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Pilgrimage : Why and How ? (Teertha Sevan : Kyon Aur Kaise ?): Vangamaya Vol-37

The Indian system of religion as established by the rishis – the scientists and spiritual saints of yore – used to operate through Devalayas (temples), Ashramas (hermitages), Aranyaks and Gurukuls (school and laboratories along the traditions of vedic age), and Tirthas (sacred places of pilgrimage). These five types of centers of excellence spread across the globe in the ancient times were the major sources of expansion of Indian cultural values and the divine philosophy of life…. Though a large number of temples and Tirthas do exist in India even today and the total number of Ashramas and Gurukuls also is not insignificant, one hardly sees the reminiscence of the glorious heritage of divine culture and religion in them.
Today, the centers of above kinds have practically become nothing more than places of symbolic religious activities. Moreover, many of these even appear as the asylums of orthodox customs and prejudiced practices in the name of religion…. Why this decline? Why have these building blocks of most ancient system of education lost their original purpose? What is their relevance today? Why shouldn’t their activities be creatively reoriented in the righteous direction; but how? Search for detailed answers to these and related queries is the focus of the present volume. Sociological and psychological importance of temples, Tirthas, Ashramas and Gurukuls and scientific aspects associated with the effects of the spiritually charged atmosphere of the Tirthas have also been discussed with specific details. The basic purpose and role of each of the above mentioned establishments is analyzed here in separate Chapters.
It is a common belief that pilgrimage is a great religious endeavor and is essential for the true devotees of thou and that it helps liberation of the soul from the past sins. In fact the original purpose of pilgrimage was – to live in the spiritually refined and sacred environment of the places where great rishis and saints had performed long term ascetic sadhanas (spiritual endeavors) of the highest kind and to realize the arousal of divine sentiments in the inner self…. Such places were termed Tirthas.
Pilgrimage at spiritually charged Tirthas educes the desire for spiritual elevation and helps one know the eternal purpose of life…. The temples, Ashramas, Gurukuls and Aranyaks were originally established to successively escalate worldly people along the path of religion. Tirthas were endowed with highest glory in this sequence and were supposed to be reached only by spiritually refined, truly religious saintly personalities.….
Apart from being the places of worship, temples are supposed to be the centers for collective prayers and religious discussions. Once upon a time these used to be the places for generating public awareness and propagating mass education. Several revered saints and sages of India had advocated construction of temples in every locality of the villages and towns – within the reach of every inhabitant there, to meet this noble purpose. The religious atmosphere in and around a temple naturally soothes the minds and heats and nurtures devotional sentiments. As Acharya Sharma has suggested, the millions of small or big temples in India could be used as community centers for social reforms and education from religious platform.
Addressing the mighty trusties and chief priests of grand temples and the fake ‘sadhus’ who have converted temples into ‘professional institutions’ of religion….., Acharya Sharma warns them of their duties towards the society and the mankind. Religion and temples both would lose their identity if the present practice of symbolic ‘worship’ and professional ceremonies of need-based ‘devotion’ is continued without any introspection… He had set a live example of how the dedicated endeavors of true saints can re-establish the glory of religion and faith in thy disciplines in the scientifically liberated minds and also show them the righteous path of progress….
The Gurukuls used to be schools of complete education and personality development for the children and the youths. The Aranyaks were run for training the elders. Aspirants of spiritual evolution as well as those desirous of learning the art of living an honest and successful life – all used to get rigorous training at these places. The Ashramas originally were designed as residential training schools for the teachers who used to assist in running of the Gurukuls or Aranyaks after successful completion of the training under the adept guidance of the rishis. The class of noble teachers produced here was indeed the spine of the system of public education and social developments.
The Ashramas, Gurukuls and Aranyaks were usually located in the forests at the banks of rivers surrounded by the excellent natural beauty of the mountains. The reminiscence of several of these ancient schools have become monuments of pilgrimage today…. The natural beauty and holy atmosphere of these places still attracts thousands of devotees and tourists every year. Readers will find in this volume a rare collection of information on the history and creative activities of many of the Ashramas, Gurukuls and Aranyaks and get to know of the centers which are currently working towards the revival of the prestige of these land marks of Indian cultural history….
