Namaste Friends, When it comes to spirituality, everything else is left behind for me. Same thing happened when I told my friends that let's go to Vashishtha Cave. Of course he had no idea where it was, because he only knew the place which was famous among all the tourists. I tell them that this place is in Shivpuri, Uttarakhand. They didn't know which place I was talking about. Then I tell them that this cave is about 25 km ahead of Rishikesh. Hearing the name of Rishikesh, his face glows. Rishikesh has become such a picnic spot for the people of Delhi where you can reach in just 5 hours.
Well, I tell them that this time we are going to a place where you people will have to control yourselves. There you cannot do anything that will spoil the environment there. He felt the worst that he could not go to Rishikesh and drink alcohol. Seeing their downcast faces, I say that still think, if you cannot do all this then leave, otherwise stay here. They say ok we will go but tell us a little more about this place.
So I tell them that “Vashishtha cave exists because sage Vashishtha did penance there and this cave is named after him. According to Hindu mythology, sage Vashishtha was the human son of Lord Brahma and one of the seven sages. The time of Rishi Vashishtha is said to be 5000 years ago. According to mythology, when all the sons of sage Vashishtha died, due to his hobby, he went to the river Ganga to commit suicide but the river Ganga did not accept him, after which he started living here in the cave with his wife. Nowadays this cave is taken care of by Swami Purushottamanand Society.”
After knowing this, everyone gets ready to visit this religious cave. We leave for Rishikesh by car late on Friday night. Rishikesh is 263 km from Delhi, and it took us 8 hours to cover this distance. We reach Shivpuri at 6 in the morning. Parking the car on the roadside, we enter the temple premises through the main gate on the road. There is unbroken peace here, there is greenery, birds are chirping on the trees, the sound of monkeys shouting is coming from somewhere, the river Ganga is flowing silently in front and by now the sun has risen so the entire landscape is yellow in its glow. I have been colored.
We meet Swamiji in the temple premises from whom we get information about the arrangements to stay here for a few days. They say that you can stay here but nowadays some Mahatmas have stayed here, but you people can stay there as there are tents situated nearby. We greet them and reach the camp site where after talking we take a tent on rent. We tell them that we will go back to Delhi tomorrow morning. So the three of us first take a bath in the Ganga.
After cleaning ourselves in river Ganga, we wear clean clothes and reach Vashishtha cave. I am standing at the mouth of the cave and looking… The cave is not very big, but two to three people can comfortably sit in it and meditate. There is also a fireplace inside the cave in which fire is burning. There is so much peace here that it is silencing the noise within us. We also sit in the cave and try to absorb the peace present here. I don't know how long we sit in meditation, we don't even know ourselves, I live in the mountains but my friends are not used to such peace. When I open my eyes, I don't find either of them around me. Photography is prohibited inside the nice cave.
I stay here for two more days, apart from Vashishtha Cave, I get to know another cave whose name is Arundhati Cave. This cave is situated at walking distance from Vashishtha Cave. Sage Vashishtha's wife's name was Arundhati and his wife lived in this cave and used to meditate on God. This cave is named after him. Swami ji, who met us in the temple premises, told that even today many devotees come here and stay here for a few days and meditate. Meaning, both these caves are popular among spiritual people and from time to time people come here to do penance.
I go out after 40 minutes and see both of them sitting on the banks of river Ganga and talking. I also reach near them and start looking at the flowing river. They are talking to me that it would have been nice if they could have stayed here for a few more days. After listening to his views, I make up my mind to stay here for a few days. I share my thoughts with him to which he says that we have to go because we have to join the office on Monday.
In the afternoon we come back to the camp and have lunch and rest for a few hours and in the evening we go to the temple and participate in the Aarti of Lord Shiva, the devotional atmosphere of the temple takes us in its embrace. After the Aarti, after receiving the Prasad, we come back to the tent where we have dinner and surrender ourselves to a deep sleep. Go back to Delhi with me in the morning while I stay here.
Staying for two days, I meditate, worship in the temple, walk along the banks of Ganga, visit some nearby waterfalls, watch tourists rafting, enjoy kayaking, see many birds drinking water in the river every day. I come and admire their shining colours; at night I go to the river with a lantern. In these three days, I have lived every moment as if it was my last. Nature has made me sit in its lap and I have taken nature in my arms like a small child takes his mother in his arms.
On Tuesday, after saying Namaste to this holy place, I come back and get a bus to Rishikesh which had come from Rudraprayag. After getting down at Rishikesh, I drink sugarcane juice and from here I take a bus to Delhi and return to my home by evening. So this is how this precious and sacred religious journey comes to an end. I hope you liked this journey. See you in the next post, till then stay healthy and happy. Namaste