Holy Dip

“Civilization is a process of finding the best way to live”, that was my opinion back then, so does that mean we are currently living better than the way our forefathers used to live. I would say yes!!

My opinion was formed keeping in mind some of the ill rituals like Sati, Caste system, Public execution etc. That were followed in the society. Did no one in the crowd witnessing these rituals ever felt that it was wrong? If so why did it take so long to stop such ill rituals? All these backed by some classic stories our kings acting like pawns in the hands of Brits were successful enough to plant such a thought and justify that the current generation is privileged to look at things through our ancestors shoulders.

But then as an introspection, how well are we tackling today’s problems based on the experience of past? The pollution that we are part of is slowly taking the shape of a demon, we have been singing about its ill effects from school, what steps have we taken? Spending those productive parts of the day in doing things that contributes nothing for our growth? Accepting the designation given to us in office and blindly following the norms isn’t that a sort of indirect caste system somewhere.

I have failed in first place, by trying to evaluate the smartness. So I am not here, in the story trying to prove any body’s smartness. Instead I personally had come across very less stories of the past that had the characters introspecting and thinking and hence I somewhere had an impression that we were smarter than our ancestors. That is so naïve on my part to think that way!!

Hence I decided to contribute from my side by writing a bit based on older timelines with its characters thinking and introspecting. Hope you will have a nice time reading and if you had any such impression as mine it should change.

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The river of Banaswati was considered so holy that a dip in the river could cleanse you from the sins that you had done in 7 incarnations. The steady flowing river was broad enough that any man would feel it to be impossible to swim across its breadth. With this vastness a single tributary which flowed into Banaswati was enough to fulfill the needs of all in the village.

The king Druvateja of Banaswati had supervised the completion of constructing the five hundred stepped stairs from the river till the top of the natural elevation which appeared like a hill and acted as a natural dam that separated the river and the wealthy and abundant Banaswati on the other side. On top of the hill was the sacred temple of Maaheshwara but would be less occupant as the villagers of Banaswati had to climb through one thousand two hundred and thirty four stepped stairs to reach the temple from the village. With the river being closer to the temple than the village. The temple was ideal place for travelers and Sanyasis to stay and maditate.

It was 12 in the noon and was ideal time for Jayachandra to meditate as the number of devotees visiting the temple were least. Sri Jayachandra started chanting manthraas rolling Japamala but found it very difficult to concentrate as the thoughts of his beloved hometown came one after the other as he was there after a break of one year. The beads of the japamala counted the number of thoughts that came into his mind rather the manthraas he was chanting.

To top it all, he heard the sound of anklets that was randomly approaching towards the temple. “Oh another visitor from the village” he said to himself. He was seated for meditation on the entrance of the temple which faced the village. With his half-closed eyes of curiosity he looked for the one coming into the temple. And was caught in surprise by the visitor.

Starting from the order of appearance as she climbed up the stairs. The eyes, the nose, the lips etc. Each of it needed no poet to explain its beauty. Her partly curly hairs were partly wet, resting on her firm chest, exposing the shoulder on the other side which was sharp and strong to balance this was the waistline which was broad and curvy. The lady appeared tired of sprinting through the stairs and she appeared to have been in competition to climb up the stairs or something which could be seen by the feeling of success that she had in her eyes. She turned back towards the stairs may be expecting her friends.

Jayachandra was already mesmerized with this beauty and now with her turning he had even more to see and appreciate. The pearl white skin of her back. In seconds appeared other from the stairs to spoil the symphony that was running in Jayachandra’s mind. He was strong man with height of 6 feet in his late 20’s as he came closer to the beauty he lifted her and swirled around. Jayachandra explained to himself that the man lifted the woman after the defeat to prove his masculinity by showing her that he was not tired of climbing the stairs. He released her from his strong hands and reached closer to kiss but the lady held him with his hair and pulled to look around to see if someone was there. Both of them stopped seeing Jayachandra meditating all alone in the temple.

