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Drops of Amrita
in
Kumbha Mela

By
Mora Abilahoud Singh
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Published by:
Shri Vidya Trust, Rishikesh

To get the printed version of this book


in English and Spanish languages with
coloured pictures, please contact Shri Vidya
Trust, 186/39, Virbhadra Road (opposite
L.I.C. office), Rishikesh (Uttarakhand) -
249201 or email to vpsji@yahoo.co.in
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Table of Contents
KUMBHA MELA: GATHERING IN A VESSEL ... 5
What is Kumbha Mela? .................................. 13
Introduction ................................................... 17
Journey to Haridwar ....................................... 20
Visit to Kumbha Mela Camps in Haridwar ...... 31
Kalyani Devi ................................................... 35
The Jhuna Akhara .......................................... 45
Swami Karnapuri ........................................... 47
Haridwar, April 12, 1998 ................................ 57
Braj Wali Mataji.............................................. 60
Rishikesh, April 13, 1998 ............................... 64
Swami Naradananda ...................................... 66
Rishikesh April14, 1998 ................................. 73
Dr. Devaki Kutty............................................. 75
Penny Mataji .................................................. 83
Swami X ......................................................... 96
Rishikesh April 15, 1998 ................................ 100
Mata Pardeshwari ........................................... 105
Saint Subhadra Mata ..................................... 108
Shivaratri, 21 February 2001.......................... 111
Glossary ......................................................... 121
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People bathing in the holy water of river Ganges


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KUMBHA MELA:
GATHERING IN A VESSEL
Kumbha is a water vessel of a particularly
rounded shape very commonly seen in India. A
potter is called a kumbha-kara, maker of kumbhas.
The people of the kumbhakara crafts-guild (caste
group, if you prefer) trace their ancestry to prajapati,
the Progenitor who has shaped all the round clay
vessels like the earth. Another word for kumbha is
ghata which refers both to the clay vessel and to the
vessel called the body. A clay pot, a kumbha or a
ghata has space inside and space outside. So it is
with the cosmic round objects, and also with the
human body.
Just as the body is seventy per cent water, so
the common household object called the kumbha is
most often used for fetching water from the village
well or a stream, and for storing the same water.
The kumbhas are not only made of clay; they may be
brass, copper or bronze. The largest silver objects in
the world are two huge kumbhas in the Jaipur
palace which were used to bring the holy water from
Ganga for drinking as some devout kings would
drink no other water.
The kumbhas can be of many sizes; the
smaller hand carried ones are called kalasha but
they serve the same purpose.
What purpose is it? Fetching and storing
water? No, the purpose is fullness. Kumbha or
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kalasha in the Sanskrit aesthetic imagery is also


associated with the breast, filled with mother’s love
and our first nutrient.
The culture of India is mother-centred
because it is Mother-centred. Every Hindu has five
mothers:
God as Mother of the Universe, so we sing in
the hymns, “Thou art Mother; Thou art Father”;
Earth as mountain-breasted mother
overflowing with milk of rivers;
Waters as mother; one even floats in the
mother waters as fetus in the womb and longs to
return to that mother throughout one’s life; Ma
Ganga, Mother Ganges is sacred, holy, loving, all-
embracing, sin-washing (does not mother wash her
baby of all its dirt?), ever-flowing, living, divine
entity, filled with the milk of love, coming down as
the very incarnation of the river of heaven;
Cow as mother (nobody in India uses the
phrase “holy cow”), go-mata, for, my physical mother
gave me her milk only for a few months and from
the time she stopped, the cow (and other milky
beings) have nourished me on theirs; in gratitude do
I honor this mother;
The physical mother who kept me wrapped
inside her mother waters; who gave me birth;
nourished me with milk and love; was my first guru
– as the scriptures say.
So enriched is the Hindu by this relationship
with the Mother that the follower of this faith is
emotionally one of the most secure people on earth.
All of this motherliness is contained in the kumbha,
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the vessel of mother waters, of nourishing, fulfilling,


security-granting milk of love, of sanctity and
holiness of heavens, the star-studded blue ones and
the mind-lake-bejeweled ones within the cephalic
dome.
On this last point, the cephalic dome, the
human head is also compared with a kumbha or
kalasha. It contains the amrita-bindu, the drop of
the drink of immortality that ever drips down the
sushumna channel to nourish the constituents and
components of the human person. It is for this
reason that in the oft-sung Hymn of the Thousand
Names of Ganga, one of Ganga’s names is Brahma-
randhra-samudbhava, She Who flows down from the
Fontanella. What a kumbha we have been given to
carry on our shoulders, at the bottom of which there
is an infinitesimally tiny hole, through which the
Amrita drips, and drips, and drips on to the jyotir-
linga, the mass of light, in the vessel of the heart.
This can be seen in any Shiva temple where there is
a kumbha hung over the Linga, with a tiny hole in
the bottom from which water drips onto the linga, so
that the meditator may remember what is
transpiring within his/her person, and not forget
that the kumbha of amrta is ever bountiful and
constantly dripping within.
No wonder, then, that kumbha or kalasha is
one of the eight basic sacred symbols of Hinduism.
No wonder, also, that millions of pilgrims flock to
Mother Ganga, carrying well festooned kumbhas or
kalashas to fetch the holy water to make an offering
at the home shrine or a village shrine, and in the
unpolluted eons, drank only the Ganga-jala, the
water from the Ganges which is known for its
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mysterious incorruptibility. Even now, trace the


Ganga flow from the most polluted areas like the
city of Kanpur, and twelve miles downstream it is
free of the pollution. Mother not only washes us; she
keeps herself streaming pure. No. We do not bathe
in her waters; we snuggle unto her and, babies that
we are, wrap ourselves into the folds of the corners
of her colourful and flowing sari (alas, one of the
most poetic words in the Indian languages, anchal,
the free flowing part of a sari, cannot be translated
into English because the western dress does not
have its counterpart). We come back from Her
presence, filled, satiated, as when, after a long exile
one might come back to the mother’s hearth and be
fed a meal with her own hands.
All this thought is contained in the word
kumbha. It is not with the earthly waters that we fill
our kumbha and kalasha. We fill it with the milk of
the heavenly river, as we said above. What is known
as the Milky Way in English is called akasha-ganga,
Ganges of the Sky, in India. But the thought of
mother’s milk as in the Milky Way is not far from
the clear surface of the mind. The milk of heavenly
light it is that constitutes the stream of akasha-
ganga. Here the Greek and the Hindu speak in one
voice. What a shame that the Greek narrative (why
do they call it myth?) has been smothered to death
and the Hindu narrative now keeps a lonely vigil of
reality in a world of myths.
Jupiter (Sanskrit dyaus-pitr) was disloyal to his wife Hera
and had a son from a mortal woman. He naturally wanted
this son to be made immortal. But Mother Nature has so
determined that though one may be born of an immortal
father’s seed he cannot become immortal unless he has
drunk the milk of an immortal mother; only she carries
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the vessels of the nectar of immortality. Jupiter, knowing


this well, played a trick on Hera. While she slept, he put
his son’s mouth to her breast to drink. As the baby began
to suckle, she, startled, rose, and pulled her breast away.
The drops of the milk of immortality spilled all over the
heavens and became the Milky Way.
Go to Gomukh, where the milky white
glacier releases Ganga to us. Sleep there a night;
akasha-ganga, the milky way, touches her hem to
the mountain top and you know that the heavenly
river is making her eternal descent on to the earth.
All we need is a kumbha, made of clay, or brass, or
bronze, or silver, or gold to fill it and carry home the
heavens; all we need is a meditating cephalous-
vessel to contain in our mind and body vessel the
essences of heavens, to make our body pure, to
make our minds dotted with the light of saintly
stars.
Saintly stars? Yes, from times immemorial,
the Indian astronomers have named the stars after
great saints, sages and ascetics. For example the
stars of the Ursula Major are called sapta-rishis,
seven sages. There is now even a star named
Gandhi. These thousands of star sages take their
holy immersion in the heavenly Ganga and we only
emulate them by taking our purificatory dips in the
heavenly river’s form that has descended on the
earth.
We spoke of the continuity of the Greek
narrative into the Hindu image of Ganga. Even
though there may be no historical connection, the
link is in and through the universal mind. On the
other hand, who knows what transpired when
Greece and India met; was it only the Bamian
Buddhas and nothing else?
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For thousands of years China and India have


shared a long border but the Chinese signs of the
zodiac remain different from those of India.
However, the occidental signs are the same as the
Indic ones; mesha is Aries is a goat, and so with all
the rest.
Kumbha, full vessel, is the water sign in India;
so is Aquarius. There is a slight difference between
the roles of Jupiter and Brhaspati. The former is the
ruler of the Greek gods; the latter is the Guru of
gods. When the Guru goes to take the immersion,
the disciples follow. When the heavenly Brhaspati,
Jupiter, takes an immersion in the celestial river,
the earthly gurus and their disciples emulate the
same.
All of what we have written above is summed
up in the word kumbha; this is the beauty of the
language of multilateral realities, incorrectly named
“myth”, that such enormous vistas of meaning can
be encapsulated in a single word and all of them are
triggered in the mind’s eye all at once in a flash as
the word is thought, spoken and ritually enacted.
Mela means a get together, a meeting, a
union. Ah, what a concept. What an experience.
Tens of millions of minds, those of heavenly star-
sages and of the earthly pilgrims, all being poured
into a single vessel, all partaking of the dripping
drops of the knowledge of immortality. Was it not
Maitreyi, the wife of the sage Yajnavalkya in the
Upanishad who had said to her husband:
Yenaham namrta syam kim tena kuryam
What shall I do with that wherewith I shall not
be made immortal (amrta)?
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For countless ages the Hindus have prayed in


the words of the Upanishads :
Mrtyor ma amritam gamaya
Lead me from mortality to immortality.
And, even before the Upanishads, the Vedas
called the human beings
Amrtasya putrah,
Offsprings of Immortality.
It is this celestial inheritance that we
celebrate, commemorate, renew, when we bring
together tens of millions of minds to take a holy
immersion in one spot, so that all our senses and
faculties may be baptized, as was Jesus baptized in
the Holy Jordan by his Guru, to dwell in the full
vessel of immortality even while walking on the
earth.
How beautifully vivid Mora Singh has made
the scene of the kumbha mela, the meeting of minds
that takes place in a vessel. Let us hope and pray
that the sages, invisible and visible, tangible and
intangible, embodied and disembodied, continue to
join the human throng in this vessel century after
century, millennium after millennium. Do remember
that not all the thirty million who took a dip on the
24th January 2001 in Prayaga were human beings;
naked or clothed, on chariots or on foot, some of
them were devas disguised as human beings,
rubbing shoulders with human beings. It is to rub
shoulders with these devas, and with the
disembodied sages who live only the bodies made of
mind-stuff that we all gather in these sacred spots.
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Thank you, Mora, for reminding us. May your


book be read by many millions and invite them to
the next “gathering inside the vessel of the nectar of
immortality”.
(Swami Veda Bharati)
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What is Kumbha Mela?

Kumbha Mela is an old Indian traditional


festivity in which hundreds of thousands of people
go for pilgrimage to receive the benefits of Amrita,
the divine nectar that gives immortality (liberating
the spirit from the cycles of reincarnation). The word
Kumbha in the Sanskrit language means pitcher but
also means the zodiac sign of Aquarius; the word
Mela means meeting. The Meeting or Festival of
Aquarius brings people together every three years at
one of the four following sacred cities in India:
Haridwar, Allahabad, Ujjain and Nasik.
According to the Indian mythology, the Amrita
drops from the divine Kumbha (pitcher) while the
gods and the devils are fighting for it. It happens
every three years in four different cities of India at a
certain time. These cities have in common sacred
rivers in which the pilgrims bathe as a flowing form
of the Amrita. For this auspicious occasion, saints
from all over India also go to the chosen cities to
receive the blessings of the drops of the Amrita.
Those who live in the Himalayas doing penances
and austerities also come out of their caves and
travel to one of the four chosen holy cities. They
exchange ideas, give lectures and perform the
bathing ritual in sacred rivers. They meet other
saints and give guidance to the spiritual seekers
who appreciate the saint’s words as drops of the
divine Amrita.
One of the most important features of the
Kumbha Mela is the parade of the sadhus of the
Akharas (Hindu religious institutions). The leaders
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of these Akharas go with their respective groups of


followers to bathe in the holy river with all the
protocol and paraphernalia of the occasion. Many of
these ascetics are Naga Babas who go in the parade
totally naked covering their bodies only with ashes.
Astrologers calculate the exact years of the
festivity. For the auspicious bathing ritual days,
they take into account especially the position of
Jupiter (the planet that is considered to have
influence on the spiritual aspects) in relation with
the constellations, with the sun and with the moon.
It is believed that those who take bath in the sacred
river at a particular auspicious time attain Moksha
(liberation).
When the Kumbha Mela is held in Haridwar or
in Allahabad, the bathing ceremony takes place in
the river Ganges and that makes it more special for
the millions of Ganges devotees. Since ancient
times, the belief of the benefit of bathing in the river
Ganges is very much present in the Indian mind,
culture and tradition. The reason of this is the belief
in the divine origin of the River Ganges. It is
explained in Mahabharata, - the biggest and most
ancient epic in the human history- , that the Ganges
came down from the heaven through the dreadlocks
of Lord Shiva. Only He, Lord Shiva, could control
the tremendous impact of bringing the celestial river
to this world:
“When that highly sacred stream fell from the
firmament, Maheshwara (Lord Shiva) held it on his
head. It is that very stream which is adored in
heaven”
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(Mahabharata: Anushashan Parva-Section


26).
The spiritual benefits of bathing in the Ganges
are also mentioned in the Mahabharata, as follows:
“That end which a creature is capable of
attaining by penances, by Brahmacharya (celibacy),
by sacrifices, or by practicing renunciation, one is
sure to attain by only living by the side of the
Bhagirathi (Ganges) and bathing in its sacred
waters. Those creatures whose bodies have been
sprinkled with the sacred waters of Bhagirathi
(Ganges) or whose bones have been laid in the
channel of that sacred stream, have not to fall away
– from heaven at any time.”
(Mahabharata: Anushashan Parva-Section 26)
There are many other festivities related to the
Ganges, but the Kumbha Mela at Allahabad and
Haridwar are the most famous. People from all over
the world also join the Festival of Aquarius. For
such a special ceremony, foreigners have been
coming since ancient times. In fact, one of the
earliest written references about a sort of spiritual
festivity of this kind goes back to the year 644 A.D.
when a Chinese traveler called Huan-Tsang wrote
about it. He came to India during the reign of King
Harshavardan at Allahabad and narrated what he
saw. Though it is difficult to affirm when and how
the Kumbha Mela started, the comments given by
this Chinese traveler show that it is a very old
tradition.
In Subash Rai’s book, Kumbha Mela, it is
mentioned (Page-21):
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“However, the designation of Prayag


(Allahabad) fair of 644 A.D. as ageless by Huan-
Tsang indicates that such gatherings and the ritual
bathing were in practice since early times in India.”
Some people believe that Adi Guru
Shankaracharya, the great saint and organizer of
the Hindu religion, is responsible for organizing the
Kumbha Mela the way it is held nowadays.
In the same book, Kumbha Mela of Subash
Rai, page 22, he wrote:
“There are some, who believe that it was Adi
Guru Shankaracharya, who gave final shape to this
practice by force of his magic personality”
The fact is that in the third millennium of the
Christian era, still the ancient practice of the
Festival of Aquarius takes place every three years in
four different sacred cities of India. Due to the
facilities of fast communications and easy
transportation, nowadays more people have the
opportunity of participating in the Kumbha Mela
than in the previous celebrations. Newspapers said
that in the Maha Kumbha Mela 2001 in Allahabad,
more than 30 million people got together on the
most important bathing day.
There might be some truth in the stories of
the Amrita dropping during the Festival of Aquarius
and to find that, I think one should try to participate
and experience personally.
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Introduction

