Amarnath Yatra - Variation to the Myth

Yesterday, we read about the legend associated with the Amarnath yatra. There is a different version which is diametrically opposite to the above in terms of the location of the divine discourse.

Matseyndra Nath

The followers of the Natha sampradaya, i.e. the Natha community, have a different version. A fisherman by the name of Matseyndra Nath (Matsya – fish), once got swallowed by a huge fish which had got entangled in his net. The fish took him deep under the ocean. Since Matseyndra Nath had done good deeds, he did not die. The fish went and settled outside a make-shift home created by Shiva to relate the mysteries of his immortality. Shiva had selected this location so that no mortal could hear it (as against the cave as we read in the Amarnath yatra earlier).

However, while the fish was resting, Matseyndra Nath heard the full discourse and later after twelve years when he came out of the fish, he went on to become the founder of the Natha sampradaya, a sect of yogis. The sampradaya does not believe in caste system and Kings and untouchables, alike, have been the followers of this sect. The objective of the sect is to enjoy peace and tranquillity, at the same time also seek release from the cycle of birth and death. They also feel that for this one does not need divine intervention, it is based on ones actions and karma. Among the major disciples of Matseyndra Nath were Gorakhnath and Caurangi, with the former being very influential and also instrumental in spreading the teachings of Matseyndra Nath. They consider Lord Shiva to be the first in the line by referring him as the Adi Nath.

Navnath

Matseyndra Nath and the natha sampradaya have thier followers in different parts of the country, especially in Bengal, Bihar, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Nepal. Matseyndra Nath, Gorakhnath and other seven such teachers are collectively known as the Navnath. The natha sampradaya have their own following with different myths associated with Matseyndra Nath, which we will not get into at this stage.

This variation is important especially for its difference. The people from the hilly terrain associate the myth of the Amar Katha in a mountain, whereas those closer to the sea, have an underwater association. Though Nepal can be seen as an exception, but the association of Matseyndra Nath, who is better known as Machindranath, has been discussed earlier in another article (Ratha-Yatra – In India and Abroad – Part 1 Nepal ). One of the versions even had a similarity with the earlier myth, where instead of Parvati acknowledging during the discourse, it was Matseyndra nath doing the same from inside the fish, when Parvati had dozed off! However, when Shiva learnt that it was someone else, he did not want to eliminate him, but blessed him to spread the good word. The significance of the natha sampradaya is more so, as it takes a Puranic myth and weaves around it secular credentials and thus has a wider base.

Amarnath Yatra

The Amarnath Caves

Amarnath yatra is one of the most arduous and sacred pilgrimage shrines for the devoted Hindus. The cave is situated at a height of close to 13,000 ft, which has a stalagmite in the form of a shiva-linga, which waxes and wanes with the waxing and waning of the  moon during the month of Shravan month of the Hindu calendar, which coincides with the months of July-August. The caves are closed all round the year, except during this period, when devotees brave the dangerously harsh temperatures, slippery paths and bad weather. This year the caves are open from June 25 to August 2^nd.

What is it about the place? First the legend.

Once, Goddess Parvati asked Lord Shiva the reason for his immortality. While she had been taking different births, he remained the same. Shiva avoided the discourse till he could, but then Parvati would not give up. At last Shiva decided to tell her the mystery, but wanted to ensure that none other than she should hear it.

Shiva identified a cave in the mountains and as part of the preparations for the secret discourse; he left his vahana, the Nandi Bull at Pahalgam (Bail gaon). He left the moon from his hair at a place called the Chandanwari and his snakes at the Lake Sheshnag. He left Lord Ganesha at Mahaguna Parvat and the five elements of life at Panjitarini. (All these are present day sites of reverence and part of the Amarnath yatra). Once inside the cave, Shiva opened his third eye, from which he created a ball of fire which destroyed all living being around the area, leaving the two, Shiva and Parvati all alone for the Amar Katha (immortal discourse). Shiva then sat on his deer skin and related the entire mystery.