Just as she turned around to find anyone, Jayachandra closed his eyes and appeared to be meditating. He felt lucky and repented at the same time. Lucky for having closed the eyes at the right time and repented because of the question that rose in his mind, “Am I doing justice, being a Saint and thinking about beauty of the woman like this?”

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“The great Saint Vishwamithra was also distracted by the beauty of woman, so who am I” was the explanation given by Jayachandra or Sri Sri Jayachandra called by his villagers with respect.

“Just as the fiery red piece of iron is immediately cooled when in contact with water, the mind also comes in control with a dip into the holy water” was the line told by his guru to train the mind of Saints and sages. Jayachandra remembered this and decided to take a dip in the holy water of Banaswati. Now he understood what might have been running in the mind of different sages in his camp who used to take a dip in the holy river all of a sudden while meditating.

It had been around two years since Jayachandra became a Sanyaasi. Prior to which he was a wealthy and respected villager of Banaswati. The first year of his Sanyaasa was spent mostly camping in Himalayas and travelling across the country. On directions from his guru in Himalayas, Jayachandra came to his hometown for a stay of one year. Many in the village thought that it was early for him to take up Sanyaasa as he was in his late twenties when he did so. Many spinsters of the village were heartbroken as he was the most eligible bachelor in the village with his looks and conduct. Jayachandra’s decision to become a saint found very much less reluctance as he had no immediate family since his parents had passed few years back in a natural disaster and Jayachandra was always the one who was consulted for major decisions taken in the village and hence his decision was unquestioned except few seniors of the village.

As he got up to go towards the holy river he realized that he will be coming across the lady again and would again have to challenge his senses but was scared that he might lose his meditations of the noon if his mind wandered like this more. The temple had 3 entrances, one facing the village and opposite to it was one facing the river and perpendicular to it was the main entrance facing the Gharbhagudi. As Jayachandra was seated near the door which faced the river he had to walk through the main entrance and then to the entrance which faced the river. As expected on his way he came across the lady again along with the man accompanying her and the Archak of temple as no one wanted to miss an opportunity to talk to Jayachandra. They approached him and he blessed them all, following all the norms of being a Sanyaasi, appearing not to see the woman but had a pretty picture of her running in his mind. He laughed within himself for all the thoughts that was running in the mind.

As Jayachandra alighted through each stairs to reach the river. His mind collected all the questions one after the other “Do such thoughts occur to all saints?”, “Especially my guru who appears to be so calm and composed?”, “Should I openly consult about this with my fellow Sanyaasis or not?”, “How good a Sanyaasi can I be with such thought running in my mind?” each step of the stair that he got down made his peaks of confusion higher and higher. He tried answering them one after the other within his mind and all of the questions that occurred pointed to one important question which became clear when the river of Banaswati pierced through his feet, “What made me take the decision to be a Sanyasi?”

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“I am coming in five minutes”, Gopala waiting out of Jayachandra’s house had heard the same line more than 5 times last one hour, but did not lose his patience as it was not new to Gopala while waiting for Jayachandra. But meeting Jayachandra was always worth the wait. Just as Gopala decided to talk to the old lady who was weaving wool in the house next to that of Jayachandra, Jayachandra came from his house ready to go, “Ah you came on the right time” said Gopala, “Sorry that I made you wait”, said Jayachandra for which Gopala replied with a smile, “Now that since you have practiced this to me, you don’t have to ask sorry”, “The wrong estimation of five minutes was because I did not want to go alone till the river today and feared that you may leave if I said an hour in first place” said Jayachandra, “That is OK Jayachandra, if I had gone alone for the celebration leaving you alone I would have had to face scolding from all out there as it was all because of you”.

The city of Banaswati was in need of few wells for its people’s day to day activities. The villagers had decided on two places initially but Jaychandra along with the two had requested for one more whose location was in the middle of the area in Banaswati where Dalit’s used to live. This raised question among many but since Jayachandra’s views were respected by many in the village, they agreed but the last well did not get so much of pooja and attention but when the famines hit the last time in Banaswati all the well dried but the one in the Dalit area remained as a source of water. Which again acted to increase the respect to Jayachandra. So on the occasion of Vijayadashami people in the village decided to pay some tribute and respect to this well also though it was in the Dalit’s area of Banaswati. As a part of celebration. Hundreds of woman of the village along with Dalits had to take the water from the well and climb up to the temple of Maaheshwara where there would be a Satsang by Sri Sri Sri Jeevananda and then the villagers would go to the river of Banaswati were they would offer the water from the well.