Being aware of my spiritual nature, I was


searching for the guidance to attain Self-realization.
I was born and brought up in Caracas. I studied
primary and High School at San José de Tarbes with
French Christian Catholic Nuns and then, in the
Metropolitan University, I got my degree as Professor
in Modern Languages. Though I got the best
education anyone can get in Venezuela, I was
looking for something beyond professional training.
Now I can say that I was looking for a spiritual path.
In the search for that path, I attended
relaxation courses, the universal energy (healing
with the hands), and other similar courses in
Caracas. Unfortunately, none of these studies
fulfilled my intellectual as well as my spiritual urge.
But the spiritual side of my being always kept an
open window from which I could see some features
of my own inner world. I used to read books about
philosophy, theology, new wave, even esoteric books
to find answers to my questions. However none of
these readings and courses gave either convincing
answers to my questions or guidance for a better
way of living. Until August 1994, that I met my
husband who was the Indian Ambassador to
Venezuela. Through him, I came into contact with
the yoga and meditation field. He has been
practicing yoga and meditation since he was 16
years old. With his vast experience, he guided my
very first steps into the meditation path.
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Two years later, in February 1996, we got


married in New Delhi, India. We lived in Venezuela
until December 1996 and we moved to Havana
where my husband was appointed as Ambassador of
India in Cuba. We lived there up to 1998 when my
husband retired from the Indian Foreign Service.
In April 1998, I had the opportunity of
participating in the Maha Kumbha Mela in Haridwar
where millions of people got together with the belief
of receiving the benefits of all the aspects of Amrita.
Participating in the Kumbha Mela was an
extremely interesting and rewarding event in my
live. During my stay in the Kumbha Mela, I carried
out nine interviews, six women and three men who
went also there. The particularity among these
people is that they had chosen to have spiritual lives
some as ascetics and others as people who do
service to humanity. During my conversation with
them, they talked about their lives and also about
the Kumbha Mela festivities. The interviews were not
planned in advance; on the contrary, they were done
as they were coming up. Though we were guided by
a known person, everything came out
spontaneously, and I always felt that there was a
force guiding us. Even I liked the fact that at the
end there were more women interviewed because I
was always concerned about the freedom of women
in India to choose their own way of living. For my
surprise, during Kumbha Mela, I could see how now
women are participating directly in the spiritual
field. In the professional field, I came across many
very well educated women but in the books of
spirituality, mostly the names of men are found as
renowned gurus. Of course, there were exceptions in
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some of the ancient books. For example, saints


couples were mentioned like Vashita and Arundati –
giving some recognition to Arundati. Also Mirabay,
the great poet devotee of Lord Krishna is sometimes
mentioned.
In modern times, the name of the great saint
Anandamay shines with the rest of the great saints
from India. But she had to fight with her spiritual
strength to convince not only her family but her own
husband, about her sanctity.
Times have changed and many of the ladies
Swamis I met are having their own group of
disciples and their own Ashrams. About the men
Swamis, they are also changing many rigid believes
into a softer system. Many changes are taking place
in India now and it is amazing to see how the
process is taking place with ancient infrastructure
traditions like Kumbha Mela. Juxtaposition of the
new and the ancient is clearly found even in the
streets where bullock carts and elephants are very
much used as the new modern full air conditioned
cars. That is the contemporary life in India and that
is one of the things I could easily observe during
Kumbha Mela. I have found very interesting the
experiences I had during those days and their
influence in my life. I hope the readers may find
them as interesting as I do.
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Journey to Haridwar

When we were living in Havana, we traveled to


India in March 1997. During the trip, we visited
Haridwar and Rishikesh and we saw the works that
the Government of the state of Uttar Pradesh was
doing in Haridwar and Rishikesh for the religious
festival called Maha Kumbha Mela of 1998. Many
people were telling us about the meeting of the
saints that happens after every 12 years there.
While people were telling me about it, I remembered
some stories that I read some years ago related to
the Kumbha Mela, in the “Autobiography of a Yogi”
written by the great spiritual master Paramahansa
Yogananda. I thought that it might be a good idea to
come and meet the saints but many people
discouraged. They said that it would not be
convenient due to the problems caused by such a
big pilgrimage meeting. They also said that the
government was expecting around 11 million people
to visit Haridwar and Rishikesh for the festivity.
In addition to that, they told me many stories
about the people who died in stampedes that
occurred without reason and also about the
dangerous fights among the sadhus (ascetics) of
different the Akharas. I felt that they were giving me
very good reasons for not coming to the festival.
Besides, my husband said that it would be very
difficult to come back to India due to our duties in
Havana. So, I forgot completely about Kumbha Mela,
until one day, five months later, something
happened in Havana that changed my mind…
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Havana, August 1997


After bathing and doing Yoga Asanas,
(physical yoga exercises), I did a very long and deep
meditation. During the meditation, I had a vision
where I was told to go to the 1998 Maha Kumbha
Mela in India and write a book about my
experiences there. When my meditation finished, I
was confused and even scared of obeying this
command especially after all the stories I was told
about it in India. I laid on the carpet where I used to
do yoga, and started thinking about it. I was trying
to understand how this order came to me when I
was not even thinking about anything related to it.
In fact, I was too busy with my duties to think of
anything else.
Our residence in Havana had a beautiful
garden with many different tropical flowers, mango
and banana trees. I went and sat on the hammock
that was set between the two mango trees to think
about how I could go to the Kumbha Mela without
being in danger. I was wondering how a small city
like Haridwar could accommodate as much as the
entire Cuban population in it. When my husband
came from office, I told him about my meditation.
He said that he would try to send me if I wanted to
go, but for him, it was going to be difficult to go
because of his duties at the Embassy. I told him
that I would not like to go without him because I
would not be able to manage it alone without
knowing the local language, especially for the type of
event we were talking about. At the end of our
conversation he said: “If God wants us to be there,
we will definitely be there. Don’t worry about it. We
will see.”
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In the middle of March of 1998, my husband’s


mother was not well and my husband had to go to
see her in India. In April, she still was not well. So,
my husband thought that I should join him there.
But still he was not sure if he could go to Rishikesh
due to his mother’s condition. He contacted Penny
Mataji, a Canadian born lady who has been living in
Haridwar and Rishikesh for the last 25 years, and
requested her to arrange the tour for us, and the
meeting with some real spiritual sadhus.
During her first 12 years in India, she lived in
an Ashram with her husband in Haridwar. When
her husband decided to move back to Canada, she
did not want to leave India and she stayed alone.
She bought a house in Rishikesh at the bank of the
Ganges, which is her own Ashram. She knows very
well all the Ashrams and Swamis of the area and all
of them know her also. We knew that, she was the
perfect person to organize the meeting with the real
sadhus and Mahatmas. The first time we met her
was during my first trip to India when my husband
took me to Rishikesh to see the house he was
building for us when would get retired from the
Indian Foreign Service. I remembered clearly that
she was sitting in a rocking chair in her balcony and
her neighbor introduced us to her. While having tea,
she explained many things about Indian culture and
tradition that I did not know at that time. Since
then she has been always a great support.
On 25, March 1998, early morning, my
husband phoned me at Havana from New Delhi and
told me: “You make the flight reservations via Rome.
Then, you take an Air India flight to come to New
Delhi.” When I tried to make the reservations to go
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to Rome, there were no seats available. I could not


believe it. I thought that all the circumstances were
favorable for me to go to India, so how come there
was not vacancy in the flights in the next days?
What to do? I have learnt to trust God. I said to
myself: “If God wants me to be there, I will be there.
I will not worry.” Next morning, at 8:30 A.M., I
received a phone call from the Indian Embassy
saying that reservations were confirmed not only up
to Rome but also up to New Delhi. I knew that if I
had to be there, I would certainly be.
I was excited but, at the same time, I was
scared. Surrender is very important in the spiritual
path and only after surrendering to God, I got the
strength to start my pilgrimage to the Kumbha Mela.
I also thought that participating in the
Kumbha Mela was a good opportunity to meet Self-
realized people that were already on the spiritual
path. By meeting them and talking to them, I could
go deeper on my own path of Self-realization.
I left Havana on 4th of April for Rome. It was a
nine and half hours flight. In Rome, I stayed with
our friends, the Singhs, for two days and then, I
took my flight to New Delhi. After, more than 8
hours flight, I reached New Delhi. My husband was
waiting for me at the airport. We were very happy to
meet again after more that 15 days of separation.
We stayed at Gymkhana Club in New Delhi for two
nights. We visited my husband’s mother who was
better. I also took some time for doing some
shopping required for the pilgrimage trip to
Haridwar and Rishikesh.
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Our friends from Canada, Chand and Urvashi


Mehta, also came for the Kumbha Mela. We had
dinner at the Club and we planned to go together. I
was happy that they could come along because
besides of enjoying good company, I would not be
alone in Haridwar and Rishikesh if my husband had
to go back to Delhi,.
For more than one week my husband was
trying to get the confirmation for our train
reservations from Delhi but we were confirmed only
the morning of our trip to Haridwar in the train
station itself. It was very difficult to find seats
available due to the heavy bookings for the Kumbha
Mela.
That morning we got up very early to go to the
train station and see if we could get our seats. We
reached the station before Chand and Urvashi. It
was 5:45 a.m. and there were already so many
people that it was very difficult to reach the board
were the lists of passengers were displayed. Many
lists were there and only by pushing, we could find
our names, the seat numbers and the number of the
coach card.
An employee of the Ministry of Railways told
us that they had provided extra coaches to meet the
enormous demand for traveling to the Kumbha Mela
area. Only by pushing, we came away from the
board and started searching for Chand and Urvashi.
Just before going into the train, we met them and
went very fast inside the coach car. We placed our
luggage on the suitcase stands and sat thanking
God to be able to be in the train. We bought some
magazines and biscuits from the sellers that came
inside while waiting for the train to start. We were
25

talking about how lucky we were when the train


started moving at exactly 7:15 A.M. I felt a little
uneasy: mixed feelings of fear, restlessness,
excitement, and at the same time, I was sure that
everything would go fine. I just relaxed and
meditated for a short while. After meditation, I felt
much better and all my doubts and fears went
away.
The trip was, after all, quite comfortable. At
7:30 A.M. the waiter offered a nice hot cup of tea.
While enjoying my hot morning tea, I opened the
little short blue curtain that covered the window.
Trains in India go relatively slowly, so one can
observe and enjoy the view while the train is
moving. The bright light of the Indian sun could be
felt even through the dark glass of the train coach
windows. One could also see the common morning
scenes in the Indian fields: Group of women in their
colorful saris walking with pieces of wood on their
heads; girls with plaits walking in groups towards
their schools wearing their school uniforms (usually
Salvar Kurta); groups of boys going also to school
wearing British style school uniforms (some of them
even wear ties and blazers); men going to work
wearing western style pants and shirts with their
lunch packed in small thermos. The green cultivated
fields were adding color to the kinetic painting that
could be seen in the square blue metal frame of the
train’s window.
Breakfast was served at 8 o’clock. It was good
but the vegetarian meal was too spicy for my taste. I
don’t know why usually the vegetarian food is
spicier than the non-vegetarian. I could calm my
burned mouth with a sweet cup of tea that the
26

waiter gave. After breakfast, I slept until almost


reaching Haridwar. The sun was stronger and one
could feel the heat even though we were in an air-
conditioned coach.
We reached Haridwar at 11:40 A.M. There was
a big crowd at the train station, more that what is
usual. Many people were wearing orange cloth
(many of the Indian sadhus wear orange cloth);
some others were beggars and others were coolies
(suitcase carriers) pushing each other trying to carry
the luggage of the tourists. We walked with great
difficulty up to the tourist office where a friend of my
husband, Ajit Singh, was waiting for us and who
helped us to find a reliable taxi.
There is hardly half an hour journey on the
main road between Haridwar and Rishikesh. But
due to the rush and the crowd, we had to go by the
road that goes through Rajaji Park, a longer road to
Rishikesh. It was nicer to go by the park way
because we could enjoy the scenic beauty of the
foothill of the Himalayan Mountains as well the
green splendor of the river Ganges.
The green color of the Ganges and the shining
reflection of the noon Indian sun gave me the feeling
as if millions of emeralds were navigating on the
surface of the water. There were no other cars on
the route, so we could take our time, even for taking
some photos while we where going by the side of the
river.
Although it was the month of April, and the
rainy season had finished long time back, the flow of
the river was very strong. It was good to see the
27

strong current because many people were going to


bathe in the Ganges in the next few days.
It was nice and calm until we reached the very
crowded streets of Rishikesh. There were cows, pigs,
bullock carts, horse carriages, cars, buses, trucks
and people that were all moving in different
directions. Although there were a lot of traffic
policemen, the unorganized flow of moving elements
gave the sense of total chaos.
From all over India, pilgrims had come to
Rishikesh and Haridwar for such a special occasion.
Sometimes, it was easy to make out from the type of
cloth they were wearing, from which part of India
they were coming. The easiest to differentiate were
the Rajasthani groups. The women from Rajasthan
usually wear a long skirt with a short blouse
covering them with a bright colorful chunni (long
scarf). They also wear bangles from the upper most
part of their arms up to the wrists. Many of them
also wear a big ring in the nose.
Rajasthani men usually wear either a white or
a colorful cloth tied as a turban to be protected from
the sun. Usually they wear dhotis, the most
commonly used cloths for men in India. Men wear
dhoti according to their regional style. It can be from
two to five meters long piece of cloth that is folded
on the waist covering the legs. On the top, either
Kurtas or shirts are used.
We could also see the simple Indian peasant
wearing no shoes. Many of the pilgrims were
walking bare feet on the hot asphalt as smoothly as
if they were walking on carpets.
28

After finding our way in the crowd, we arrived


at the hotel where we could find rooms for all of us.
It was a new, small hotel that was located in the
heart of Rishikesh. We were lucky to find rooms
available during the Kumbha Mela time. The room
and the bathroom were very small but they were
clean. Also, they had restaurant service and phone.
It was good for staying few days.
We rested for a short while and had lunch in
the small restaurant of the hotel. Food was not bad
and they made it without spices for me. That was a
great relief because it is very difficult for Indian
cooks to make food without chilies.
We tried to contact Penny Mataji but she was
not at home. As she was the one who was organizing
our tour, we wanted to know if the arrangements
were finally made. It was very important to be
properly guided because we were told that there
were a lot of fake sadhus and fake saints who
claimed themselves to be enlightened.
While we were resting in the hotel, she
phoned us and confirmed that everything was fixed
and organized for us. We agreed in meeting the day
after for lunch and she would introduce to us the
people who were coming with us.
After resting and having tea, we went to see
our house that was still under construction. As our
house is located in the main ghat (bathing area) of
Rishikesh, it was far from the hotel we were staying
in and it was difficult to reach there because of the
crowd. That was the first time in my life that I saw
so many people together. We had to go walking
because roads were closed. Only private cars with
29

some special permission could be seen on the


crowded roads. We went through the inner marked
area evading the main roads but still it was very
crowded. When we reached our house, we sat on the
upper terrace and enjoyed the view. At sunset time,
we could see from our house the Pundits (priests)
performing the Arti ceremony.
Arti is a Hindu ancient ceremony in which
offerings of flowers, incense and light (in the form of
fire) are made to deities. It is performed just before
sunset and nowadays the offerings are readily
available on the main ghats of cities on the Ganges
side. The offering is a sort of small basket made of
green leaves containing marigolds, jasmines and
roses; a small round oil-lamp made with bran wheat
flour with a small cotton and a small piece of
camphor (for lighting the lamp), and a stick of
incense is available and anyone can by it for two
Rupees. A group of Pundits holding big devotional
lamps lighted with fire lead the ceremony in which
devotional songs and prayer are recited. While the
Pundits perform the holy ritual, the people light
their camphor and incense and offer the green leave
basket arrangement to the Ganges. Also, it is said
that in the moment of the offerings one should make
a wish. It is beautiful to see many little lights at the
same time floating in the Ganges. In the dark night
background, thousands of earthen lamps were
looking as if shooting stars where moving with the
flow of the river.
When it was already passed 8 P.M., we went
back to the hotel through the same inner market
road. After bathing, we met Chand and Urvashi and
had dinner together. Then we sat on the hotel
30

terrace to enjoy the night and the cool breeze that


always goes with the Ganges.
31

Visit to Kumbha Mela Camps in


Haridwar

April 11, 1998


The most important part of journey was going
to start and I needed the strength that I only find in
meditation. During meditation, I asked God for his
blessings and guidance to find the right people for
the interviews. With the conviction that I got His
blessings, I started packing in a briefcase whatever I
thought we were likely to need there. I also ordered
from the restaurant some vegetarian food to take
along with us. Around 11 o’clock in the morning,
Penny Mataji came with some sadhus who were
going to take and guide us in Haridwar. The leader
of the group was Swami Naradananda.
Penny Mataji said that she knew Swami
Naradananda since at least 20 years and she
considered him as a real Mahatma. He was wearing
saffron color cloth and through his very thick hair,
beard and moustache, one could see light shinning
in his big black eyes. Penny Mataji said that he was
very well educated and had a Masters degree in
Indian religious philosophy. She said that she was
sure that he is the best guide we could get. With
him, there were four of his disciples including a
young lady sanyasini. Her name is Maharani
Pardeshwari (Queen of Mercury) alias Sanjul. When
I met her, I thought that I should ask her for an
interview because she was so young and so pretty
that she must really have some spiritual call for
32

renouncing the world but I waited until knowing her


more. There were also others disciples of Swami
Naradananda but they did not go along with us to
meet the sadhus in Haridwar. We dropped them on
the way in the Ashram where we were going to
spend the night. Urvashi and Chand did not come
with us. They wanted to visit a beautiful city called
Misoury near Rishikesh.
Swami Naradananda had a big white jeep to
accommodate all of us. He had obtained a special
permission for his car to move freely during the
Kumbha Mela time. Due to the heavy crowds it took
time to reach Haridwar. Meanwhile, we were getting
our cameras and tape recordings ready. I was very
exited to be at the Kumbha Mela and meeting those
sadhus who were considered spiritually
accomplished.
When we reached Haridwar, I was amazed to
see that it was far more crowded than Rishikesh. I
could not believe my eyes. There were so many
people that it looked like the whole population of
India came to the Kumbha. !I am sure you cannot
imagine so many people in such in a small area!
Swami Naradananda said that in the Guinness
Book of Records the Kumbha Mela entered as the
biggest meeting with a single purpose ever. After I
heard that, I did not say anything else about the
crowds.
There were tents of every size on both sides of
the road. In big areas there were many big tents
together having the same color and material.
According to Swami Naradananda, these big tents of
the same kind were big Ashrams from all over India
that had come to the Kumbha Mela.
33