Pilgrimage today has been more like a touristic activity or a religious obligation for most people. Misinterpretation of the scriptures and superstition has given rise to many laughable customs associated with pilgrimage. For instance, the quote advising –”Bathing in the springs of spirituality pervaded in the Tirthas and consequent removal of the malice of sinful tendencies…”, has been misinterpreted by most people as bathing in the ‘sacred’ rivers and springs near the Tirthas. Thousands of pilgrims can therefore be seen crowding on the banks of holy rivers of the Tirthas and hurrying to somehow take a dip into it in order to ‘magically cleanse’ all the dirt of the sins of past and present lives…..
Acharya Sharma has highlighted several interesting facts about the visits paid to thousands of such small or big ‘recognized’ places of tourism-cum-pilgrimage in India these days. The total of what the rest of the world would spend in terms of money and man-hours in different activities pertaining to religion there is much lesser than what the people of India – especially the Hindus spend on ‘pilgrimage’. A significant amount of government machinery, resources and manpower is also engaged in arranging the mega events of pilgrimage to some special spots….
It sounds ironical that most people who participate in these sacred visits remain unaware of the true purpose of pilgrimage. They hardly gain anything in terms of spiritual refinement and religious elevation except perhaps a self-satisfying notion of successfully accomplishing an arduous journey to a ‘reputed’ holy place….. In this volume, the author has explained in detail, the original purpose and glorious foundation of the tradition of pilgrimage and has highlighted the relevance and importance of these in the present times….. He has also eloquently taught the disciplines and pre-requisites of conditioning the body and mind before a meaningful pilgrimage.
Highlighting what one can and should aspire to gain from the Tirthas, he explains the unique significance of the Himalayas. He describes the deep core of Himalayas as one of the richest sources of spiritual energy which naturally educes divine elevation of the consciousness…. The grand beauty and heritage of the regions from Yamunotri to the original location of Kailash-Mansarovara, Gomukha, Tapovana, etc, are vividly expressed here with emphasis on the impact of the great spiritual experiments and subtle presence of the ancient rishis and other great souls in this region.
The deliberations here would make it clear why there is a congregation of maximum number of Tirthas in the Himalayan regions. Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrikasharama, Kedarnath, Tungnath, Trimukhinarayan, Deva Prayaga, Rudra Prayaga, etc and the origin of the sacred rivers Bhagirathi, Alakananda, Mandakini, etc are all located in the same belt. The higher and deeper spots which are arduous to reach are more dense in spiritual powers because great yogis and sadhakas of all ages have been residing in these ‘hidden’ regions of the Himalayas. The present volume also contains a lot of important and rare information about the Himalayas which only the yogis like the author could collect during their stay there….
Pilgrimage in the ancient days did include visits and stay in the Aranyaks (or Gurukuls) and Ashramas. A near total lack of those kinds of institutions in the modern age had further added to the deterioration of the tradition of Tirthas….. In view of this and in response to the subtle inspirations received from the Himalayas, Acharya Sharma had endeavored resurrection of this noble tradition by establishing a centre for spiritual refinement and intensive training in the art of living and personality development at Shantikunj, Hardwar – the door to Himalayan region.
In consonant with the needs of the modern times and the future of the world, he also founded the Brahmavarchas research centre in Hardwar. This centre is devoted to the integration of modern sciences and the ancient sciences of total health, yoga and spirituality. Shantikunj, Brahmavarchas and the sister institutions initiated by this great spiritual master, eminent scientist and saintly social reformer of the present century have set shining examples of how Aranyaks, Gurukul s and Ashramas used to be and what could be their logical projections in today’s world. The branches of Shantikunj are spread in India and abroad in the form of 2400 “Pragya Pithas” and ” Gayatri Shakti Pithas”. These tiny centers are attempting to perform what should ideally be conducted in the temples – as the centers of inspiration and public awareness on dignity of human life.
Every man and woman from every part of the world can, without any barrier of caste, creed, race, religion or social status, participate in the regular training programs at Shantikunj and become a part of the noble mission of Acharya Sharma.
This volume indicates that the seeds of a cultural revolution and evolution of spirituality in mankind sown by establishment of the righteous Tirthas like Shantikunj have begun sprouting… It also raises hopes that the collective participation of all of us in such missions would make the ‘tree’ of human-religion blossom with the dawn of the next millennium…