Jayachandra and Gopala left towards the temple of Maaheshwara. “They would have reached the temple of Maaheshwara by now, anyway they wanted you to be present during the offering at the river of Banaswati” said Gopala, “Good that they are already there, we will avoid the crowd but I will be concerned if we miss the Satsang” Jayachandra replied. Gopala knew Jayachandra wanted to avoid the crowd always as all the villagers considered him mature and consulted him only for serious matters and the youths of his age always kept him out their discussion as they considered Jayachandra senior though he was of their age which did not go that well for Jayachandra. They continued their talk while climbing the 1234 stepped stairs, taking breaks once in a while. “You should better move to your uncle’s village Jaychandra and find a nice bride their” said Gopala, “All the assets and belongings are here I am pretty well known there as well, The brides I get which will be because of my wealth there as well, I do not know what to do in future Gopala, I do not know where my interest lies. The institution of marriage doesn’t attract me so much anyway” this suggestion and response had been exchanged between Goapala and Jayachandra at least 10 times over last year but Gopala did not leave. As they reached closer to the temple they heard the bells from temple and there was another reason to add to Jayachandra’s Joy, he could hear the songs of Sri Jeevananda, “Yelu nadiya neeru Kudidu ninna Daha Theerdiddare nanna charanagalige baa” (If you are still thirsty after drinking the water of seven rivers come to my feet), He was mesmerized with this song and felt hopeful that the Satsang would still be there and he could later talk to Sri Sri Jeevananda.

As they reached the temple Jayachandra was welcomed with a smile and all continued to hear the songs, followed by the Satsang post which, the seniors of the village introduced Jayachandra to Jeevananda Guruji. Just by looking at the expression of Jyaachandra the Jeevananda assured Jayachandra, “We will talk after the offering”, Jayachandra smiled and all went towards the river along with Jayachandra and Sri Sri Jeevananda Guruji. Out of all, Jayachandra was the one who wanted the event to be completed soon as he was all excited to talk to Sri Sri Jeevananda.

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“I have travelled across the country, all rivers crave to join the sea” said Swami Jeevananda looking at the river of Banaswati, “They would probably not be called river if they had not” said Jayachandra. “I am glad that they find their way to the seas, It might be explainable but it is wonderful that they got their craving fulfilled, we humans find it so difficult to find our way” hearing this from Swami Jeevananda. Jayachandra felt more eager than ever to hear from Jeevana.nda. “What is your craving Jayachandra?” asked Jeevananda looking into the eyes of Jayachandra. Jayachandra then opened up.

“Sir, I lost my parents at a young age, may be because of the values that they inculcated in me. I could handle the situation very well, I took care of the wealth my parents had left very well. Unlike others of my age who might have easily got distracted in my condition. This has earned me respect all across the village. They consider me as the one filled with wisdom” said Jayachandra, “That is good Jayachandra, are you not liking it?” asked Jeevananda, “I like it, I like solving peoples’ problem, thinking for betterment of people, but what is next? They say when the hunger of stomach is fulfilled, there will be an emotional hunger and then the intellectual, spiritual, I do not know which hunger is bothering me but there is one, there is doubt as to what happens ahead. Many suggest me to get married now but I am not getting suitable alliances because of my reputation across the village, I feel most women accept my proposal for the wealth I have but not for the true me”.

Jeevananda laughed for a while hearing Jayachandra, “Jayachandra, The diamond of wisdom is not for all to have, you have one, don’t waste it falling in marital life, Thousands out there, are bothered with responsibilities. Ask the people who came for Satsang today, few will have a disobedient son, some have wife that is not understanding, few have unmarried daughter, don’t bother yourself to solve these problem when you can solve bigger problems, take me as an example, I had struggled through my marital life with a commanding wife for over twenty years, It has been ten years since I took Sanyaasa and I have never felt bad”.