Some tents were giving food free (Bhandara)


and long lines of people were standing and waiting
to be served. To give free food to people is
considered to be very good charity and it is very
common at all the holy places in India.
Then, we went out of the main road and went
into a dusty and dry area where there were huge
tents. We parked the car and went inside of the
main tent.
At the entrance, there was a big Shivalinga of
crystal of 65 kg and there were many people paying
homage to it. Swami Naradananda talked to some
people that were coming from Karpatri Institution in
Banaras. He asked for an interview with an
important person of the institute.
We waited for some time and a boy came and
asked us to follow him. We passed through many
tents including one where they were having at least
20 Holstein cows. It is common in India that some
sadhus or big Mahatmas travel taking along with
them their source of milk. It may be cows, sheep, or
goats. Some people said that even when Mahatma
Gandhi used to travel, his followers were carrying
along a goat for his daily milk. Many times in India,
some milkmen mix the milk with water and it is not
considered to be pure and good. Also, pure milk is
very important especially for those who make a sort
of fast in which they drink only milk, or sometimes,
they take milk and fruits.
After the cow’s tent we entered into another
huge tent where a group of actors were playing Ram
Lila, (the life of Ram, an Avatar or incarnation of
Lord Vishnu). It is also common that during the
34

religious festivities these types of plays are


performed. A crowd of approximately 70 people was
watching the play.
We continued our way through tents,
following always the boy, until we reached a
medium side tent into which the boy entered. We
followed him.
35

Kalyani Devi

Inside the tent, there was a very pretty lady


sitting on a divan. She was quite fair and her hair
and eyes were black. Her black hair was tied in the
back and a little kajal (black eye cosmetic) was
decorating her big eyes. She was wearing a chiffon
yellow sari. There were four more people in the tent
who were taking care of her. We saluted her by
folding our hands and saying Hari Om. (This is the
way people greet in Rishikesh and in Haridwar, Hari
one of the names of Lord Vishnu and Om is the
primordial sound). She did the same thing and
asked us to sit. We sat on small folding chairs that
were opened for us to sit. First of all, she offered
chai (tea) to us and we accepted. Swami
Naradananda told her about my dream and the
book I was asked to write. After listening, she was
willing to share some of her knowledge with us. I
asked her: “What is the origin of the Kumbha Mela?”
She answered like this:
“After churning the ocean (Accordingly to the
mythology the origin of the world is the ocean and
its nature is the like the nature of the milk. When
the churning started, many things came out of it
including the Amrita) there was a discussion among
the gods regarding what to do with the poison which
had come out of the ocean. They came to Haridwar
where Lord Shiva’s marriage was performed and His
wife (Sati) had died during the Yagya performed by
her father Daksha. Mahadev (Lord Shiva) was
approached to do something with the poison. He
36

thought that by swallowing it, His entire body will


be poisoned and it will not be proper. By keeping it
in His mouth, His words will become poisonous
which is not proper either. He, therefore, decided to
keep it in His throat. The Amrita, that had come also
out from the ocean, was kept in a pitcher (Kumbha),
which could be accessible at the time of a particular
planetary configuration. This happens once in 12
years and therefore the Kumbha Mela happens with
a gap of 12 years. There are many cities associated
with different parts of the body of the Lord.
Haridwar is the place of abode of the heart of Lord
Shiva. God’s things originated from His heart. There
are many other cities that are also associated with
the legend of Shiva like Dwarka, which is
considered to be His naval.
During the Kumbha Mela in Haridwar, people
come to offer something to the pitcher that absorbs
all offerings. It is not only the common people but
also important people who come during this time.”
We finished drinking our chai and before
leaving, she gave one mala (Hindu rosary) made of
crystal beats to my husband and one to me. We
thanked her for giving us her time and cooperation.
She came all the way through the tents up to the
entrance door to say Hari Om to us. We came into
the jeep and continued our journey.
It was about 4 o’clock and the sun was still
very strong. There was plenty of dust because too
many people were walking on the outside of the
asphalted road (and also on the asphalted road of
course).
37

Thinking of the gift the lady gave, I asked


Swami Naradananda what a mala was and what
types of mala were available. He explained: “A mala
is for counting mantras (prayers) and it has 108
beads. They can be made of crystals, precious or
semi precious stones, wood, metals, pearls but the
most commonly used are the ones made of seeds.
Each person chooses the mala according to his or
her nature. The followers or devotees of Lord Shiva,
for example, use the Rudraksha Mala. Rudraksha is
a rare seed that has different shapes or faces when
it is developed. The smaller the seed, the more
expensive the mala is”. Then he asked me if I have
ever seen one. I said “of course not.” Then he said
that he would take us to a place where I could see
the Rudraksha trees and seeds. So, he deviated from
the way where we were going to and went towards
the Ganges side.
All over Ganges area, there were specially
arranged places for bathing. On our way, we saw
many people taking bath in the Ganges. We could
see people of all ages, but mostly they were adult
and old people. Women were wearing either saris or
Salvaar Kamiz for bathing in the Ganges. In India,
women always have to bathe in public places with
cloth on. In some private clubs or five star hotels in
Mumbai or Bangalore some women (mostly young
girls) wear swimming suits. For men, the rules are
totally different. Men wear underwear for bathing.
But the Naga Babas not only bath but also go
everywhere totally nude.
The road that passes by the Ganges side in
Haridwar is very pretty. We stopped in a small
Ashram where we could see a lot of huge trees from
38

outside. The buildings inside as well as the


boundary wall were pink but the main iron gate was
black. We came inside looking around for the
Rudraksha tree. But as soon as I came inside, I felt
a very deep peace inside me like sometimes I felt
when I was in an empty Christian church near my
house in Caracas; Or when I used to sit on the white
sand to see the amazing sunsets of the colorful
Caribbean beaches. The union of the endless blue
almost imperceptible line of the horizon of the sea
with the baby blue color of the sky usually gives me
the feeling of infinity. Just now, while writing about
that feeling, some memories came to my mind of
what I think was the first time in my life I felt that
deep inner peace.
It was in the Gran Sabana (Great Sabana) in
the Bolivar State of Venezuela. I was 14 years old
and I went with a group of school’s mates to a
Christian mission that the nuns of my school used
to give some support called Kavanayen.
The Gran Sabana in known for being the first
solid part of the earth to come out of the sea when
the world started developing. It is in fact, the most
ancient part of the world. Topographically, it is a
vast Sabana in which are tepuyes or mesetas.
Tepuyes are a sort of mountain with a plain square
top that looks like a table. The Spanish name for
them is Mesetas and it means “like a table”. This
area is mostly unpopulated excepting for some
native Indian tribes that have been living there since
remote times. Some Christian missions have settled
in the area and Kavanayen, was one of them.
So, my school planned a visit and I went with
a big group of friends from my class. To reach there
39

from Caracas, it took almost two days by bus


stopping one night on the way. As it was a very long
journey, we stopped one night in Ciudad Bolivar.
Next day we continued our way south. When we
entered the Gran Sabana, I felt scared because there
were no roads of any kind, no towns, no signal, no
people, and no cultivated lands. We could only see a
huge sabana area for many hours. Some of us
thought that the driver got lost because after so
many hours on the way, there was nothing coming
up. Then, around 5 o’clock in the evening we started
seeing the tepuyes and these different-looking
mountains amazed me. But still the uneasiness was
there because I thought that even though the
tepuyes were appearing, it did not mean that we
were going in the right direction towards Kavanayen.
Anyhow, do not ask me how, but we reached
the Kavanayen Mission at the sunset. When we
arrived, many native Indian children came toward
the bus and greeted us. We also saluted them and
played with them for some time. We took our bags to
one of the big houses where we were going to sleep.
The mission had five big building and a church. One
of the biggest ones was the dormitory and bathroom
for students; the other one was for the nuns and
ladies secular missionaries; two big ones for the
Indians living there and a small dispensary. Priests
usually stayed in the room on one side of the
church. There were around one hundred native
Indians including children living there plus priests,
nuns and secular missionaries.
For my surprise, inside the house there was a
long dormitory with no furniture and no beds. We
had to go to a storage room and bring small
40

mattresses to put on the floor and make our beds to


sleep there. I was astonished because I had never
slept without a bed in my all years of life. But what
could I do? No choice. Mom was not there to take
care of me. I arranged my mattress and put a bed
sheet that was very big on it and lay down for
sometime. We were very tired so my friends also
made their beds very fast and lay down. We wanted
to sleep but one of the nuns that had gone with us
called Sister Elizabeth, had a very bad temper, and
as soon as she saw us, she shouted at us and told
us to go and bathe quickly because dinner was
going to be served in 10 minutes.
At that moment I wanted anything but
bathing. But as we had Sister Elizabeth checking
upon us, we had to run and bathe in common
bathrooms areas separated by thin walls and by
plastic shower curtains. When I saw that, I just
wanted to be at home bathing in my own bathroom
without anybody around. But, no choice, Sister
Elizabeth was there standing up at the main
bathroom door like a policeman. So, I bathed as fast
as I could. When I started to put my clothes on, the
“sergeant” Sister Elizabeth shouted at us again
saying that food was already on the table and that
we should be in the dining hall in less than 3
minutes. As fast as I could, I put my jeans, shirt
and my sleeper on and went to put my dirty clothes
in my bag. While going out of the bathroom my
friend Rudimary told me to wait for her because she
was not ready. I waited for her but she took more
than 15 minutes to get ready. I was sure that we
were going to have another cold water bath when
“sergeant” Sister Elizabeth would see us coming late
to the dining hall.
41

When I saw my friend coming to the dormitory


combing her long black wet hair, I started fighting
with her because I was sure what would happen
later. We argued all the way down to the dining hall
until we heard the shouts of “sergeant” Sister
Elizabeth. For me, her scolding took centuries to
finish and then, when we sat for eating our dinner,
there was very little food left on the trays and it was
cold, of course. I did not stop fighting with my friend
until we went to sleep. But I could not sleep. The
small mattress was very uncomfortable and I was
scared of the snakes that could come in the night
while I was sleeping. I tried my best but I could not
sleep.
I was not the only one who could not sleep.
My friends also were awake. So we decided to go out
to the inner patio and talk. We took some snacks to
eat because we were hungry. Very slowly, without
making any noise, with our slippers in one hand
and the snacks in the other, we sneaked out of
dormitory and went outside to the patio. We left the
door open in case the patrol of the “Sergeant
Elizabeth” would come and catch us again.
Outside, it was a little chilly but pleasant. We
went up to a small wall of stones and sat there. We
started chatting while we were eating the snacks.
Then, I saw the amazing beautiful sky full of big
stars as I had never seen before. There were so
many stars that I thought that if I started counting,
I would never finish. My friends also were amazed to
such a beautiful night.
I lie down on the wall made of stones to
admire it better. The stars were shining very much
and also shooting stars could be seen. Some of them
42

were twinkling more than the others but in general,


they were looking like many big balls of light having
a contest to see who shines more. I started feeling
as if I was touching them, playing with them… as if I
were one of them. I forgot totally where I was or who
I was. I was just one within the infinite universe. I
was in absolute peace, in absolute calmness and I
had never felt that before.
That was the same happy peaceful feeling I
had in that small pink Ashram. I was puzzled why I
was feeling like that. So, I asked Swami
Naradananda why was that small place so special?
What made it like that? He said that the Ashram
was a sacred place because the Mahasamadhi (place
where a saint’s body or ashes are kept) of the great
saint Shri Lahiri Mahashaya was there. He pointed
out a small pink construction in which some stairs
were. I immediately remembered whom Swami
Naradananda was talking about. Shri Lahiri
Mahashaya was the guru of the guru of
Paramahansa Yogananda and he mentioned him
many times in his books.
I took off my tennis shoes (in India before
entering into a sacred place, shoes have to be taken
off) and climbed up the stairs. On the top of the
construction, there was a little pink temple 4 feet
height and two and half feet width. Inside, there was
a photograph of Shri Lahiri Mahashaya (same as in
Paramahansa Yogananda’s book) and a Shivalinga
decorated with flowers. There was also an oil lamp
lighted and incense burning.
Swami Naradananda explained that under the
small temple some of his ashes where kept. I felt like
meditating there. I asked Swami Naradananda and
43

my husband if there was any problem for them to


spend some time at the Mahasamadhiof Shri Lahiri
Mahashaya. They liked the place also and agreed of
meditating there. I don’t know exactly for how long I
meditated, but it was one of the most beautiful
meditations I have ever had. After doing our Pranam
(salutation) to the great saint, we went down stairs
and looked for the Rudraksha tree. It was one of
those huge trees that were just by the side of the
temple of Shri Lahiri Mahashaya. My husband
picked up one Rudraksha seed and showed it to me.
It was a small, brown oval shape seed.
I think that place had a very special meaning.
Shri Lahiri Mahashaya is one of the greatest
spiritual masters of India. By the side of his
Mahasamadhi, there was a Rudraksha tree from
where the seed of Lord Shiva’s mala are grown. Lord
Shiva, according to the Tantric tradition as well as
the Yogic tradition, is considered to be the
primordial Guru. It is said that the Guru’s Mantra
has a seed that should be grown with the soil of the
disciple’s Sadhana (spiritual practice) and with the
daily water of the japa (repetition of the mantra).
When the seed grows and becomes a tree, then the
disciple is no more a disciple but a guru who will
give many seeds to be cultivated by his disciples.
That’s how the Guru Force manifests from spiritual
master to spiritual master and this cycle has been
rotating in the endless wheel called time.
As we had spent a long time in the Shri Lahiri
Mahashaya Mahasamadhi, Swami Naradananda
insisted to go soon because it was already 5 P.M.
and we had to go to the Akharas to interview some
44

sadhus. I did not feel like going but I had a task to


accomplish. So, we continued our journey.
45

The Jhuna Akhara

We went towards the center of Haridwar. The


closer we got, the more crowded it became. Swami
Naradananda stopped at the side of the road 20
minutes after and parked the car in a narrow street.
He explained that we were going to visit one of the
biggest Akharas in Haridwar where we would
interview some of the sadhus.
Many people were coming in and going out
through the huge black grill door. Very tall
boundary walls were separating the Jhuna Akhara
from the rest of the world. From the entrance, we
could see inside the campground and the big orange
building that is the main headquarter of the Akhara.
On the top, an orange flag was moving with the
wind. A very strong smell of marijuana mixed with
smoke covered the whole area. It was a big
campground with thousands of tents of different
colors and sizes in it. I should confess that I felt
scared entering the big grill door that separated the
Akhara from the road. I prayed to God and put us in
His hands while crossing that line. To be able to go
there, I had to discard all the western thoughts or
judgments (specially those ones which I learned
from studying 14 years in a French Christian
Catholic nuns school) I decided to go ahead and not
to judge anything.
Inside, there were Sadhus and Naga Babas all
over the place. Some of them were wearing orange
cloth; some white, others were wearing only a
loincloth, and other were totally nude. Babas had
46

long and matted hair. Many of them were having


some sort of drawings on their foreheads. In most of
the tents there were at least three or four Sadhus
sitting around a fire talking or praying.
After passing some small tents, we saw a big
tent with nine Naga Babas sitting in semi circle. A
lot of people were surrounding them so we went
closer to see what was happening there. We saw
that some people from a television news channel
were filming them with big cameras. We came closer
to see what the television cameramen were filming.
There was a Baba with long matted hair sitting in
front of a fire with four other Babas on each side.
They were repeating some Mantras; then, the man
who was in the middle, lighted a pipe and started
smoking. He was so slim that he looked as if he
were only bone covered with dark skin. After
inhaling deeply, he gave the pipe to the Baba who
was by his right side. He said something and then
smoked from the same pipe. I thought that probably
they were doing a kind of ritual. It was already late
and we decided to go straight to the tents where
Swami Naradananda wanted to take us.
47