It was in this cave of Amarnath, where the discourse was supposed to have taken place.

From here there are different versions of the legend. We will go through them briefly.

One version says that under the deer skin was an un-hatched egg of a pigeon. In the course of the discourse, the egg hatched and out came a pair of pigeons. Since they had heard the discourse, then have become immortal and pilgrims say that even today, a pair of pigeons are found flying around during this season of pilgrimage.

Another version says that from the egg came out a parrot. Shiva had told Parvati that she should continuously acknowledge, by saying “Hm”, during the discourse as he would be in his yogic trance. When the egg hatched and the first thing the parrot learnt was the “Hm” uttered by Parvati. In due course of the discourse, Parvati had fallen asleep and it was the parrot who had kept acknowledging during the entire discourse. When Shiva came to know about it, he was angry and sent his trident to kill the parrot. The parrot flew away from the chasing trident and entered into the mouth of a yawning wife of Sage Vasishta. The parrot entered into the womb of the wife, but did not want to come out as he had known all the mysteries of life and did not want to enter the world of Maya, illusions. Later with the intervention of Lord Vishnu, a child was born the sage’s wife, who became famous by the same of Sage Shuka (Shuka is parrot in Sanskrit).

Shiva also ordained that anybody who visits the Amaranath caves during this auspicious period will be released from the cycle of birth and death.

Ice Shiva-lingam

There is an interesting myth with the discovery of the caves. Once a shepherd, by the name of Buta Malik was given a sack of coal by a saint. When he opened it at home, he found it full of gold coins. The grateful shepherd went back to the spot to thank the saint, but found the caves. Since then the caves have become an important place of pilgrimage. Yet another version says that in those days, Kashmir was nothing but a huge lake. Rishi Kashyap drained the waters of the lake into rivers and rivulets and later Rishi Bhrigu visited the Himalayas to discover the cave along with the shiva-linga. The previous one gives the place secular credentials, where a Hindu shrine is discovered by a Muslim, though many say that Buta Malik was from Gujjar community.

Though the Amarnath yatra has had its share of controversies due to the impact on national security as well as the environment due to rampant pollution, the yatra has its picturesque moments, besides spiritual and divine moments. For the believer, it is a quest of immortality and for the adventurous it is the thrill of the tough terrain; in both the cases it draws lakhs of devotees every year.

After all, both the believers as well as the adventurous are ‘seeking’!

Man – Animal Conflict

Recently, in a Mumbai suburb, a child was dragged away by a leopard in full view of her shocked mother and grandmother, only to recover the head of the girl next day. The ghastly and scary incident is not the first of its kind, except the gory nature of it. People living in the periphery of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai, have been living with this problem for the last few years and time and again such incidents are reported. Many environmentalists say that this is due to excessive encroachment of human lives inside the jungle which is supposed to be that natural habitat of these animals.

When we move into their territory, what do they do? A classic case of man-animal conflict, where we end up blaming the animal.

This leopard had jumped a boundary wall and entered the verandah of a Row House
in Goregaon, Mumbai - photographed by a resident

This reminds me of a lesser known myth of the Kayopo tribe of the Red Indians taken from Claude Levi Strauss’s collection of the myths of the Kayopo tribe.

An Indian takes his younger brother-in-law to catch parrots up a cliff; they quarrel and the boy is left stranded in the forest. He is there for several days and is rescued by a jaguar who is walking past carrying a bow and arrow. (It is important to mention here that these tales are set in the period when man and animals lived together and some of the animals had both human and superhuman qualities). The jaguar takes him home for a ‘cooked-dinner’, for it was only the jaguar who had the gift of fire and cooking at this stage.

The jaguar’s human (!) wife does not like the boy who was from the village and the boy is eventually forced to murder her with the bow and arrow; he then runs back to his village, taking with him a piece of cooked meat. There he shows the villagers the jaguar’s lair from where they capture an ember and thus learn about fire and the art of cooking, but the jaguar becomes man’s enemy for the betrayal.

