All World
Gayatri Pariwar

Let us begin with a collective chanting of the Gayatri Mantra:

“Om Bhur Buvah Swah, Tatsaviturvareñyam Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi,   Dhiyo Yonah Pracodaytt ||”

Sisters and Brothers,

Special crops grow in special soil and climate.  The oranges of Nagpur, bananas of Bhusawal, mangoes of Lucknow, etc are popular all over the world for their special taste. But these fruits won’t taste the same if grown elsewhere, say here in Hardwar.  You must have heard of the sandalwood of the Neelgiri Hills. What a heavenly fragrance! The plant might grow at your place as well, but won’t have the same smell.  Then what about the unique herbs and the fruits and flowers – like Devkand and Brahmkamal – grown in the serene regions of the great Himalayan heights? These paradise-species won’t even grow anywhere else.  The soil, the climate, the subtle environment of every place has its distinct effects.      

The holy Himalayas are unique because of the vibrant spiritual ambience generated here by the long-term dedicated tapa-stdhants of the Rishis – the seer-sages, saints of Vedic Age. Indeed this land is divine land that nurtures virtuous tendencies and induces angelic inspirations. Every seeker of spiritual realization and inner light wants to spend sometime in the pristine shelter of the Himalayas. I had also got this opportunity.  You are all sitting here in Shantikunj, Hardwar; this is the land where the Ashrams of the Sapatarshis1 were located thousands of years ago. This is the sacred land where these preeminent saint-sages, whose glory continues to sparkle like the unique cluster of seven stars in the sky, had undertook devout tapaïcharya.

The holy Ganga surrounds this place much like a mother’s lap protecting a child. This is the place where, once upon a time, lion and cow would drink water from the same water pond, standing besides each other on these banks of the Ganga! Indeed, there are such spiritually energized locations and the siddhas2 whose company can awaken the divinity hidden within us!  This Ashram of Shantikunj is established at such a place. Have you seen the temple of Devttmt Himalaya here? There is no deity-idol for worship in this temple; there is only a model of the holy Himalayas. As you know, the idols of God enshrined in the temples symbolize the divine powers. This temple should make you aware of the divine nature of the Himalayas.

Why refer the Himalayas as “Devttmt”  (embodied divinity)?  Because divine spirit indwells the serene ambience of these great heights. The Himalayas appear to be the playfield of God.  You can feel His subtle presence here.  Many elevated souls - the rishis, great yogis and spiritual masters - have pursued long-term stdhants here and invoked divine powers; many continue to do so even now in the intractable regions of the Himalayas. The divine Indian Culture is a majestic bequest bestowed on us by our rishis of Vedic Age, whose devout spiritual endeavors intensified the divine aura pervading the Himalayas.  This temple is to remind you of their angelic stdhants and this mission of ours is an attempt to revive, to the extent possible, the Rishi Culture – the divine Indian Culture.  Let us look at some of these efforts and introspect whether and to what level we have imbibed the noble values of the Rishi Culture in our lives. 

The great rishi (maharshi) Ved Vyas had written eighteen Puranas and the Darshanas. In an attempt to remind people of the Vedic scriptures, as my homage to the maharishi, I have translated the compilations of the four Vedas and the six Darshanas in Hindi so that vast majority of people in the present times, who may not be scholars of Sanskrit or Vedic Literature, would also get an opportunity to study and benefit from these invaluable pearls of knowledge.

You all have heard of yoga.  Do you know who was the great rishi, who discovered through personal experience this great science of healthy, happy and illumined human life? Yes! It was Maharshi Patanjali. His treatise on “Ashtanga Yoga” is the magnum opus for guiding researchers and practitioners of yoga since yore. He had researched and carried out enormous types of yoga-experiments on his own body and mind.  In the stdhant courses here, we also teach the yoga-tsanas, prtñtytms and meditation practices most suitable for present times.  The discourses here aim to enlighten the students with the rare pieces of knowledge of the philosophy of the “Ashtang Yoga” and its roots in the spiritual science of consciousness. I have experimented it on myself sincerely and have been blessed by its immeasurable beneficial effects. All the stdhakas who teach you and give you practical demonstration here have also practiced it thoroughly.  

Rishi Yagyavalkya, ((likewise Rishi Kanad) is notable among the Vedic seer-sages who discovered the science of Nature and methods of benefiting from it while also maintaining its perfect balance and resources. He also had undergone rigorous stdhants in the Himalayas. He grasped the principles of Yagya underlying the visible and invisible systems of Nature and systematized the Vedic Science of Yagya.  He had developed the experimental methods of doing Yagya as a fire-ritual with chanting of Vedic Mantras and sacrificing of selected herbs/plant medicines. Yagya was an integral part of people’s life and used to play a key role in their physical and mental well-being. But, this superscience got distorted in the vicissitudinous tides of time; and largely became only an elaborate ritual of arbitrarily putting into fire tons of ghee and precious metals and even animals. As a result the scientific thinkers and wise people spurned it and discarded its practice.  

The challenge of reinvestigating, confirming and expanding this ancient science in new light was taken up by our mission. We have been able to achieve success in this endeavor to a great extent. The yagya you do here at Shantikunj every day, the path-breaking scientific research in the Yagyopathy lab at our research centre “Bramvarchas Shodh Sansthan” and its findings, the revival of the original method of performing yagya and its dissemination among the masses, are standing examples of this success.   We have to reestablish and expand Yagya-based therapies to counter the psychosomatic disorders and dreaded diseases that are infecting and killing more and more people today.