Swami Karnapuri

He took us to a tent where there was a Sadhu


sitting on a carpet on the floor. He was wearing an
orange Kurta with a Dhoti and he looked very calm,
peaceful and well mannered. Many people were
around him and they were listening carefully to
what he was saying in Hindi.
Swami Naradananda asked if he would
accept to give some time for us and he gladly
agreed. He told the group of people who were sitting
around him to give us a place for us to sit. They
moved to the backside of the tent and we sat on the
ground around him. He told a boy to bring us water
and sweets. I did not want to take anything because
I was feeling a little dizzy. The mix of the smoke with
the marihuana had made me sick after walking part
of the Akhara.
So, I thanked him and told him that I would
not like to have anything but he said that in India, a
saying goes like this: “Even if your enemy comes to
you, first you must offer food to him and then, if you
want, fight. So, in India, it is a must to offer and to
eat the offerings,” he explained. When the boy
brought the sweet, I had some sweet from my
husband’s plate to please him and I tried to explain
that I was not feeling very well that he should kindly
excuse me. He accepted my apologies and finally he
agreed in answering some questions. My husband
was making the questions in Hindi while recording
everything on our small tape recorder. The Swami
was very kind and answered all our questions.
48

I asked: “What do you think is the significance


of the Kumbha Mela?”
Swami Karnapuri answered: “The significance
of Kumbha Mela is that people from distant places
come here and the spectacle they see, is something
unique. People from different countries and from
different cast come and live together during the
period of the Kumbha Mela. Our sages have spoken
of the unity of God and unity of mankind. This is
fully demonstrated during Kumbha Mela. People in
millions come without any persuasion. This is the
great specialty of this fair and our culture. It
happens after every twelve years gap, due to the
story churning of the ocean of milk and the drops of
Amrita, which were carried in a pitcher.
The Amrita drops fell at different places at
different times and accordingly the Kumbha Mela is
celebrated in Haridwar, Allahabad, Ujjain and
Nasik. But there are scientific elements to the
Kumbha Mela at Haridwar. River Ganges is known
to have very beneficial effects on those who take
bath in the holy water. It is well know that the water
of river Ganges never gets contaminated even if it is
kept for a long time. When this river passes through
the mountains, it collects many chemicals, which
are beneficial for the human body. It is proved that
if someone drinks the water of the Ganges River, he
does not need to take any medicine. From religious
point of view, as well from the scientific angle too,
taking bath in the holy river is considered
auspicious. It is also known that if a person takes
bath in River Ganges for forty days, many of his
ailments are cured.”
49

Then I asked him about the reason of the


violence among the different Akharas during the
Kumbha Mela. He explained like this: “Different
Akharas are devoted to different gurus and follow
their special teachings. Their differences are not
religious because they follow their guru’s teachings
for the same objective. The organizations have their
own institutions and their activities are devoted to
defend the religion and its teachings. The differences
and the clashes among different Akharas
demonstrate the spirit of competition for finding the
truth. This is like the churning of the ocean of milk.
Without the churning of the ocean of milk, the
Amrita could not have been found. Fighting itself is
not bad. The motive for fighting determines whether
a person is right or wrong. An ordinary killer is
taken into court for violating the law. But a fighter
who kills hundreds of people on the enemy side is
decorated. One person that commits only one
murder is condemned but another person who kills
hundreds of people is decorated. Violence, if it is
done for the good of the collective welfare, should
not be considered sinful. Some devotees that are
new in the Akhara do not behave well and are
responsible for violence. It takes time to cultivate
discipline and attain a higher level of life. It requires
dedicated practice of Sadhana in institutions. A
person who is not well trained should be forgiven for
his shortcomings. He should be taught higher
values. A real sadhu should not commit any mistake
and if he commits any wrong, he is not a real
sadhu.”
I asked him to tell us more about the Akhara
he belonged to. He said: “With the organization the
Akharas, Sri Adi Shankaracharya from Kerala
50

started the tradition of devotees who renounced the


world and who devoted themselves exclusively to
spiritual activities. Some people renounce even the
cloth and live naked. They are called Naga Baba. All
of them are devotees of the teaching of their gurus
and make sacrifices to their institution. At that
time, there was the need to have an army of fighters
but at the present time, it is not necessary.
The main place of our organization is Kashi
(Banaras) but we also have our offices in Haridwar
and in Ujjain. We have seventeen people in the
organizing committee who take care of different
aspects of the organization. All decisions are taken
only after consulting all members, and sadhus
actively participates in the organization activities.
There are women members in the Akharas but they
are not yet members of the organizing committee.”
I asked him what should be done to improve
the Akhara. He replied: “The tradition that has been
going on in the Akhara requires some changes. More
emphasis should be given to education.
Ramakrishna Mission is giving a good example in
which it is basic the education as well as
participation in the activities of the Ashram. This
example should be followed.”
I asked if the members of the Akhara follow
Varnashram Dharma (Caste system)? He said: “After
becoming a member of the Akhara, they belong to
one family irrespective of their past identities. The
main relationship is between guru and disciple. The
status is high or low according to the state of
Sadhana and not accordingly to the cast.”
51

We took some photographs and thanked him


for his time and cooperation.
We continued walking between long lines of
tents. Almost in every tent, there was the same
scene: Many sadhus sitting around a fire praying or
talking. Then we saw many people standing outside
a big tent. We came closer and saw many Sadhus all
over the tent but there was one who was standing
on one leg. Swami Naradananda told us that this
sadhu is famous because it is said that he has been
standing on one leg for the last 12 years. I asked
why someone would do that. Swami Naradananda
said that some sadhus do this type of physical
penances to obtain God’s grace. Though I did not
understand his answer, I did not want to keep
asking in the crowded area. I just kept quiet and
continued my way.
We were following Swami Naradananda
among tents until we entered into a separate area
for the Lady Swamis. Most of them were wearing
orange or yellow saris or Kurta Pajamas. Most of the
tents had a lot of women. As the tents were very
small, they looked very crowded. Some of them were
talking. Others were praying or meditating near a
fire. Almost at the end of the narrow and dusty line,
Swami Naradananda turned to the right and took
us towards a different area. We reached a narrower
lane with tents on both sides.
In the middle of the small lane, we stopped in
a very crowded area. In a medium size tent, there
was a dark, long black hair Naga boy with a tiny
loincloth. It was very difficult to see his face due to
the untidy matted long hair. Surrounding him, there
were about thirty people. Some of them were trying
52

to talk to him, others were just staring at him. He


suddenly turned his face towards me and only then
I could see some of his features. It was like finding a
lake in the middle of the jungle. He had a cute,
sweet round face with big sparkling innocent eyes.
One of the ladies who was in the crowd, gave
him a small blue toy car. He took it and started
playing with its tires. He put it on the floor and
pushed the car backward and forward. He looked
meticulously at the car and put it back on the floor
and moved it again. Everybody there was smiling
and enjoying his playing. He gave the car back to
the lady and he turned his face and saw that my
husband was taking some photos of him. He jumped
towards my husband and started pulling the camera
out of my husband’s hands. He wanted to play with
it as he was playing with the toy car. My husband
had the camera hung from his neck and tried to
hold it. But the boy was so strong that when he
tried to pull it again, he pulled my husband’s head
along with it. My husband stepped back and pulled
the camera out of the boy’s hands and ran. The boy
also ran after my husband to take the camera. My
husband entered inside a tent that was in the back
and the boy followed him. The sadhus who were in
that tent jumped and shouted at my husband and
at the boy for running inside the tent. It was so
funny!
The boy pushed my husband into a corner,
grabbed the camera and brought it down towards
himself pulling my husband’s head along with it. He
touched and moved its flash up and down. My
husband and the sadhus shouted at him to stop but
he continued touching every button of the camera.
53

My husband was scared that he would damage all


the photos we had taken for my book. When the
sadhus, who were taking care of the boy, heard the
noise, they called the boy, but he did not pay
attention to them and kept fighting for the camera
with my husband. Mata Pardeshwari, who was also
there, took the boy’s hand and in a very sweet way
talked to him in Hindi and while taking his hands,
the boy left the camera and my husband’s head
also. She took him out of the tent and told him that
the cameraman was going to take photos of us and
that he should stand still for that. Mata Pardeshwari
called me to stand by his side for the photographs.
The boy obeyed and quietly accepted me by his side
also. But he was always staring at the camera with
attention, like a cat staring at a bird to jump on it as
soon as it moves.
When I came near him, I felt a tremendous
heat coming from him as though I had come near to
a fire. I looked behind him to check if there was
another source of heat around but there was not. As
soon as my husband clicked the camera, the boy
jumped towards him again and this time, he also
took the tape recorder in which all the interviews
were recorded. Swami Naradananda called the
sadhus who were taking care of the boy, and they
shouted at him. When the boy turned his face to see
the sadhu who was scolding him, my husband
snatched the tape recorder back. But he boy pulled
it back. At the same time the sadhu who was
shouting at him came closer to him and scolded
him. Then, the boy left the camera and the recorder
and my husband escaped as fast as he could. We all
left because we could not take the risk of loosing the
camera and the tape recorder. When we were far
54

enough away and safe from the boy, Swami


Naradananda explained the Naga boy story. He said
that when the boy was three years old, he made a
vow of never sitting ever. The sadhus that were
taking care of him, made a swing for him to sleep
and he only leans on it for sleeping. Then I
understood why the legs of the boy were curved and
his feet were swollen looking abnormally big for his
size and age.
Swami Naradananda explained that some
people in India believe, that these types of vows
made at such a tender age, is the consequence of
the penances a sadhu was doing in previous lives.
Therefore they come with that tendency in the next
lifes. Some people support these types of penances.
Others think that the people who support these
things are exploiting children for getting money.
By that time, I was feeling worst and with a
headache probably due to the dust, the smoke and
the strong smell of marijuana. Between sadhus and
Babas, we walked back to the entrance. It was not
easy at all due to the people trying to come inside
the Akhara. Even after crossing out of the black grill
door, there were many people standing outside
pushing their way through.
We came inside the car and I asked Swami
Naradananda to go straight to the American Ashram
where we were going to spend the night. It took
about one hour to reach the Ashram due to the
waves of crowds coming into Haridwar. Most of
them came walking because cars, buses, and other
vehicles were not allowed. Only special people got
permission to go with cars, and Swami
Naradananda was one of them, luckily for us.
55

We reached the American Ashram after


sunset. The Ashram was small but it had western
bathroom facilities. Swami Narandanand’s disciples
arranged for us the biggest room with attached
bathroom. They put twi portable beds with
mattresses, two small side tables and two plastic
chairs. It was good enough for us to spend the
night. They asked us if we wanted dinner but we
had brought our own food from the hotel. So, we
thanked them and told them not to be worried about
us.
My husband and I had our dinner in our
room. Everything was fine in the American Ashram
except for the noise that was surrounding us. It was
unbearable. Some Ashrams and tents around us
had loud speakers blaring from all directions. There
were going on lectures, prayers, Bhajans, Kirtans all
together at the same time. I was very much
disturbed by the noise. If there is something that
really affects me, it is the loud sound. At that
moment, I thought how far from God were those
people who needed loud speakers for God to hear
them.
According to the Bhagavad-Gita, the Holy
Rituals that are performed as a show are considered
Rajasik and the people who perform them will not
receive its fruit. But still some people perform shows
instead of praying. Though I was extremely tired, I
could neither meditate nor sleep. I just lie down on
the bed and started thinking of all the experiences I
had that day and what could be waiting for me the
next day. As my husband could not sleep either, we
talked for sometime. Around 2:30 A.M. some of the
loud speakers shut up (I supposed they got tired of
56

talking and singing so much) but others continued


the whole night. I felt a little relaxed when the near
by area’s loud speakers stopped, and some peace
came to me. Finally, I could get some sleep after 3 o’
clock in the morning.
57

Haridwar, April 12, 1998

I could not sleep much because at 5:30 A.M.


the neighbor’s loud speakers woke me up. The truth
is that I was not very happy with such a peculiar
wake up call. I was very tired due to the lack of
sleep. I did not have any choice but to start my day.
While time was passing, more loud speakers joined
the noisy undirected cacophonic orchestra. I tried to
meditate but my attempt was not very successful: 5
minutes was the longest meditation I could do.
When I got ready, I went out of our room and tried
to find the way to the kitchen to prepare some
coffee. But most of the people were still sleeping
(including the servants) and I could not find any of
the Swamis. So, I came back to our room and
waited until 7 o’clock. The people were still sleeping,
but a servant had just got up and I asked him to
help me to make breakfast. He asked me if we would
like him to prepare some Parathe (stuffed yeast less
bread with butter coating) but I said no and thanked
him. I had brought along with me instant oatmeal
bags, coffee and powder milk.
I do not know how he understood what I said
(at that time my Hindi was not good) but I got the
coffee and the hot water to make the oatmeal. I took
the food to our room and when we were eating,
someone knocked at our door. It was Swami
Naradananda. He also was up since early but he
had gone to bathe in the Ganges. I asked him to sit
and wait for me to make his breakfast. I went to the
kitchen to prepare cereal and coffee for him. He was
58

quite impressed to see how easy breakfast is made


in America. In India, generally speaking, breakfast is
very heavy. In north India, the usual breakfast is
Parathe, and in south India idlis or dosas (sort of
yeastless bread made of rice and white lentils) with
Sambar (yellow lentils soup with vegetables). In
India, it takes time to make breakfast.
We spent the whole morning talking with
Swami Naradananda. He is a very well educated
person and we enjoyed his views about different
spiritual matters. Around 12 o’clock, Penny Mataji,
sent a messenger saying that she would be waiting
for us in the Ashram of Braj Wali Mataji. We packed,
got ready and left for the ashram where they were
waiting for us. It was not so far from the American
Ashram and Swami Naradananda took shortcuts to
reach there quickly.
The ashram was a big house with a big front
terrace. It was almost impossible to enter because
there were at least 300 foreigners, mostly people
from Hare Rama, Hare Krishna group, that had
come to sing Bhajans for Braj Wali Mataji of
Brindaban. As we could not go inside, Swami
Naradananda asked one of the helpers of Braj Wali
Mataji to tell her that we were out side. As soon as
both Matajis knew we were out side, they sent
people to make room for us to come inside. They
also brought some chairs for us in the terrace to sit
near Braj Wali Mataji. We got the best spot to see
the group of foreigners’ singing Bhajans. Most of the
men were having long matted hair and they were
wearing dhotis or bermudas with shirts. The ladies
where wearing a mix of west and east clothing style;
I mean, dhotis with the blouse of a sari on the top
59

and bandanas on their head. Some wore bermudas


with long colorful Kurtas. It looked strange to me,
(and I suppose it looked stranger for Indians who
were there) because I knew what each cloth was
made for.
When they finished singing Bhajans, we were
called inside the house and we stayed separated
from the rest of the people for the Bhandara. First,
we washed our hands, and then sat on the floor in
front of a long piece of cloth with empty plates on
the top. Some Indian women brought the food in big
metal buckets and they started serving the food on
the metal plates. We got grams (Chana), vegetables,
rice, Raita (yogurt with pieces of cucumber and
tomato) and Khir (sweet dish made of milk, rice and
pieces of dry fruits). Before starting eating, Swami
Naradananda blessed the food with Sanskrit prayers
and only then, we started eating.
After lunch, Penny Mataji formally introduced
us to Braj Wali Mataji and told her about the
meditation in which I was told to write a book about
Kumbha Mela. After listening very carefully, she
asked us to sit close to her. She asked us some
questions. We answered all her questions and when
she was totally convinced of our sincerity, she
accepted to answer the following questions.
60