Jayachandra was puzzled and asked the guru, “So what do I do Sir?” there was a silence for a while and Jeevananda replied “Yelu nadiya neeru Kudidu ninna Daha Theerdiddare nanna charanagalige baa”, He can quench the thirst which seven rivers cannot satisfy, Than what is your problem, fall onto his feet and you shall find the way” said Jeevananda assuring Jayachandra that he would find his way if he follows the pursuit of god.

“Yelu nadiya neeru Kudidu ninna Daha Theerdiddare nanna charanagalige baa” was repeatedly running in his mind in loops. That’s when he realized the reason why he came down to river and had recalled the reason why he took Sanyaasa.

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He had than recalled whole of his journey as he was taking dip in the holy river of Banaswati, while having the third dip he remembered one of the statement told by his Guru, “All in the marital life will be going through their own problems”. Jayachandra thought that, though the couple whom he met in the temple looked very happy they might have some problem, may be the husband is unfaithful. Jayachandra wanted one fact about the couple to make him feel that they were not really happy to console himself and to back his decision of being a saint.

He thought for the ways to get the secret from them and for his intelligence he could find one nice idea to know it all from them. As soon as he got the idea he ran up to the temple, climbing the 500 steps at the fastest pace than ever. He dint want them to leave before he reaches. As he reached the temple’s doors he was happy that the couple were still there. He waited for a while near the entrance for his breathe to settle. And entered the temple as if he has returned from a meditation, absolutely calm. He reached his place and continued to browse through some books, secretly waiting for the couple to come to him to take Aashirvad.

As expected by Jayachandra, the couple came to him to ask for Ashirvad and leave, Jayachandra wished them and said “I am leaving to Kashi this month, each of you, if you have any secret wishes or desires, you may write it here on the piece of paper, I will directly offer it to god and your wishes and desires may come true”, this was a trick from Jayachandra to know what each of them secretely desired for. As told by Jaychandra both of them wrote notes on a piece of paper, their secret desire and offered to god.

As the couple left the temple Jaychandra waited for the Archak also to leave for the noon break so that he could read the papers. As the Archak left, Jaychandra picked the paper written by husband, “I bow my head in front of my mother and my wife I request you to give all strength so that I do not let any of them shed tears” Jaychandra was happy as well as sad reading and was expecting something for his happiness in the letter written by the woman, he said to himself “All men are good but women may not” and opened the letter written by the woman, “What shall I wish for when I have a husband who fulfills all the wishes, Help me understand his desires and fulfill it and let me be his wife for next incarnations and please do not do so if I am born with ailments”

Jayachandra fell into the abyss of confusion reading the notes and all his decision of being the saint was questioned. He felt envious about the couple looking at their happiness and was left alone in the silence of the temple. He realized how many days or years that he might have to face such a silence in his life and was worried deeply for being a saint for the first time.

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Started writing this story on 18^th of October and still half way. Unlike the regular way of writing I followed where I used to complete the entire story in a day or two. This time I am planning each episode and writing just one episode at a time. It may be the work that might be making it so late.

So thought it would be nice to take a break. Consider this as an interval in narration. We will have a chat. I always wanted to have discussion with people about the content I write, the character that comes in the story, some similarity with the real life character that they have come across etc.,

But most of the comment or discussion that comes up is, narration was quick, nice story I enjoyed it, grammar turns reader down, concentrate on it etc. So this time while writing I took extra care while writing each chapters, planned it before hand and hence the slow writing.

Normally this comes in the beginning of writing but just thought of making it a bit different to stress the importance I give for your feedbacks and discussions.

Coming back to the story, Jayachandra will be confused about his decision, using the word repent might be hard as the decision which he took was noble but may be a wrong introspection or guidance. He thought of ways to counter this and could think about the suggestion which his friend Gopala suggested long time back when Jayachandra told him that it is getting difficult for him to find suitable bride. He had suggested him to leave his city and search in new place.

