due to unusual rush and also that I needed some modification in the tickets. Frankly, I was tense due to the ongoing strike of pilots and there was no signs of its ending in the near future.

Shortly, we got the first good news that the strike in Air India has been called off. Thereafter, we proceeded to security check, got our hand bags screened and boarded IX 302 to Mumbai. My friend arranged an entire row of 3+3 seats in the plane. Shortly the flight was airborne. Father and Daughters were busy looking out. Mother was oblivious to happenings outside and was focused on her final destination. Daughters quickly observed that the land below looks like Wikimapia!. I began reading my customary “Vishnu Sahasranama” and “Soundarya Lahari” and Bharathi followed soon by reading “Lalitha Sahasranama”. Refreshments were served and soon we landed in Mumbai Sahara (as the flight had originated from Gulf). Got into a taxi and reached Kumarabhava’s quarters in Chembur Camp.

In the evening, after his return from office, Kumara bhava took us in his car for a city tour. Devi akka and Mother stayed back. Bhava showed us India Govt Mint and RBI. I respectfully bowed on sighting the Bombay Stock Exchange Building {as a mark of gratitude for whatever knowledge that I accumulated about shares}, a host of other buildings and ‘land marks’, Gate way of India, Hotel Taj, Marine Drive, Malabar Hills, Pali Hills etc.

On the morning of Thursday, Ist October, he dropped us well in time at Santacruz. Here I could give a boring lecture to father and daughters about the process of check in. We were delighted to see innumerable landings and take offs in the runway. We soon boarded IC195 which left Mumbai at 9.45am. I chanted ‘Ganapathi Atharvasheersha’, ‘Durgasooktha’, ‘Laghunyasa’, ‘Rudra’, ‘Chamaka’ ‘Devi, Medha, Brahma and Shraddha Sookthas’ enroute. There was a brief stop over at Chaudhuri Charan Singh airport at Lucknow. Our next destination was Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport at Babatpur, Varanasi. Babatpur is about 26 kms from Varanasi {towards Lucknow}.
Proceeding further, at about 1 pm we landed at Babatpur, Varanasi.
An apt verse from SHIVAAPARADHA KSHAMAPANA STOTRA
आयु: नश्यति पश्यतां प्रतिदिनं याति क्षयं यौवनं
प्रत्यायन्ति गता: पुन: न दिवसा: कालो जगद्भक्षकः ।
लक्ष्मी: तोय तरंग भंग चपला विद्युत्च्छलं जीवितं
तस्मात् मां शरणागतं करुणया त्व रक्ष रक्षाधुना ॥
[On each passing day, our longevity gets reduced and the Youth passes. The day’s bygone does not come again. Wealth is not permanent. Life is short. Therefore, O lord, kindly save me, save me]

Miraculous Revival (Chap 2)

The cherished trip with family to Kashi got aborted when we were about to start on Tuesday, 29th Sep 09. Phone from Air India informed that all flights got cancelled.
Luckily, my parents took the hindrance in their stride, as yet another addition to the innumerable setbacks they faced in life. They were philosophical, believing that the right time to visit is yet to come.
Bharathi was composed as canceling of my planned trips were not too uncommon for her.
Sri was relieved as she can prepare for her ensuing exams.
Vai derived consolation at the prospect of opening the gift box of “Kaju Katli” (Sweet made of Cashew) which I was planning to give to my colleague in Varanasi. She eagerly opened the box only to see that the sweet had started to deteriorate. Only later she became disappointed.
I was disappointed to visualize the hassles of obtaining refund of tickets, re depositing the LTC advance I drew, finding new set of suitable dates for travel, re applying for leave and advance, re planning the trip etc was certainly beyond a lazy man like me. (I must concede that I have improved in this regard. Earlier I was lazy, now lazier!)
I went to Air India ticketing office for refund. They cancelled my tickets but had no money to refund. I could not even shout at them as other irate passengers must have already done so. I offered to wait for a few days to get the money back.
News of the cancellation of our cherished trip was certainly faster than I could imagine. From the various reactions we received, we realized that:
Some were disappointed that we were not as disappointed as they imagined and
Some were happy and relieved to hear that we were absolutely composed.

I had a surprise in store in the late evening as the efficient Ms Mamatha, informed over phone that Air India plans to make alternate arrangements and desired to know whether I risk traveling the very next day. I readily said Yes, and asked Bharathi to get ready. Parents (who had gone back to the native place) were informed in the night and they were ready to join us next morning. Problem was my father had already deposited the cash he had, in the bank and there was no time to visit the Bank for drawal of cash. You mentioned ATM Card?. Yes, he was holding a card expired long back.
Thus, by god’s grace, the trip which was aborted in the morning had a rebirth in less than 12 hours.
I must quote from Bhagavad Gita, {Chap 6, Verse 40}

न हि कल्याणकृत्कश्चिद्दुर्गतिं तात गच्छति ।

(Good deeds will never letdown anyone!)