Braj Wali Mataji

As she knew English, I could communicate


directly with her. First, I asked her: “When did you
feel the spiritual call for first time?”
She said: “Since childhood, it was there. I
used to stay in Mathura and in Brindaban. The
atmosphere there is totally different. I used to stay
with my maternal uncle. He was very devoteed to
Lord Krishna. We had a temple with pujari (the
person who performs a sacred ritual called Puja) in
our own house. Ever since I was born, I had this
call. I had always one thing in my mind: I would
never go for having family life. I did not and I do not
want the worldly life. First, I decided that I should
stand on my own feet. Then I went to do service, I
mean, to teach in a school for girls. In a way, I
became independent. I told my parents: I don’t feel I
should get married and please don’t involve me in
all that. Whenever I feel like that, I will tell you
frankly.
Gradually, I studied the scriptures and
studied with sadhus and Mahatmas. The urge
became stronger and stronger. I felt that there was a
call from within. I felt that I must dedicate my life to
it and that I must preach Hindu philosophy. I
preached philosophy and I tried to bring people
towards the bhakti (devotional) path. The devotional
path is the easiest one can achieve in life. Tapasya
(penance) and all that is difficult. But in the
devotional path, you just have to love your Lord,
just as you love your child, just as you love your
61

husband, just as you love your parents, just as you


love in this world; similarly, this worldly love has to
be diverted. The object of your love should be
changed and nothing else. I try to preach this.”
Then I asked: “What do you think is the
importance of women in the spiritual world
nowadays?”
She said: “The most important thing is to
understand that men are Purusha and women are
Prakati. They cannot do without each other. But you
are asking about woman preachers?”
“Yes” I confirmed.
She continued: “These days, I believe that
women preachers are more important than men
preachers because women can reach women easily.
Women can open the heart to women and it is better
to be on the safe side. You see, there is distortion
everywhere these days; everywhere there are frauds.
I should not say this but it is a fact. What to do?
Ladies are very innocent. Our Hindu ladies are quite
innocent and very faithful. They easily believe
anyone and surrender to him. Sometimes, they get
entangled with wrong people. For them, women
preachers are very important. The devotional path
means love and women are full of love. This path is
very useful and the easiest for women.”
About the Kumbha Mela theme, I asked her
about the importance of the Kumbha Mela.
She said: “Do you know something about
Kumbha Mela? Do you know the story of the nectar?
Every 12 years the Amrit comes. But put aside that,
and just think, what is this that attracts crores (one
62

crore is equal to 10 millions) of people? In the last


two months more than 2 crores must have come to
Haridwar. After all, they came to know that Amrit is
falling on these days. They come all the way from
north, south, east and west; from every corner of
India, people come. It is unity in diversity: different
people, many different languages, many religions
and still in such occasion, look at their faith. They
just come to have a dip in the Ganges. Nothing else.
Indian culture is the faith in the Lord. From cultural
point of view, it is very important event. From
religious point of view, all the religious leaders, big
or small, are here in Haridwar. You can meet
anybody. There are many people here; there are
spiritual vibrations and we get the vibrations. We try
to catch them. They have been transmitted among
many people, among crores of people. We are getting
those vibrations. That’s why we say that our Hindu
religion is ancient. It has been since ages and will go
for ages. It will never die. You just sit and wonder:
what is the power behind it? Why are so many
people coming? It is very necessary. They come to
meet each other.”
I asked: “Do you think that the importance of
the Kumbha Mela is to meet spiritual people?”
She answered: “To meet them and see them!
Even if you don’t go to see them, you get the
vibrations. They are breathing in and they are
breathing out. There are also many Satsangs,
Banjans, Kirtans, Ramlila. Everything is going on. It
is an assembly of Mahatmas. Those Mahatmas who
are staying in the Himalayas don’t usually come to
the cities. You see these people also (pointing at the
foreigners). They have come from across the Ganges
63

where they are staying in the forest. They are


foreigners; some of them may have been doing bad
things, but some of them must be having a real
sincere life. You see everything is mixed: good and
bad together. We should see the good points.
I always tell my people that they should try to
have the skill of the ant. Suppose you mix some
sugar with dust, the ant will not look at the dust
but it will take away the particles of sugar, the
sweetness. Don’t look at the bad things, take the
good things. One should have that approach.”
At that time, the Bandara finished and all the
foreigners thanked Brij Wali Mataji. We also thanked
her for her time and cooperation and said Hari Om
to her.
It was already 3 P.M. and it was very hot. So
we decided to go back to Rishikesh and rest in the
hotel. There, we met again Urvashi and Chand who
had also come back from their tour to Mussoorie (a
city in the mountains near Rishikesh). We sat on
the terrace and interchanged our experiences while
having a nice cup of chai.
64

Rishikesh, April 13, 1998

13 and 14 of April were the most important


bathing ceremony days of the Kumbha Mela of 1998.
We could not go to Haridwar because the roads were
closed and not even Swami Naradananda’s car was
allowed to go. Besides, the police and the tourist
officers told us that we should not go because they
were expecting problems between the different
Akharas and they could not provide us security. In
fact, that morning the Akharas fought bitterly (even
with arms) because all of them wanted to bathe
before the others. Police had to interfere to stop the
fight but many people were hurt (no one died). One
of the Akharas wanted to protest by doing fast up to
death but they cooled down later and bathed in the
Ganges after noontime.
Rishikesh was also considered to be part of
the Kumbha Mela area. As the Ganges water in
Rishikesh was not polluted, many people came to
bathe there. We also bathed in the clear waters of
Rishikesh. We looked for a little private place to
bathe, but privacy in Kumbha Mela time is almost
impossible. After looking around for a while, we
found a not so crowed place for bathing. As we were
a little far from the hotel, and no place to change
cloth, I just went inside the river up to my knees
and put water on my head and arms. We went back,
and it took almost half an hour to reach the hotel
(walking of course). It also took more than half and
hour to wait for the food in the hotel’s restaurant.
The small restaurant was full of foreigners as well as
65

Indians guests. The food had a lot of chilies so I ate


only rice and Dahi (yogurt). When we finished our
lunch, it was already past 3 P.M. I decided to rest
until 4:30 P.M. when Swami Naradananda was
coming for the interview. When he arrived, my
husband was resting and I did not want to disturb
him. I asked Chand for his help with the
translation. Chand agreed and while having tea in
the dining room of the hotel, we started the
interview.
66

Swami Naradananda

First of all, I asked him to tell us about his


life.
He started talking like this: “I was born on
October 21, 1956 in a village called Sakin near
Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. Since childhood, I had an
interest in monk life. At the age of 12, I took the
permission of my parents to follow Swami
Laxchanand as my guru. Under his guidance, I
started my spiritual life and I also studied religion.
Then, I studied at Gurukul Kangari University near
Haridwar where there are good facilities for studying
Vedas, philosophy and Sanskrit. In 1980, I passed
philosophy and psychology in first division and even
got a Gold Medal decoration. After that, I traveled
for 10 years around India and in 1990, I practiced
Sadhana at Ujjain. Ujjain is a big Tantric center
where there is a natural Shivalinga. I kept a vow of
silence for six months and then, I had set up a
Siddha Ashram, in Ujjain itself.
Then I asked: “What is the origin of the
Kumbha Mela?”
He said: “There is a story in the holy
scriptures about the churning of the ocean of milk
after which many things were formed. The first
formation was poison, which was drunk by Lord
Shiva. Another formation was the Amrita. For the
Amrita, there was a fight between Devas (celestial
beings) and Danavas (devils). In the process, the
Devas grasped the Kumbha (pitcher) in which the
Amrita was kept and while running away from the
Danavas, they stopped at Haridwar where some
67

drops fell. After Haridwar, they went to Prayag


(Allahabad), Nasik and Ujjain. At all these places
some Amrita fell. The god Indra got the form of a
beautiful woman and when she appeared everybody
was astonished to see her beauty. She asked for the
cause of the fight and they told her what was going
on. Then, she offered to distribute the Amrita to
both of the groups in a fair way. When they agreed,
she asked them to sit on opposite sides. She
brought two pitchers and gave one to each side. The
trick she played was that the pitcher she gave to the
Danavas was containing alcoholic drink. One of the
Danavas suspected that a trick was played on them
and he joined the side of the Devas. But the sun
and the moon saw that this Danava joined the
Deva’s group and they told the god Indra. But it was
too late. With his divine power, Indra tried to finish
this Danava but as the Danava had drunk the
Amrita, he had become immortal. God Indra could
only divide him in two. Rahu and Ketu are their
names and forever they are going around the sun
and the moon in space. They, sometimes, try to
swallow the sun and the moon in revenge for telling
god Indra about the trick. This explains the
phenomena of the eclipses according to the
Puranas.”
“How did the human beings get to know about
the fight between Devas and Danavas?” I asked.
He replied: “From the holy Hindus scriptures
known as Puranas and also from other holy
scriptures”
“Who was the writer of these holy scriptures?”
I asked.
68

He said: “It was a saint called Vyasa.”


“Are the Puranas reliable scriptures?” I asked.
He said: “Of course, many events in the world
have been influenced by them. Puranas are very
reliable scriptures provided a person reads them
thoroughly and goes deeply into their meaning.
Nowadays people do not take that much interest
due to which the influence of the Puranas is
reducing.”
“When were the Puranas written? What is the
language in which they were written?” I asked.
He replied: “The Puranas were written
hundreds of years back. They were written in
Sanskrit language. But, these days there are less
people who know Sanskrit.”
I asked: “Why is the Kumbha Mela held every
12 years?”
He said: It is related to the 12 signs of the
Zodiac and their placement in the Planetary System.
The time of the Kumbha Mela is related to the
position of the planet Jupiter (Brahaspati) or Guru
planet. Guru planet is important for attaining
enlightenment. It is so important that it leads to
quick spiritual development. Another very important
aspect is the time. For example, during the Kumbha
Mela, there are special days for offerings or special
prayers which it will have a quick impact and very
soon one can see the results.
Another example of auspicious time is the
time before the sun rises when nature is still and
silent. When a person is suffering with pain and can
not sleep during the night, he will sleep two hours
69

before sun rise because of the peaceful state of mind


and the peace in the nature. Even the dogs that
bark during the night, will go to sleep at that time.
This has been highlighted in the holy books also.
But most of the people utilize this time for sleeping.
If you try to learn something, this is the best time
also. During Purnima (full moon) and Amavasya (no
moon), the mind is also peaceful. That’s why people
fast during these days. In fact, these days are very
auspicious for meditating and concentrating on
God. It should be that one is so absorbed in God
that one even forgets to eat. But people do just the
opposite: they fast to meditate.”
I asked: “What is the best thing to do during
these auspicious hours?”
He said: “The best thing to do is to meditate or
to remember God. Also it is important to have peace
of mind because when you meditate, the mind
becomes very open. When the mind is open, your
Sanskaras (disposition) are awakened. The
Sanskaras are strong desires that remain unfulfilled
and they try to be fulfilled. The Sanskaras have
deep impact on human beings because they
influence not only the present life but also the next
lives. That’s why during this auspicious time, people
should pray and practice Sadhana. But nowadays,
people devote more time to seek material things,
and they don’t devote time for spiritual activities.”
“What is the connection between human
beings and the planets?” I asked.
He replied: “When a human being is born, the
planets have specific positions that will influence
the events that will take place in his or her life. For
70

example, events such as those related to marriage,


education, health, death, etc. Observing the
formation of the body structure of a person, his
past, his present and his future aspects of lives can
be known. All this is related to the movements of the
planets. The world is considered to be hell because
nobody is totally happy. One way or the other, there
are always problems to deal with.”
I asked: “What is the relationship between
bathing in the River Ganges and the Kumbha Mela?”
He replied: “First of all, in India, before doing
prayers and meditation it is a tradition to bathe.
Second, while bathing, the Prana (vital energy) of the
person increases and this motivates him or her to
pray. During Kumbha Mela both things are
included: the purity of the heart and the physical
cleanliness. When the Prana Shakti (the power of
the vital energy) increases the person becomes more
receptive to spirituality because the Prana Shakti
regulates the whole world.”
Then, I asked: “The common people that come
to the Kumbha Mela take bath in the Ganges but
they do not meditate. What is the relevance for them
to bathe in the Ganges?”
He said: “The common man take a bathe but
he does not meditate because from bathing only, he
tries to attain the purity of heart. Whatever a
common man does, his heart guides it. Once he has
decided in his heart that he is going to be purified
by bathing (in the Ganges), he will certainly be.
Even Swamis have said, “Man ke haare haar hee,
man ke jiite jiit (if you feel in your heart defeat, you
will actually be defeated; if you feel in your heart
71

winning, you will actually win)”. So, when a common


man decides in his heart to attain God, he will. The
force in our hearts depends on us for which the
unity of our heart and our mind is important. To
attain this unity of the heart and mind, it is
necessary to bring changes in us. This unity is
attainable by many means: meditation, holy rituals,
Tantra. These are the ways that Mahatmas use to
attain this union between heart and mind.”
I asked: “During the Kumbha Mela, do the
common people actually get to meet the saints from
the Himalayas?”
He said: “Usually the saints don’t come
openly. They are dressed with common cloth and
they mix with other people. It is not easy to
recognize the great Swamis from the Himalayas.
What is necessary is to have an open mind because
spirituality is very subtle and it is not easily
perceptible. With open mind, people may get
benefits of the presence of the Mahatmas during
Kumbha Mela.”
“In your opinion: What is the importance of
Kumbha Mela?” I asked
He replied: “Kumbha Mela has great
significance because many yogis and accomplished
saints come to the festivities and enjoy bathing.
Many people from different countries are coming
and there is an atmosphere of an international get
together where one can see different religious,
cultures and philosophical traditions. People who
come here forget their homes and get swept away in
the flow of consciousness of the Kumbha Mela.”
72

“What is the future of Kumbha Mela? Is it


likely to change in the future or it will remain as it
is?” I asked.
He said: “Personally, I believe that some
changes should take place because people come
here as if it were an exhibition. There is very little
concern for spirituality and moral values. Even
some saints or Mahatmas come basically for
publicity and then return. There should be more
interaction between people and the saints for
spiritual enlightenment.”
It was already 7 P.M. and my husband and
Urvashi had joined us. We requested Swami
Naradananda to stay for dinner. He agreed and
while having our spicy dinner, we discussed many
interesting spiritual matters. Swami Naradananda
left after 9 P.M. and we went up to the hotel terrace
to enjoy the night and the nice breeze of the Ganges.
73

Rishikesh April14, 1998

Today is a very important bathing ceremony


day during Kumbha Mela. Today also is my
husband’s birthday. So, he got up at 4 o’clock in the
morning to bath in the Ganges. In the morning he
told me about the practice in India of offering
children to the Ganges in order to get Mother
Ganges protection. The Ganges is considered to be a
form of the Divine Mother and the children are
offered to the Ganges to seek Her blessings. He told
me the story when he was offered by his parents
and some near relatives when he was 4 years old.
They went from his native village to Garh
Mukteshwar, a relatively small city on the banks of
Ganges.
He said that at that time it took two days and
two nights by bullock carts to reach Garh
Mukteshwar (about 50 kilometers). He remembers
that early in the morning, first of all, his head was
shaved. Then, his parents as well as other relatives
went into the river and made a big circle where he
was threw inside the water as an offering to the
Mother Ganges. It is believed that if the boy comes
up and remained floating, it means that Mother
Ganges has accepted being the spiritual mother. If
the child remains under the water, it means that
nobody can help him. My husband came out of the
water as if Mother Ganges Herself lifted him up.
According to the belief, Mother Ganges accepted him
as Her son and She was and is supposed to take
care of him and protect him as his Spiritual Mother!
74

So, during such a special day, he wanted to


offer himself to his Mother Ganges again. I did not
go with him because it was very cold, and the
Ganges water at that time was freezing. But, he
went and bathed in the early morning cold Ganges
waters. Half an hour later, he came back and to my
surprise he was not feeling cold. I asked him how
did he feel after offering himself again to the Mother
Ganges and he said that he was very happy to bathe
in the Ganges on his 58th birthday. It was too early
for ordering tea, so we continued talking up to 6
o’clock when we heard voices in the kitchen. We
phoned the dining room and the waiter took our
order for tea and toast. After breakfast, we slept up
to 9 o’clock when Chand and Urvashi phoned
asking us to go for breakfast with them. We told
them to go ahead without us because we had early
morning breakfast. Then, we got ready to meet Dr.
Kutty, a world famous physician and spiritual
accomplished lady.
75

Dr. Devaki Kutty

Dr. Devaki Kutty is a very well known


physician in India as well as over the world not only
because of her medical skills but also because of her
pious and great service she was doing in
Shivananda Ashram in Rishikesh. The first time we
heard about her was in Hamilton, Canada, from our
doctor friends, the Rastogis. Dr. Kutty was their
teacher when they studied Medicine in Lucknow
University. She impressed them very much for her
work with the poor people she was doing at
Shivananda Ashram. They said that although she
was a very qualified doctor who studied medicine in
London, she never worked to make money. She
dedicated her life to teach and to help the poor
women of India. They talked so highly about her
that I wanted to meet her.
According to the Bhagavat Gita, the real yogi
(the person who has united with God) is the one
who dedicates himself to do actions for the good of
others. From what I heard about Dr. Kutty, she is
really an accomplished spiritual person and that is
the type of person I came to meet.
I was hoping that she was free that morning.
She was so generous, that she agreed immediately
to receive us. Her apartment was small but very
cozy. The drawing room had a big window with a
wonderful view of the Ganges. It was simply and
nicely furnished. There was also a library with
mostly medical books in it. When we came in, she
gently welcomed us and asked us to sit. There were
76

two more people with her: a middle aged gentleman


and a girl in her 20s. She introduced them to us
and asked the servant to make coffee for us.
I was very happy that she could speak good
English, so I could ask whatever came to my heart. I
asked her to tell us about her life and she started
like this:
“I was born in Konoor, South India. For my
post-graduation I went to London, England. There, I
studied Gynecology and Obstetrics. Then, I went to
Scotland for a while. Later, I got a job in Lucknow in
the Medical College and I stayed there. After
sometime, I resigned when I found that I did not
have anything else to contribute there.”
“When and why did you come to Rishikesh?
How did you know about it?” I asked.
She replied: “I did not know anything about
Rishikesh. Actually, I came here on my way to
Badrinath. I wanted to see Badrinath. We did not
know anything about Swami Shivananda (her guru).
We just came to spend a night. At that time, there
was no hotel here and someone told me that I could
find residence in Shivananda Ashram. So, I came for
the night here with two friends. Then, I met him
(Swami Shivananda). He prevented me from going to
Badrinath. He said: “You stay back and do some
service for the poor; that is more important than
going to Badrinath.” So, I canceled my trip and I
stayed.
Then, every year when the college closed, I
used to come here and do a camp for the poor.
That’s how every year my attachment for this place
went up. I did about 25 medical camps. I used to
77

bring medicines myself and he (Swami Shivananda)


used to give me the infrastructure to see the
patients. So, it went on like that, until I was about
to retired. When my father died -he was living with
me-, I did not find much incentive to continue in
service. I thought let me do something for the poor; I
have done enough for the colleges: teaching,
research, work, etc. I wrote to Swami Shivananda
and he got me this little apartment here, and I
moved. This is the simple life I have and I don’t have
any problem in life.
At that time, Swami Shivananda wanted to
build a Hospital. So, we got some money from
contribution of all his disciples and we built this
hospital. There was only a small dispensary before.
After building the hospital, I started to work and I
am still working.”
“Do you still work?” I asked.
She replied: “Oh yes, yes. Not in a very high
way but we do our job. You should come in the
morning and see our work. We do also surgery; we
got a good (operation) theater to poor patients: some
beggars and destitute. We operate very poor people.
Everything in this hospital is free. I like that
atmosphere. Nothing much”.
“You are what in the scriptures is called a
Karmayogini. (A woman who has attained the union
with the Divine and who has dedicated to do service
to humanity) Are not you?” I asked.
She said: “I can only say that I do karma
(actions) but if I am a yogini or not, I don’t know. I
do some reading, of course.”
78

“Do you have a lot of devotion?” I asked.