Rishi Vishwamitra had attained the preeminent knowledge of Gayatri by devout tapaïcaryt and spiritual stdhants in this Himalayan land. The Gayatri Mantra that we chant here was revealed to him in syllabic form. In the classification of this supreme Vedic Hymn you may find that the divine power center associated with this mantra is Savita and its rishi is Vishwamitra.  You may find his idol enshrined in front of the temple of Goddess Gayatri here in Shantikunj. I have performed 24 mahapuraïcarañas3 of Gayatri. The stdhant of Gayatri Mantra has been the root, the nectar-source of our mission’s origin and ascent. I regard Rishi Vishwamitra as my Guru and pay my reverence to him. You should not be surprised to know that my noble Guru in this life, who is in the Himalayas, is incarnation of Rishi Vishwamitra only. Such are the supernormal powers of these great Himalayan yogis! Beyond our imagination!

You must have heard of Rishi Bhagirath and his ascetic tapaïcaryt in the Himalayas to bring the heavenly Ganga on the earth. The scriptures describe that if the holy Ganga had directly descended from the heavens, its gigantic force would have shattered the earth into pieces. Therefore, as a reward for Bhagirath’s supreme Tapasya, Lord Shiva controlled the flow of the Ganga by giving it shelter on His head. From there its currents emerged in the form of a stream. As it followed the path of rishi Bhagirath who was walking ahead, the sacred river is also named as Bhagirathi. Well, the narration has deep philosophical significance. What is important for us at present is to recognize what our ancient rishis have beatified us with. And ponder over what we have done to the divine culture they had founded!

Rishi Bhagirath is not there in physical form with us but the place where he carried out his epochal tapa-stdhant is — it is the Bhagirath Shila, a rock besides Gaurikund near Gangotri. As per the guidance and inspiration of my Guru, I have also carried out one year’s ascetic tapa-stdhant, anuSHÚhtna, sitting on the Bhagirath Shila. This was before commencing our “Vichar Kranti Abhiyan” aimed at resurrecting the Ganga of divine knowledge in this world, with a view to awakening and enlightening the masses. Our Vichar Kranti movement is to purify peoples’ intellect, and give a constructive, righteous direction to their thinking; to make them happy, bright and righteous in heart, head and conduct.       

Tapa and Stdhant have been an integral part of every moment of the lives of the rishis. I have also tried to follow their tradition. It is the impact of the tapa-stdhants of the rishis that has enriched the Himalayas with divine spiritual vibrations. Otherwise what is so distinct here – the marvelous height, snow peaks, the amazing beauty of Nature? But these things can be found in some other mountains, elsewhere in the world as well.  This unique, majestic glory of the Himalayas is because of the Rishi Culture that originated and flourished here.  This is why the great tirthas – the ‘Char Dham’ of pilgrimage are also here; maximum number of rivers of the world emerge from here and feed nearly one-sixth of the population of the world; there are four Gupta Kashis and five paradise- like lakes here, the paeans of which are sung at length in the Vedic religious scriptures.

It seems all the treasure of Nature, all the sublime vibrations of divinity and sources of spiritual illumination and ascent have been gathered and condensed here in the Himalayas. Little efforts of spiritual elevation, noble deeds here result in manifold beatitudeous effects. If there were paradise anywhere on the earth, it must have been here.  

Obeying the subtle instructions of the Himalayan Rishis, I am trying to develop Shantikunj as a live tirtha that will remind people how the tirthas used to be during the time of these rishis, and will also serve the purpose of a true tirtha where one gets virtuous light, practical guidance and courage to follow the path of authentic spirituality.  The spiritual ambience here rejuvenates one from within and elevates one’s noble tendencies.  

Rishi Parashuram was blessed by Lord Shiva who gave him a divine ‘axe’, which the rishi had used to ‘destroy’ evil-minded people on the earth for twenty-one times.  This is a rhetoric narration. The ‘axe’ and use of the ‘axe to destroy’ people symbolize that he was gifted with chiseled courage and trenchant reformative skills to uproot the vices from people’s mind and eliminate the evil tendencies pervading the lives of the mighty kings.  As suitable and relevant today, our Vichar Kranti Abhiyan is also doing the same.  Also, the reformative programmes of our Yug Nirman Yojana of personal, familial and social upliftment are aimed at the same purpose – elimination of the outmoded customs, corrupt mentality and ignorance, refinement of attitude, establishment of angelic human values. 

Almost all the rishis of the ancient times and many great spiritual sages of the later times have chosen Himalayas for conducting their stdhant experiments. Following them, I have also made similar attempt. In view of its great responsibilities as an institute for spiritual refinement of the masses, I have chosen to establish Shantikunj in Hardwar on way to Rishikesh. Hardwar is the doorstep of Himalayan region.  At the same time, the climate here is bearable by ordinary people. Going further high to the snow-covered mountains in chilling weather with bare minimum accessories would make life difficult for many of you.  Up till this place (Sapt-Sarovar, in Hardwar), the purity of the Ganga is also fairly well maintained*.  So this is an ideal location for an Ashram like Shantikunj.  Most importantly, as I told you earlier, this is the place where Ashrams of the seven preeminent Vedic Rishis existed.    



*Remark:  The densely populated cities throwing dirt in the holy river are far away from Hardwar. The crowds throwing flowers, grains and what not on religious occasions are distant and the practices of throwing dead bodies also start later on its way to the Bay of Bengal.  So far, air-pollution has not reached here and the natural serenity of the river has been protected.

Notes:
1.    Sapatarshis: Seven rishis of the Age-of-Truth, who propounded the Vedic Culture.
2.    Siddhas (people endowed with angelic powers and supernormal talents)
3.    Puraïcaraña: The supreme level anuSHÚhtna of 2400, 000 japa stdhants of the Gtyatri Mantra under distinct ascetic disciplines.