Jayachandra remembered this and decided to tell his villagers that he would permanently settle in Himalayas for his future Sadhana. His plan was to sell all his property and settle down in a distant village with his wealth. He kept only Gopala informed about his decision and moved out of the village.

Jayachandra along with all the properties that he sold moved to a distant village called Sri Saraswatipura, his villagers would have heard least about this village. For the smartness that he had and the enigma of a smart wealthy man settling in the village it was not difficult for him to find suitable bride. He found one her name was, Gunavathi as the name, she was a perfect match for Jayachandra with respect to everything may it be the looks or the intellect or the taste though Gunavathi was not that spiritual as Jayachandra she was understanding and did not interfere but was always up for positive discussions. Both of them were blessed with a son.

Jayachandra bought some land and built his house in the village of Sri Saraswathipura and became famous among the villagers mainly because of his singing and of course his wise suggestions that always used to be filled with wisdom. Whenever there was any festival in the village Jayachandra was the one to sing the song and offer prayers.

We will get back to the normal narration J

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“Jayachandra it is so late in the morning and you are still sleeping, get up, get up”, Jayachandra opened the sleepy eyes to find who was the one waking him up, it was his Guru of the Gurukul, Jayachandra wondered how could his Guru find him in this village and after a gap of around 20 years, with the number of students that came to his Gurukul he should have already forgotten him, is what Jayachandra thought.

With all the confusion Jaychandra woke up, stood up on his feet and bowed down to his Guru. “Jayachandra you have grown up so fat over years, do you remember all the manthraas that I thought you?” asked his Guru, Jayachandra uttered some Manthraa but was feeling embarrassed with the way the Guru questioned him in front of his family that too his son. Suddenly Guru raised his voice telling “You have remembered everything wrong, you deserve nice thrashing”, As Jayachandra felt that there was something wrong with his Guru’s behavior. His Guru started hitting him with a cane. His wife and son who were seeing all this from a corner were laughing at the plight of Jyachandra.

 Jayachandra’s Guru started hitting him harder and harder, unable to bear the pain he started shouting. That’s when he heard his wife telling “What happened to you, get up”. Jayachandra woke up from his dream and wondered why he got such a dream in the deep sleep that he had after a tiring activity of pulling the chariot in Saraswatipura’s festival. As he got up his wife said, “You have slept for 3 hours, see some Guru has come to see you” Jayachandra searched around to see who had come to see him and wished that he would have not woke up. As soon as he saw his visitor, the dream that he saw seemed like it found a meaning and made all sense. It was Guru Jeevananda who suggested him to be Sanyaasi. There was a wicked smile on Jeevananda’s face, Jayachandra bowed down and Jeevananda replied “Hello Jayachandra”. Both Jayachandra and Jeevananda were left alone by Gunavati there.

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“How is marital life Jayachandra?” asked Jeevananda. Jayachandra did not know what to answer but with lot of reluctance he replied, “Its fine sir”. “Feeling better than your previous choices?” asked Jeevananda. By this Jayachandra realized that Jeevananda did not just want to know how happy he was but wanted make him feel the guilt for his choice. “The things I enjoy the most are, waking up to the sunrise, the meditation, learning etc, I could do both now and the time when I was Sanyaasi, I cannot compare both” said Jayachandra for which his Guru replied, “You were never a Sanyasi Jayachandra, Sanyasa happens with full surrender and there will be no looking back” there was a silence between both.

Jeevananda broke the silence but with a sarcasm, “Will you give up your marital life once you get bored or when you see something more interesting and nice?” Jayachandra had thousand things to say to try to justify his stand but never wanted to argue with his master about his choices. “Sir, I do not know about the rightness of the decision that I have taken but one thing I appreciate is the freedom that nature has given to man and the thing that I want to avoid is the limitations to the freedom of man that society puts us through” Somewhere Jeevananda after hearing Jayachandra’s statement realized that his right to question Jayachandra is questionable. Again there was a silence for a while between the two.