She said: “Well, that’s automatic. That has
been always there.”
“What do you think is the importance of the
last Kumbha Mela of the Millennium?”
She answered: “It is a concept coming from
inside the person. What people feel is that the river
Ganges is always important for our spiritual culture.
There is a lot of mythology associated that goes with
everything in India. But it is during this time that
there is a change in the pattern of the planets. This
is called the zodiac signs change. When the Zodiac
signs changes that is the time when it is said that
there is a lot of very divine vibrations in the air. This
is definitely due to the electromagnetic changes that
are in all planetary migrations. So, they think that
these particular electromagnetic changes that take
place from Aries to Pisces, the last sign of the
Zodiac, charge the electromagnetic fields. So, taking
a dip into the Ganges, at that time, is considered to
be very spiritually elevating. I don’t know myself if it
is true or not because I can’t find that. But this is
the concept, and people come blindly. You cannot
reason about that. Since it has been done like that
from times immemorial, you find that is a built up
faith. People, with a built up faith, come and when
they get the dip, they feel better and they feel that
they have got all the blessings.
Yet, there is a tradition of getting together that
comes along with all these Sanyasis taking a dip in
the Ganges. This contributes to the sanctity of the
period. They feel satisfied, although scientifically it
cannot be explained. It is more a feeling inside and
79

that feeling cannot be scientifically explained. They


get it, they have it, but one cannot prove it
scientifically.
They pray and they take the name of the Lord
they like. That’s it. After all, we all work most of our
time for a material satisfaction more than the
spiritual one, but after coming here, they have a lot
of satisfaction. This fact has been contributing to
build up the Kumbha Mela. You find that the people
who came here are the most naive people of the
villages, not the high society people. They are
satisfied and they are happy. What makes you
happy is more important. That’s what I feel and
that’s what is there.
Also, the water is very cold and they feel fresh
when they bathe. The people of the villages don’t go
for holidays as westerners do; their traveling is
going for pilgrimages; their outing is always a
pilgrimage. They go for some temple or another. So,
these types of events give them a chance to come
together, to get out of the daily routine of the
villages where they live. So, they come and chant
God’s name and they feel happy. That is the real
thing. Because the concept of holidays, we don’t
have it in our country excepting the rich and
modern families. But for the people of the villages,
their only outing is going for pilgrimage. In that way,
this is what the people have contributed to the
Kumbha Mela.”
“Being you a very spiritual lady, from a
woman point of view, do you consider that there is
any change in the spiritual world? Are there more
women participating than before in the spiritual
world?” I asked.
80

She replied: “In India, the spirituality has


been handed over from generation to generation by
women and not by men. Women have been more
into it because they have more spirituality, sacrifice
and love put together. Women of India have done
more sacrifices and have given more love and, I
don’t want to be mistaken, but men have been
selfish. They have not given anything either to
children or to home. They have been breadwinners
since ancient times. Women have never got the
publicity that men have got. But behind every great
man, there was always a great woman, and that
woman never came in the light. But women have
been the most contributive for the integrity of the
family, bringing people and even their own children
together. They also have more time for praying. They
never did any analysis if there is God or not. It is
just blind faith and they have accepted it as it is. So,
you can say that is they (women) who have brought
faith on these things continuously, and in India
particularly, it has been growing up by women and
not by men. May be, there have been some
intellectual men who have grown up and down
philosophy. But I am not talking about philosophy, I
am talking about blind faith and actually it is faith
which keeps the Kumbha Mela going on. Otherwise,
we are talking about a science called theology, and
not about faith. But it is faith that gives you the
benefit, and faith has been brought up by the
women of India, not by men.
There is no change now, but there was in the
interim period when the western nations influenced
us and we started to question. I am talking about an
intellectual view; western education made us
question about faith and for many of the questions,
81

there were no answers. So, during the interim


period, when people were not intellectuals to
understand, and at the same time, the blind faith
was left out, there was a period of doubt. At that
time, India was a small world. Now things have
taken shape again. People are more interested.”
“From here, from your apartment, you have a
beautiful view of the Ganges. Rishikesh is also
known for the Ganges. From your perspective, what
makes river Ganges so sacred?” I asked.
She replied: “Well, I don’t know. This is an
eternal question and nobody can answer what it is.
But there is something in it, this much I can tell
you. In South India to see the Ganges is a dream.
The water you take from here it doesn’t get spoiled.
If you keep any water, even tap water, for a long
time in a bottle, you will find a lot of fungus and
many things will come up, but never in Ganges
water. There are a lot of researches going on this.
First, they said that it is due to the origin of the
Ganges, in Gomukh because it starts from a glacier,
from a huge glacier. They say that it is so
electromagnetic charged that all the water particles
are charged particles. That must be the reason why
the bacteria don’t grow. There are bacteria. Don’t
think there are no bacteria. There are bacteria but
the bacteria do not grow much.
The second thing they say is something called
bacteriophage. It is like an enzyme, which comes
from nature. That eats the bacteria. They think it is
the herbs in the Himalayas through which this
water comes up. The water absorbs certain elements
from the herbs and the bacteria are affected by it.
That is also another theory but nobody has proved
82

anything. Plenty of researches have been done


during British times. Nobody could understand
what produces this water.
We also have got an old concept: when
someone is about to die, one should take some
drops of Ganga water. So, you find in every old
Indian Hindu household, there will always be a
bottle of Ganges water. There are many things that
cannot be explained. It is something that has to be
felt and experienced. It cannot be explained.
“Your commentaries are very important
because they are coming from a scientist” I said.
“That’s why I am saying but these experiences
are not transferable. For example, if I put sugar in
your mouth you can say it is sweet but you cannot
explain sweetness until you experience it inside.
That is all in religion and in spirituality; religion and
spirituality are pure personal experiences. It is not a
transferable experience. The person has to feel it.
That is what I think.”
After the interview finished, we had our cup of
coffee and had a nice chat about spirituality. Then
she allowed us to take a photo of her and very
sweetly said goodbye to us.
There were many things that amazed me
about her, but what I really admired in her was her
clear holistic view of life. I could feel it as soon as
she looked at me. She saw deep into my being, into
my own essence. Usually doctors, see only the
physical part of the human being, especially those
who have studied in the west. Very few physicians
have developed intuition. But, Dr. Kutty could see
the reality of a human being at a glance. I mean that
83

she could grasp the whole being (body, mind and


soul) while looking at someone and I think that is
not easy to acquire. I was very happy to meet such
an extraordinary person like Dr. Kutty.
When we were back in the hotel, I phoned
Penny Mataji to ask her to come to the hotel at
teatime and do the interview for the book. She
agreed. I also called another Swami (whose name I
promised to keep in secret) for a meeting at 6 o’clock
at the hotel’s restaurant. He also accepted.
After lunch, I had a quick nap and at 5 o’clock
I was in the dining room waiting for Penny Mataji.
She arrived at 5 o’ clock sharp and while having tea,
she answered following questions:
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Penny Mataji

“Tell us something about you. Since when are


you living in India?” I asked.
She said: “Well, I came to India for good in
1974. But the first time I came to India was in 1964.
I have been back to Canada for short trips only.
Mainly I have gone out with my guru, and by myself
only once.”
I asked; “How many gurus have you had?”
She answered: “I had one guru in Canada and
one in India. I lived for 10 years in my first guru’s
Ashram in Toronto. I got married with someone who
was also his disciple. We lived for 3 years there and
then we came to India. When we came, we stayed at
the ashram of my first guru in Haridwar. In fact, he
paid us for taking care of it because people were
living illegally on his land. So, it was very convenient
for us to stay there. Since he (my first guru) left for
Canada, he has never come back to India. We were
very fortunate of having that opportunity to live in
Haridwar at the bank of the Ganges.
I asked: “What happened after? How did you
meet your current guru?”
“Mauni Baba Chandra Swamiji is my guru.
His ashram was very near to my first guru’s ashram.
Mauni Baba was born at the Samadhi of Shri Baba
Bhumansha, a famous Udasin Saint who lived
around seven hundred years ago. Mauni Baba was
85

not an ordinary child. When he was studying at


Dehradun, at the time of India‘s partition, he was
overwhelmed by his desire to be a wandering sadhu.
He broke his social ties forever. He spent many
years living in lonely places in Kashmir before
coming to Sapt Sarovar. He lived eleven years in a
small island in the Ganges. Then his devotees made
for him an ashram in Haridwar. Swamiji always
spent a lot of his time in complete silence (mauna)
and has not spoken at all during the past 16 years!
You see the real Guru is God and He works
everything out for you. It was inevitable that one day
we were going to meet him.”
“For how long did you live in Haridwar?” I
asked.
“For 14 years I lived in Haridwar.” She replied
“How and why did you move to Rishikesh?” I
asked.
She said: “Mauni Baba Chandra Swamiji sold
his ashram in Haridwar and bought a land North of
Dehradun. He built a beautiful ashram there. His
ashram has strong discipline and all its member sit
together with Swamiji in meditation four times a
day. But I was not going to leave Ganges. I came to
India not to find a guru but to live on the bank of
the Ganges. I love the Ganges and I truly believe
that my actual real mother is the Ganges. That is
my experience and my feeling. I get great love and
care from the Ganges in a way my own mother could
never have hoped to do. I am very attached to the
Ganges.
86

I asked: “How did this love for the Ganges


appear in your life being you born and brought up
in Canada?”
She replied: “This is the proof that Karma and
reincarnation exist. Once you accept the fact of
reincarnation, then these are details of different
ways that you reincarnate again and again. Living
and dying are facets of a single journey. So,
naturally there are certain things you are going to
carry on from one life to another. It is not that this
is death and that’s it. Life and death are facets of a
journey. You keep making new lives by what you do
with your body, by your thoughts and by your
personality. You can even see that in a single life.
For example, somebody who does very bad things
has a horrible expression on his face; or he is angry
or he is always in a bad mood. This type of people
has a very different face of a person who is always
cheerful, pleasant and sweet. When we look at
someone’s face, we can know right away because he
is making his own face. Age is making it (the face)
definitely but also he is making it by his thoughts
and by what he is doing.
You have a very long life, much longer than
what you think. You think you can live only 80
years old but you have thousands and thousands of
years and you carry them on. Like you carry on one
day to the next, you carry the next life.
“When one compares India and Canada, one
can see that both of the places are totally different.
You have all the facilities in Canada: good roads, big
shopping malls, supermarkets etc. In India life is
different, especially because you are a foreigner and
that makes life tougher here. You have to face that
87

every single day. So, why are you choosing to live in


India and not in Canada?” I asked.
She replied: “That is the question of my life!
That is my life. Why am I not living in Canada but in
India? It is certainly the most amazing part of my
life but I have an amazing life.”
“That’s why I am interviewing you!” I
remarked.
She continued: “Even my practice of Sadhana
(spiritual practice) is a very especial Sadhana. I was
always very uneasy in Canada. From what I can
remember, I didn’t like the North American society.
It hurt me. I could understand more and more
because I was getting mature. It really hurt me. I
found it manipulative, exploitive, very non-spiritual
life. I found it a very cruel society. I always was in
difficulties because I was very compassionate. I
never fitted at school; I could never get along with
immorality, flippancy and shallowness of my
contemporaries. I always was very creative. I was a
painter. When I was 14 years old, I was always
painting in the basement. Lately, I have seen some
of those paintings and I was amazed to see them
because they are very profound, deep, and good
paintings. That was in my personal life but as a part
of the North American society, I was also hurt.
Immorality hurt me; television ads and violence hurt
me; teachers telling us wrong things; telling always
the shallow side of life. The school system lacked
substance. I was very glad to get out of that society.
Now, I will answer the other side of the
question: Why India? One thing is obvious: there is
a lot of spirituality and meetings with spiritual
88

people. Everyday I have spiritual encounters. In


Canada, I had to search for it. But here, it is all over
the place: wonderful spiritual Sadhakas (the people
who do Sadhana), exciting new teachings, doing
Kirtans and Bhajans every day. It is a feast of
spirituality. If I were living in Canada, I would be
really searching.
The second reason is that I am a dedicated
Sadhaka and everything in my life goes around my
Sadhana. I love India because the practical daily
life, aside of the spiritual encounters, is very
challenging, and I adore that. It keeps you on edge
and alert. In India, you cannot take things for
granted. You have to be very alert all the time.
Nothing what you see, nothing what you hear is
what it appears. I love that.
When I went back to Canada, I noticed that
everybody there was as if they were dead. If
something unexpected happened, they did not have
a clue what to do, even though everything was very
clear and easy. When I was there, I was often
shocked at people’s reactions. People felt that if the
waiter came five minutes late, something was
terribly wrong. I met old friends who were unaware
of themselves. They did not question things; they
were asleep. That’s what I saw in Canada: they were
all dead. Their brains were dead. They couldn’t cope
with anything. They had no resourcefulness.
Everything has to be done for them. Once when I
meditated, I had a terrifying experience. I saw
myself in a graveyard. I was in a horrible place
surrounded by dead people and dead leaves. I think
the dead leaves were people I knew who were just
like them, blown by circumstances. They didn’t
89

make any decision for themselves. They said: “I am


angry because my husband is unreasonable.” “I am
exhausted because my children puzzled me today.”
“I am cooking this because we don’t have enough
money for something else.” There is always “I am
doing this because.” There is always an external
cause. So, they are just leaves. They are being blown
around. They don’t have sense of Self. They have no
a sense of what they are doing.
When you live in an easy country, in an easy
family and in an easy society, you may never
discover what it means to be a human being. Why
are you going to stress yourself? For me, it is a
blessing when someone comes to India, for whatever
reason. India usually shakes up the mind of the
people. India often scares them. Sometimes,
something awful happens. I feel this is the greatest
grace. Terrible things have happened to me in India.
It would have been much easier to cope with them
or to solve them if they could have happened in
Canada. In India, it was very difficult.
I adore that awakening! That’s what people
talk about when they come to India, on way or the
other: awakening. In fact, some people cannot cope
with the awakening. My husband and I had had to
send back three people to their home countries
because they went almost crazy. As soon as they
reached home, everything settled down and they
were fine. They just got awakened in India.
I also was like so many others. I came to India
three times and I hated it. I thought: I have got to
get out of here; this is just awful and I cannot stand
this a minute longer! Especially, the time I came for
the Kumbha Mela. I thought: I am going to die here
90

if I stay a day more. So, I rushed back to Delhi and I


managed to get my reservation changed. I was
supposed to be in India for one month, and I wanted
to go back after ten days. But, as soon as I got off
the plane in Toronto, within the first 3 hours, after
seeing friends and all, I thought: Oh my God! What I
have done! I wept and wept because I said to myself:
“You blew it! You had the opportunity of facing the
challenges in India and you blew it. You couldn’t
face it.” In my heart I knew. I knew that I was given
an opportunity but I was not ready. That happened
three times. But slowly, doing my Sadhana in
Canada, I became more self-aware.
But this is not the only reason I choose to live
in India. It has to be a tremendous attachment,
commitment or experiences from other lives that
makes me love India. Here in India, I got cancer and
I thought I was not going to live. But, I also felt a
sort of a flow that was pushing me to stay here. It
might be because of a tremendous commitment to
my Sadhana. The tremendous fire inside me to be
enlightened and to know who I am. That is a strong
force. Also there is a lot of attachment for my past
life in India. Once my guru told me that in my very
last life, I was in India. So you have a combination
of things: my intellectual thinking that it is good to
be in a challenging place, the attachment from past
life, and plus, the wish to be fired up with the
spiritual fire of enlightenment.
I have been on the razor’s edge of life and
death many times, and I am extremely grateful to
God. You see, now I am about to cry. What is
greater than being on the razor’s edge! Face it. What
a sad life, the life that has never been challenged!
91

What makes it different than a goat or a chicken?