Shorn of fiction, the story is full of symbolism. It is symbolic of mans move towards culture (from a raw existence) by the discovery of domestic fire and cooking with the help of the animal and the jaguar’s (i.e. the animals) move away from culture which becomes the embodiment of raw nature. Man pays the price of fire by earning the hostility of animal life in the jungle. Besides all that the myth portrays, doesn’t this myth also bring out man’s inherent nature of not being trustworthy as against that of the animal? Debatable? I don’t think so.

If this is not a case of classic man-animal conflict, then what is it? Since childhood we have heard stories of man and animals – man in villages and cities and animals in jungles. Things have changed slightly, man has started leaving villages for the cities and the cities have started moving into jungles. Where does that leave the animals? Where do they go? While I sympathize with the family that lost the child, I also would like to question the authorities as to how is it that humans encroach so much that it takes an animal to remind us about it and that too in its own way? Many such incidents have highlighted the plight of the animals that are vulnerable at this time of year, due to the rains as well as new-born cubs to look after. At this time, they look out for easy preys. Children and small animals like dogs and cats that are a many due to the garbage accumulation (again thanks to the human encroachments), are the easiest prey for these animals.

Who do we blame? Man or Animal?

2nd Anniversary

My blog is 2 today!

It’s growing and growing well! I look back like a proud father, who’s worked hard, written a bit and read a lot. But it’s time to indulge in some nostalgia!

Blog was a geeky word and world for me, but I did dive into it, hoping to make some sense. Someone said, the best thing about a Blog is, you decide what you want to publish – No Editor! No editor and that too for a fresher in writing is music to ones ears. The long dormant creative juices started flowing and I penned my first few articles.

My wife was the first guinea pig when it came to reading what (or whatever?) I wrote. Her comments were like a medical capsule – sweet outside and truth inside! But she egged me on and I unleashed a barrage of articles in my Blog. Festivals, occasions and events all were associated with Mythology and occasionally I even expressed my views on some current affairs.

Some good friends started reading and forwarding and soon more and more people started liking it. From a few forced readers, (who had no choice) to 300 visitors a day in my Blog as of today; more than 250 articles in a span of 2 years – I don’t know if this is good, bad or ugly, but as they say – I’m lovin' it!!

Thanks to all of you who have been reading and a special thanks to those who are forwarding – where would I be without you guys?!?

Friday the 13th

The world is scared of today, today being “Friday the 13^th”, but not India. We have been living in such a situation for so many months and years now. The sinister day is just a personification of the state of times we live in –

• Any day can be a Friday the 13^th to molest women in crowded streets, with the cops doing nothing or much 
• Any day can be a Friday the 13^th for train blasts which can happen anytime and the victims left on the altar of justice to seek justice (today is the anniversary of the 13/7 blasts) and pick up the threads of their shredded life
• Any day can be a Friday the 13^th to remind us about the sorry state that we live in where women in some places are asked not to wear western clothes and use cell phone, as this leads to law and order problems 
• Any day can be a Friday the 13^th if we decide to go out and enjoy ourselves, as the moral cop is waiting on the sides with a hockey-stick to catch innocent merry makers, letting hard-nosed criminals pass by
• Any day can be a Friday the 13^th to remind us that we live in times when the politicians and the powerful enjoy themselves, both inside and outside the jails, and ordinary mortals are trying to make ends meet, without even saying “ouch” – some charge sheeted politicians can even plan to go to the London Olympics 
• Any day can be a Friday the 13^th for us to realise that our teaching institutes are turning to barbaric acts of discipline and scarring our children for a life time
• Any day can be a Friday the 13^th to tell us that today people can die in hospitals not for medical reasons, but political and negligence 

What is a Friday the 13^th when we live the day in and day out?

For those interested in the origins of the day, please read my previous article on the day - Friday the 13th!! This is Utkarsh Speaking: Friday the 13th!!