This time Jayachandra broke the silence, “We would have arranged for a nice welcome if we had known about your coming” Jeevananda replied back “You would have got enough time to move to next village by that time is it?” Jeevananda could see a displeasure in Jayachandra’s face after telling it and decided not to be sarcastic again with Jayachandra, “I was travelling to vidyaaranya when I got invite to visit village from Sri Vatsa the village head, I would be leaving Saraswatipura tomorrow, I will leave for now wish to see you in Satsang tomorrow at the temple”.

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Jayachandra could not stop himself from telling what happened today to his wife Gunavati. He had kept no secret with respect his previous life to Gunavati. When he told he had quit Sanyaasa she felt all the way more interested in Jayachandra. She had thought sometime that a person who has given up Sanyaasa might also give up the marital life sometime but all such thoughts were negated by the concern that he had towards the society and his willingness to give pure justice to whatever he does.

Gunavati tried to console Jayachandra and lighten up the moment that night and was successful. The next morning though Jayachandra was reluctant to go to the temple as he wanted to avoid meeting Jeevananda again. Gunavati did not let him skip as she felt it would disrespect Jeevananda. The family then left for the temple.

It was a festive environment in the temple, there was continuous bhajans and cultural events, out of all Jeevananda’s Satsang was the highlight and was the showstopper for the day. The number of people dwindled after each event and were minimal after the Satsang, only the few who wanted to talk to and discuss with Jeevananda remained. Out of the few remaining Jayachandra and his wife where there to say good bye to his Guru Jeevananda. As Jayachandra was always hesitant to face Jeevananda they were last in the queue.

There was an awkward silence between the family and Jeevananda. Gunavati broke the silence by gifting Jeevananda with flowers and fruits with a smile as if she knew nothing about what had happened between her husband and Jeevananda the last day. Jeevananda also wished the couple good luck by his heart, though he was not happy with what Jayachandra had done. As the couple were about to leave, Jeevananda stopped them and said, “I am going to Kash, you may write down your secret wishes or desire on these papers I shall give it to god and your wishes may come true”.

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Jayachandra was shocked to hear this from Jeevananda. It was the same trick that he had played years back at the couple in Banaswati. He had never told about the trick to anyone nor had anyone told him about the trick before.

On the other hand Jayachandra was not sure if Jeevananda really wanted to put across their wishes to the god of Kaashi or if Jeevananda wanted to know what was running in Jayachandra’s mind. Did he want to know if he was happy, if he is repenting about his decisions etc. Only thing that he was left out with was to appreciate the co-incidence of the thoughts.

Though Jayachandra did not believe in such religious customs. He always believed that there was no need of medium to talk to god. He was happy to see his wife’s excitement to write. He took his time to think about what he had write on the paper, expecting that Jeevananda would read the note Jayachandra decided to write:

“Yelu nadiya neeru Kudidu ninna Daha Theeradiddare nanna charanagalige baa”

The line of a song which was first heard by Jayachandra from Jeevananda. All he wanted to convey from it was. The world and its happiness was for us to enjoy and understand. If we are still not satisfied there is always the almighty waiting for us to surrender. There should be no restriction in doing so. Writing the note Jayachandra folded and gave it to Jeevananda hoping that he would read. And they all left for the day.

In the village of Devapattana Sri Jeevananda took his first pit stop on his way to Kaashi from Saraswatipura. He took shelter in one of temple’s mantap. He took a gulp of water from his kamandala to ease his thirst and opened his bag to find Jayachandra’s note, to find.

 “Yelu nadiya neeru Kudidaru ninna Daha Theerdode nanna charanagalige baa”

There was a smile in his face as he read it. Whatever Jayachandra wanted to convey from his note was understood by Jeevananda he for some time felt that he wrongly guided Jayachandra by asking him to be a Sanyasi, restricting him from worldly pleasure. But later felt that all happens for a reason and left for Kaashi as he had whole journey to discuss the story with the rest of his fellows and understand what was right.

NAGABHUSHAN R ANVEKAR