Nothing. Most people get born into their bodies and
then pass out of them. There is nothing significant
to just be in a body and then just be in another one.
How grateful one has to feel for being forced into
tremendous challenges in which one thinks that one
is never going to live. May be one would not survive,
but at least one dies alert. One may die trying but
how wonderful it is if one has success. I am
extremely grateful to India because she challenges
me over and over again.
All the time, I have a very strong sensation
that every single thing that happens to me, it is
exactly what God wants to happen to me. So, it is
not really guts; it is a sort of surrendering, of being
opened to God and of doing the right thing. On the
other hand, I really love the Ganges because she is
my mother and when I am near her, I feel very safe,
happy, and secure. So, it is not taking guts to stay
in my house in India. It is that I want to be there
and not in any other place in the world. It is just the
opposite: it takes guts to go out of my house and I
took guts when I went to Canada. I stayed there for
four months and I thought I was going to die. When
I reached Delhi, involuntarily I kissed the floor at
Delhi’s airport. Then I knew how stressed I was in
Canada, and how glad I was to be back in India!
I really have a sense of security when I am
near the Ganges. For me, it is a delight to look at
her. I could sit the whole day looking at the water. I
am completely happy and I don’t need anything
more. So, what could be a greater grace? What
could be greater to anyone?
92

“What do you think is the importance of this


Kumbha Mela? From your perspective, what is the
spiritual relevance of the last Kumbha Mela of the
millennium?” I asked.
“I have a very short answer for that question.
For me it is very clear. The Kumbha Mela used to
have a good reason for being and that reason was
that once in every three years all the Babas,
Mahatmas, Swamis, Fakirs, Sufis, all the spiritual
people, would get together and exchange views with
each other. It was literally a big sort of meeting for
them: sitting together under trees and talking to
each other; having debates and discussions;
exchanging gossips. Having great meetings with
friends once again because they normally wandered
here and there involved in their own path. So, this
used to be a grand meeting of spiritual men. That
was the original practical meaning and practical
reason for the Kumbha Mela.
There is the mythological reason, there is an
astrological reason, but the practicality of this was
that it was a good place and a good time to meet. At
that time, there were no books, no trains, no
television and how these spiritual people were going
to have debates? They must have agreed to meet
somewhere. Otherwise, there would not have been
exchange of spiritual ideas nor spiritual
discussions.”
“Why do think that people come to the
Kumbha Mela?” I asked.
She said: “The reason why so many people
come to the Kumbha Mela is because there is not
93

just one thing going on. There are many things


going on.
People come because if they bathe at Har Ki
Pairi (the main place of bathing in Haridwar) at a
specific time, according to astrology and mythology,
the veil that separates the world of the humans, and
the world of the gods, is at its very thinnest, or
perhaps is totally opened. So, the Ganges water at
that spot becomes imbued suddenly with the
blessing of the energy of the world of the gods. The
other thing is that many thousands of spiritual
people are at that place. So, people think, “Oh, this
is wonderful.” Obviously, this makes something very
interesting. Besides, they are taking a dip in the
Ganges. People of India believe that Ganges is not
just an ordinary river. It is a holy river with spiritual
energy from Lord Shiva. So, the water is not
ordinary water; it is a scientific fact also. It is not
just a fact of faith. It is a scientific fact. It combines
a lot of things together and that’s why a lot of people
come. Right?”
“Are people coming for spiritual help?” I
asked.
She replied: “They come for help. The spiritual
people come to find spiritual help; the sick people
are coming because they think they are going to be
healed. If they need a job, they think they are going
to get it; if they want to be purified, the spiritual
help for purification will be there, certainly.
“How many Kumbha Mela have you
attended?” I asked.
94

She replied: “I have attended three Kumbha


Mela: two at Haridwar and one at Ujjain. I have been
here for 25 years!”
I asked “Are there any common
characteristics between the Kumbha Mela at
Haridwar and the one at Ujjain?”
She replied: “No. They are quite different. The
Kumbha Mela at Haridwar is at the foothill of the
Himalayan Mountains. The Ujjain is in the plains.
They are in different states and the people of
Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are different. It
is another culture. Har Ki Pairi at Haridwar is a
place where people feel that God was present there.
In Ujjain, there is one of the twelve natural
Shivalinga in India. It is called the Maha Kaal.
People believe that this Shivalinga has very
profound powers and they believe that it has a
profound influence in their lives. It is something to
see because all the days, even highest officers, with
great reverence go to have Darshan (to see) of that
Maha Kaal.
“Is the Shivalinga naturally made?” I asked
“Yes.” She answered.
“Is it a stone?” I asked.
She replied: “Yes, it is a stone. It is said that
Shiva Himself made it. That is what a natural
Shivalinga is. It is a very powerful and interesting
place. It is more ancient than Haridwar and it has a
lot of old ruins. Krishna studied there. He was sent
from Brindaban to study in Ujjain.”
I asked: “Are you a self-contented person?”
95

She replied: “Oh yes! I am a very self-


contented human being. I am a self-contented
person from within, from gaining knowledge and
from surrendering to life as a manifestation of God.
That’s how I feel. I am a very lucky person filled with
gratitude. This is what my guru has given me, what
living in India has given me and by the grace of the
Lord, what my Mother Ganges has given me.
The meeting finished almost at 6:00 P.M. We
kept talking until the other person who came for the
interview arrived. I introduced them and took the
opportunity for inviting both of them to come for
dinner with us. She left confirming that she would
be back at 8 o’clock for dinner.
I offered tea or something to drink to Swamiji
but he did not accept. He just wanted to do the
interview and leave quickly because he had to go
somewhere after 6:30. He also confirmed joining us
for dinner.
96

Swami X

Swami X requested not to mention his name.


Therefore, only general information about his life
will be given.
Swamiji before taking the vows of Sanyas,
was a very prosperous Indian businessman in
Canada. He always was attracted by the spiritual
life. One day, he decided to renounce everything and
come back to India to follow the Sanyasi life. After
wandering some years in different parts of India, he
finally has settled down in a very small cottage in
Rishikesh where he is practicing Sadhana.
I asked him: “Is this the first Kumbha Mela
you are visiting?”
He replied: “No. I came in the Kumbha Mela of
1950 when I was a student in the college and a
group came as volunteers Scouts at university level.
We came as part of the organization of the Kumbha
Mela and one of the incidents I remember is that
they asked us to perform duty for 48 hours
continuously. I guess it was part of Scouting
development because they used to take you through
all kinds of exercises.”
I said: “That sounds really tough!”
He said: “Well, it seems like that for an
outsider. But when you are involved, you are very
excited.”
I asked “Did you have the opportunity to meet
any Swami or any spiritual person at that time?”
97
He said: “As a matter of fact, at that time I
didn’t know anything about spirituality. I came with
a group from the college as Scouts. I didn’t come as
a spiritual seeker.”
I asked: “Do you find any difference between
this Kumbha Mela and the Kumbha Mela of 1950?
He said: “To be quite honest, I neither have
many memories about 50’s Kumbha Mela nor the
awareness of spirituality was there at that time. But
now I am seeing so many people with so much
devotion, carrying their baggage on their heads,
walking long distances under the sun. Also you see
shopkeepers offering drinks, food and shelter. You
really feel blissful seeing all these things, that
humanity is able to come up to help people.”
I asked: “I understood that you lived for
sometime in Canada although you were born and
brought up in India. How and why did you move
there?”
He said: “It is a matter of opportunity. First, I
moved from India to England. I lived there for 14
years. Then, there were better prospects in Canada,
and I moved there.”
I asked: “Why did you to come back to India?”
We are talking about different periods of life.
Going back 30 years, the objective of life at that time
was different to the objective of life now. Having
spent my whole working life in England and in
Canada, after retirement, India is the best place to
live.”
I asked him: “How did you decide to move to
Rishikesh? What has Rishikesh offered to you that
made you come here?”
98
He said: There are many aspects. The physical
aspect is that Rishikesh is a holy city where the
Ganges River flows through it. Somehow, there has
been the idea in the back of the mind, that after
retirement, I want to live at the bank of the Ganges.
By God’s grace, I am having the opportunity to live
here.”
I asked: “You just moved to your own place.
How do you feel living alone after living in an
Ashram?
He replied: “When I came here, I came with
the idea of devoting myself fully to practice
Sadhana. For that purpose, the objective was not to
get too much involved in organizing personal affairs
or cooking. So, the idea was to find a place in an
Ashram where the mind is totally free from all those
worries. But somehow, by the grace of the Lord, it
did not work out. As a result, I found my own place,
where I live independently without being worried to
be moved out from there.”
I asked: “It is important to have privacy and
space for yourself, isn’t it?”
He said: “Yes, it is very important. Also to
practice Sadhana, it is important that the place
should not be very big but small. You don’t want to
accommodate people around you. You want to
devote yourself entirely for Self-realization.
I asked him: “How are you feeling coming
back to your own roots, I mean, living back in
India?”
He replied: “I never participated into the
system of bribery and mismanagement. I was quite
happy when I lived outside. The environment abroad
99
was going very well with my own temperament. The
question of coming back home is deeply related to
spirituality because you need a place where you can
contemplate and read the scriptures. In that sense,
Rishikesh suits my purpose.”
I was already 6:20 P.M. and Swamiji had to
leave. He accepted the invitation for diner and said
that he will be at 8 o’ clock.
When Swamiji left, I went up to my room to
bathe and to get ready for receiving fifteen friends
that we invited for dinner. We put some chairs and
one big dining table on the terrace of the hotel. We
ordered soft drinks, Lassi (drink made of yogurt),
juice, and food from the Hotel’s restaurant. It was
simple but the idea was to get together. Most of
them were spiritual seekers and sadhus who had
come to the Kumbha Mela. We had the opportunity
of talking about interesting themes and even of
sharing experiences with people from different part
of the world.
After having dinner and after singing happy
birthday to my husband in many languages, we
tasted Rishikesh’s bakeries special dish: eggless
cake. Our guests left around 10:30 P.M.
I was very happy because it was a very good
day for us. With today’s meetings, I had made seven
interviews. I wanted two more to make nine. I just
had to find two more people to achieve my task. As I
usually do, I put my problem in God’s hands and
told Him that He should choose the other two people
for me to interview. I was sure He would choose the
right people and that was exactly what happened.
100

Rishikesh April 15, 1998

I got up after 8 A.M. I was tired and decided to


have breakfast in the room. My husband went to
have breakfast in the dining room with Chand and
Urvashi. When they came up, they told me that the
owner of the hotel approached them and told them
that he understood that I was interviewing
spiritually accomplished people for a book. He said
that Gomukh Mataji (Gomukh is the glacier where
the Ganges is born and it is considered to be a very
sacred place) was a real saint from the Himalayas
and that I should not leave her out of my book.
Gomukh Mataji was supposed to come and stay
overnight in the same hotel we were staying. She
was on her way back to Gomukh from Haridwar.
The owner of the hotel also told them that she was
very well known in the whole Himalayan area not
only because of her accomplishments in the
spiritual field but also because of the blessings she
got from God. As soon as I listened that, I got ready
and went down to talk to the owner of the hotel.
The owner of the hotel was a typical Indian
middle age man. He was well dressed and was
wearing glasses. He stood up to welcoming us
putting his hands together and speaking English.
For his manners, could guess that he was not from
Rishikesh. Latter I corroborated that it was true
because during the conversation he said he was
from Mumbay (the new name of Bombay). After
sitting, he offered tea which we accepted. He started
the conversation like this: “As I was saying to your
101

husband, tonight a great saint from the Himalayas


called Gomukh Mataji is going to overnight in this
hotel. She lives in Gomukh all around the year (even
in winter time when the temperature goes far below
0 degrees). She lives there without any heating
system. She only uses blankets for warming herself
and she usually keeps food provisions for the
winter. Eight years ago, some devotees took her to
Haridwar for medical check up. When the doctors
saw her blood test, they said that she should stop
living in Gomukh and that she should come down to
a lower area because her blood was as thick as the
blood of an animal. They also said that if she
continued living there, she would die very soon. She
answered back to them saying that if she has to die,
she would die only in Gomukh and nowhere else.
Doctors insisted but she refused to leave Gomukh.
That happened eight years ago and she was still
living in Gomukh and her health is very good.”
He also said that she was very well known
among the pilgrims who go to Gomukh for very valid
reasons. The first one is that she takes good care of
all the pilgrims who goes to her Ashram (the only
one there. The second one is that when the pilgrims
reached Gomukh after trekking 17 kilometers from
Gangotri, she is always waiting for them even with
the right number of plates for the quantity of people
that are coming as she would already know how
many people are coming for dinner! We are talking
about a very remote area where phone (and I think
that even electricity) is not available.
I inquired about her with other people and
they gave similar references. I was very happy
because I was looking for people like her and I felt
102

again the hand of God guiding me. As she was


supposed to come in the evening, I had the whole
day to get only one more interview for the book. I
was sure that I was going to find him or her very
soon.
Chand, Urvashi, my husband and I went to
our house from where we phoned Penny Mataji. She
asked us to come to her house but as cars still were
not allowed in the city, we agreed to walk up to the
starting point of Rishikesh. From there, Bhim Singh
(Swami Narandanand's brother) would pick us up in
Mataji’s car.
When we reached Penny Mataji’s ashram, we
met Swami Naradananda and all his disciples
including Mata Pardeshwari. Again I asked her to
accept the interview but she was feeling shy. So, I
asked her to write two questions: the first one was
the reason why she decided to become a Sanyasini
(a lady who has taken the ascetic life) being so
young and what she thinks about the Kumbha Mela.
When I mentioned writing instead of talking, she
agreed. She liked the idea and accepted to give it to
me in the evening. I was very happy that she agreed
to be part of the book because it is not common to
find a young pretty girl who has renounced the
worldly affairs to become an ascetic, giving up the
chance to get married and to have children. She
must have had a good reason.
Swami Naradananda and his disciples were
going to visit another ashram. But Penny Mataji had
to go to Ganga Kinare Hotel to check everything for
a Kirtan program she was organizing for that
evening. We thought that it was a good idea to have
lunch there and we invited Penny Mataji to join us
103

for lunch. Mataji agreed and the five of us Chand,


Urvashi, Penny Mataji, my husband and I went
walking up to the hotel.
The view of the Ganges and of the Rajaji Park
from the Ganga Kinare Hotel is really amazing. For
the Kumbha Mela occasion, the Hotel made a nice
place to bathe in the Ganges and even put a tent for
changing clothes. As the day was very sunny, I felt
like bathing and I asked if anybody of the group
were feeling like bathing too. None of them wanted,
but I convinced my husband to bathe with me. So,
we went down stairs and put our bag with clean
clothes (that by chance we had brought along with
us thinking that we might feel like bathing) in the
tent and went (with our Indian cloths on, of course)
to have a dip in the Ganges. It was not very easy
because there were a lot of rocks. We went in the
river as much as we could, keeping enough distance
from the strong current. We enjoyed it very much.
One feels very good while and after bathing in
the Ganges. First of all, one feels very light and
energetic (like after having a good massage). Also,
the hair and the skin become so soft and shiny
without necessity of shampoos, soaps or creams.
The most amazing fact is that the energetic feeling
remains the whole day. I am not sure if my sins
were washed away, but the feeling of bathing in the
Ganges was great.
After bathing, we joined our friends for lunch.
We had discussions about spiritual matters while
enjoying a nice vegetarian meal. Bhim Singh picked
us up and dropped us back to our hotel as close as
he could. We reached the hotel around 5 P.M. We
changed our cloth and went back to Ganga Kinare
104

Hotel where Mr. Ajit Singh, a well-known musician


from Dehradun gave a concert with a very ancient
instrument called Vichitra. Then, Penny Mataji’s
group sang Kirtans. When the program finished,
Mata Pardeshwari gave me her written interview.
105

Mata Pardeshwari

This is the translation of what she wrote:


I am 27 years old. I like to sing Kirtans and
Bhajans. I also like to give Satsang, Pravachan, etc.
I live and practice my Sadhana in the Swami
Naradananda Ashram in Ujjain.
Question: Why did you take Sanyas?
Answer: The saints say that people with
attachment do not attain Lord Shiva (Pardeshwar).
Only people without attachment can attain Him.
One has to loose something to attain something
great that only fortunate people can get. For
example: There was a King who announced that
whoever came to see him first, he would be his.
Meanwhile, he built for his subjects hotels, clubs,
buildings, shops, gardens, houses, beautiful
arrangements for transportation and guesthouses.
All the people proceeded to go to see the King but
when they saw on the way that so many shops,
buildings, hotels, cars, beautiful cloth and precious
jewelry were available free, they forgot to see the
King.
But there was a child who considered all this
as useless and he remembered that he had to go to
see the King. If he could reach there before
everybody else, the King would be very pleased.
Some wicked people tried to stop the child to go to
see the King but without caring for anyone, he
reached the cottage of the King. The King was
surprised that none of the grown up people had
106

come so far but a child had come leaving everything


behind. Does not the child need worldly things? The
King told the child: “Whatever you want I will give
you but you go back to your house.” However, the
child was stubborn and he said: “Your Majesty, you
had said that whosever comes to see you, he will
become yours. I will not go back and I will stay in
this cottage because I need you”. Seeing the strong
determination of the child, the King took the form of
Lord Shiva and embraced the child and adopted
him. After the adoption of the child by the Lord
Shiva, the child attained the Lord Shiva as well as
all the worldly things. In the same way, to attain
Lord Shiva one has to have strong determination
and sacrifice everything like the child did. Leaving
all material things aside and without caring for
opponents, one should proceed to meet the King. In
this way one gets the Lord as well as the world
because the whole world is the play of Lord Shiva
Who can be seen in every country and in every
place.
Question: What do you think is the
importance of the Kumbha Mela?
Answer: If the devotion is authentic, one can
see the glory of God everywhere. Without the
blessing of God, no one can come to Kumbha Mela.
Only those who have the grace of the Lord, can
come to participate in the Kumbha Mela. At Kumbha
Mela, there are showers of Amrita in the form of
love. According to the Puranas, God distributed
Amrita after churning the ocean between the Gods
and demons. But in this Kumbha Mela, everyone is
distributing the Amrita of love to each other,
whether he is native or a foreigner, a Sanyasi or a
107

detached household person, Babas, yogis, or worldly


people. Everybody recites through his heart the
sound of Lord Shiva, of Lord Krishna or Lord Ram.
In their melodious simple and sweet voice resides
the voice of Amrita.
In Kumbha Mela, there are two types of
bathing. At Har Ki Pairi (main place for bathing in
Haridwar) is the physical bathing in the water of
Ganges, which is like Amrita. In the singing of
saintly people, one enjoys the Amrita of love dipping
one’s mind in the Ganges of knowledge and
devotion. This makes one’s heart full like a filled
pool of water.
At the end of her letter, there was a message
for us:
The hearts of both of you are full of love and
devotion. May your love remain stable and immortal
and that the goal of your life will be attained.
Your well wisher,
Pardeshwari Mata
When I read the paper, I was very happy that I
asked her to be part of the book. Though she is very
young, she has profound thoughts and great
devotion. Both virtues are essential in the path of
Self-realization.
108

Saint Subhadra Mata

Around 10:30 P.M., we returned back to our


hotel. At that time, cars were allowed to go inside
the city. Luckily, Gomukh Mataji arrived late from
Haridwar. She was just finishing her dinner when
we arrived. The owner of the hotel had spoken to her
about us and she agreed to receive us. We went to
see her in her room. We knocked at the door that
was opened and she sweetly smiled. She asked us to
sit on two chairs that her helpers had kept for us.
She was sitting on the bed. She was wearing a
sari and a yellow shawl that was covering half of her
body. She was slim and her eyes shone from a
distance. I could not guess how old she was but she
looked like a middle age lady. Her strong presence
could be felt in the room as if rays of energy were
coming from her. There were in the room also three
of her devotees, two ladies and Swami Swerwanand
from Sri Krishna Ashram in Gangotri, District
Uttarkashi.
First of all, we thanked her for giving us some
of her time for the interview. She smiled. My
husband explained why I was writing a book about
Kumbha Mela and how we were planning to make it.
She kept smiling and my husband started to ask
her questions in Hindi language. She spoke Hindi
though she was born in South India.
We asked her to tell us something about
herself. She said that although she was born in a
very warm place in South India, she lives in
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Gomukh, the glacier from were river Ganges is born.


Mataji went to Gomukh 20 years ago and felt as if
she was in heaven. Although doctors advised her to
move from there, she decided to stay and die there.
She stays alone there around the year, even during
the severe wintertime when temperatures are below
zero. Her daily routine in winter is to sit in
meditation near the fire with a lot of cloth on her. In
summer she keeps herself busy in serving the
people that go up to Gomukh for pilgrimage.
We asked her opinion about the Kumbha
Mela. She narrated the story of the churning of the
ocean and dropping of Amrita at four places. She
said that the faith of people and the belief on the
purification with the water of river Ganges are great
traditions of India. Washing the sins away is a big
factor for people’s devotion to river Ganges. Many
saints come from all over India during Kumbha Mela
and common people have the opportunity to see the
saints face to face.
According to Mataji no single path is useful for
everyone: each person can choose the action path,
recitation of mantras or meditation path according
to his or her nature.
“There should not be any consumption of food
or drink before meditation. On should be totally
devoted and perform service with dedication. Since I
was 4 years old, I have been doing meditation.” She
said.
She also emphasized: “If one can read and
understand the Bhagavat Gita, there is no need of
reading other scriptures.”
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Then, she looked at me deeply and gave me


important advices on my spiritual path for my life.
As it was quite late (after midnight), we thanked her
for the guidance, her love, and time she gave to us.
She blessed us and we went to our room.
I was just full of contentment not only for
meeting so many wonderful people but also because
we have accomplished our target of getting good
interviews for the book. The most important part of
the book had finished. The rest should be easier
with the grace of the Lord.

Next day Urvashi and Chand left for Delhi. We


stayed one day extra to discuss with the architect
some important points on the construction of our
house. Four days later, we went back to Havana to
pack our things to move for good to India.
111

Shivaratri, 21 February 2001

To meet spiritually accomplished people, in


the multitude of crowds, was like finding pearls in
the ocean of humanity. I don’t think it was by
chance. Indeed, I think that there was a force
guiding us that was arranging whatever happened.
After meeting and exchanging ideas with the
spiritual people, one could observe that the goal was
the same although the paths of most of them were
different. In the verse 4.11, Canto IV of the
Bhagavad Gita, it says that God accepts people from
different paths. Some of them follow the path of
devotion (bhakti), some the path of action (Karma),
others the path knowledge (Gnan) but Self-
realization was the common goal among all of them.
Some of those spiritual people have already reached
that objective; some are still on the way but what is
important is that they dedicate their lives and efforts
to reach the highest level of Consciousness.
I think another common feature among the
spiritual people is the faith. All of them talked about
faith in some way or the other. Also the faith of the
common pilgrim is one of the main reasons why the
Kumbha Mela has been going on since many
centuries. I agree totally with Dr. Kutty when she
said that it is faith that motivates people to
participate the Kumbha Mela. Faith is a tremendous
power that makes the pilgrims to overcome all the
difficulties that a pilgrimage trip implies. It was
amazing to see people walking even bare feet from
far places just to participate in the Kumbha Mela.
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Many of them were sleeping under the sky and


making their food on the streets but they were still
very happy because they were participating in the
Kumbha Mela. That’s one of the characteristics that
make the Festival of Aquarius such a special
occasion.
But transcending all the rituals and
paraphernalia that surrounds the Kumbha Mela, I
think that there is something that, indeed, is very
auspicious for the spiritual seeker. Almost three
years have passed since the Kumbha Mela in
Haridwar was celebrated and many changes have
taken place for the people who collaborated with
this book. Swami Naradananda, for example, has
traveled to the United Kingdom, Canada and
America where he found many new disciples. Also,
he has just made a mercury Shivalinga of 65
kilograms weight for a temple in Bhopal, Madhya
Pradesh state. The mercury Shivalinga will start
being worshiped tonight for celebrating the night of
the Lord Shiva (Shivaratri). Mata Pardeshwari also
traveled to London and the United States and got
many followers there. Penny Mataji took the vow of
Sanyas given by her guru Mauni Baba Chandra
Swami, last year on 16 of March. That day she
received a new name and now she is known as Ma
Chetan Jyoti. Swami Karnapuri was named
secretary of the Jhuna Akhara where he is having
the opportunity to make all the changes he talked
during his interview with us.
One of the changes that have happened
during these years is the passing away of our dear
Dr. Kutty on the year 2000. Up to the last moment
she was working and helping in the hospital. Two
113

days after having a heart attack, she abandoned her


body. Her physical absence is felt very much among
all her disciples, her patients and her friends. The
work she did has its fruits in all her students who
are working not only in India but also around the
world. However, her indelible trace is pervading in
the incalculable quantity of women she helped. We
pay homage to a great soul who in her lifetime was
the vivid incarnation of goddess Sarasvati, the
goddess of knowledge.
In my life also there were a lot of changes.
From my personal experience, I can say that my life
changed radically after participating in the Kumbha
Mela. New circumstances that appeared in my life
helped me in my spiritual path. The effect of the
auspicious Jupiter position as the planet with
spiritual influence that the astrologers and the
swamis talked about did manifest very quickly in
my case.
First of all, as soon as we came back from the
Kumbha Mela, we moved from Havana to Rishikesh
for good, not to our own house (because it was still
under construction) but to Sadhana Mandir Ashram
(or Swami Ram’s Ashram as it is known in
Rishikesh) for almost 6 months. Swami Rama was
considered to be a siddha yogi, (a person who has
total control on his mind and body). There, I had the
opportunity to read Swami Rama’s books, which I
consider to be precious gems for the spiritual
seeker. In his book, Living with the Himalayan
Maters, he explained in details his experiences while
living in the Himalayan caves with saints. He also
tells about his guru and adopted father, Bengali
Baba.
114

I had the opportunity to meet Swami Rama a


year before he abandoned his body during my first
trip to India. My husband met him in Toronto many
times when Swami Rama was collecting money for
the construction of a medical city in Jolly Grant,
near Rishikesh. His followers in Curacao and in
Aruba had told me many stories about his great
powers and their personal experiences with him.
The idea I had about Swami Rama before I met him
was of a serious and circumspect sage. I was
expecting to see an elderly, slow-moving Swami
wearing a long maroon kimono as he looked in
many of his photographs. But I got a big surprise
when in a raining evening, I met him personally. I
remember that my husband and I were waiting in
the drawing room of his cottage in Jolly Grant for
about twenty minutes. Suddenly a very tall,
energetic, fast moving middle-age looking man
entered into the drawing room. He was wearing a
maroon jogging suit and white tennis shoes. Some
people were following him with great reverence. My
husband stood up and did Pranam to him. I
remained seated because I did not know who that
gentleman was. He looked at me and smiled; then
my husband told me to stand up and to salute
Swami Rama. I was astonished to see the legendary
Swami Rama coming in such a simple and casual
way. He was even wearing jogging suit! I stood up
and did Pranam to him but I still could not
coordinate the image I had of Swami Rama and the
person I was meeting.
He sat in a chair near my husband and they
talked in Hindi. Still in my astonishment, I just
stared at him without saying any word. After
sometime, many people started coming in the
115

drawing room and many of them saluted Swami


Rama doing Ashtan (lying flat on the floor). Though
people were treating him with great respect, there
was no arrogance in his manners. On the contrary,
one could feel love in his eyes. He listened to all
their requests. I suppose he gave them what they
asked because the left very happy. When the
Darshan time finished, my husband and I also did
Pranam to him and left. I asked my husband what
he talked to Swami Rama. He said that he asked for
Swamiji’s blessings for our marriage and for our
spiritual life; also he asked for the blessing for the
projects my husband was working on (simplification
of the Hindi Devanagari script) and the translation
of the Bhagavat Gita into Hindi poetic form. I asked
my husband what the other people wanted. He said
that they were asking for admissions, scholarship
etc. for their children in Jolly Grant Medical College.
He also said that Swami Rama granted of their
requests. We also left very happy because we were
sure that we have received the blessing of the great
Himalayan yogi.
In fact, his blessings became palpable en we
lived in his Ashram in Rishikesh. It is very nicely
located on the bank of the river Ganges and had a
beautiful garden. There, I could go deeper into the
yoga and meditation field after Swami Veda Bharti,
disciple of Swami Rama, initiated me into the
Himalayan Tradition of Yoga and Meditation. Swami
Veda’s scholarly approach towards spirituality and
his profound insight into mysticism makes him a
very unique Swami. Since a very tender age, he has
been considered to be a great Sanskrit scholar and
he has been giving lectures and courses on the
Vedas, the Upanishads, yoga and meditation for the
116

last 54 years. Still, he goes around the world


guiding thousands of people on spirituality. Being
the spiritual leader of the Swami Rama Ashram, he
stays in Rishikesh during the winter months in
India giving special courses for his disciples from all
over the world. Swami Veda Bharti was honored as
Mahamandaleshwar (One of the highest positions in
the Hindu monastic orders) at a ceremony in
Haridwar in 1999. I had the privilege to attend this
impressive ceremony.
The people I had the opportunity to meet in
the Swami Rama Ashram were wonderful. I used to
share with my brothers and sisters by guru
initiation (guru bai and bhehen) as if we were a real
family. The Ganges at the point of the Ashram has
no waves and it is as smooth as a lake. One of the
gates of the Ashram leads to barrage road where we
used to walk every morning and evening enjoying
the gifts of nature of Rishikesh. All kind of colorful
birds can be seen flying and swimming. Some of
them showed perfect formation while flying as if
they have been perfectly trained for a parade. It was
common to see also groups of elephants (plying and
pouring water with their trunk to the small ones)
Different kinds of deer can also be seen in groups
running around on the white sand beaches of the
Rajaji Park.
In the evenings, the clouds and the
Himalayan mountains used to get dressed up in
pastel colors to welcome the brightest moon light
that shines not only from the sky but also on the
mirror of the river Ganges. The pilgrim moon also
used to come to bathe in the Ganges offering a path
of light on her way.
117

But the most amazing characteristic of


Rishikesh is something that, although invisible, it is
felt very much. Some people say that it is the
blessings of all the sages that have been getting
enlightened since immemorial times after doing
Sadhana and Tapasya in the Rishikesh area. Others
say that it is the Ganges effect because Rishikesh is
the first place where the river Ganges slows down
after the strength and the speed it has in the
mountains. The fact is that Rishikesh has such a
special “Shakti” (energy) that makes it unique.
Our house is not so far from Swami Rama
Ashram and the view is also very beautiful. We
finally moved to our own house in September 1999.
The house is surrounded by one of the biggest
Ashrams in Rishikesh called Shri Jairam
Annakshetra (place for food) guided by Shri
Brahmachari Devendra Swaroop. In the Ashram,
among other activities, there is a Sanskrit school
and the students chant mantras and perform holy
rituals every day. The Ashram environment gives a
holy atmosphere to my house and to my life also. It
is the perfect environment for practicing yoga and
meditation.
The peace that one feels after meditating gives
the calmness required for improving one’s life as
well as for dealing with daily problems far better. As
a western brought up person who has been
practicing meditation for many years, I can see
clearly the main differences between the
contemporary western way and the meditative way
of living. The western cultures and countries
emphasize the concentration of our being on the
outside world leaving very little time and energy for
118

discovering our own inner world. The fast


communication technologies provides to man almost
instantly the information of what is happening in a
small town on the other side of the world, yet he is
not able to know why he is feeling lonely, stressed,
or depressed. The western man is very close to the
events of the world but is very far from his own
inner reality. The daily introspection of meditation is
the balance that maintains both inner and outer
realities in equilibrium. It is the time that we
dedicate to ourselves to see what is happening
inside us. The time given for meditation may worth
years of happiness, good health and harmony within
ourselves and with the people that surround us.
Based on my own personal experience, I can
say that by practicing meditation in a profound way,
I could understand more my problems, my
weakness, my skills, and my whole reality. It has
been a fascinating discovery in which the greatest
treasure ever found was the endless peace and
infinite love that resides in the Self. This treasure
brought a big change in my existence. The jewel of
this knowledge gave me the light of intuition; the
gold of Consciousness gave me awareness and
humility, and the white diamond of love took away
my loneliness and gave me my Eternal Companion.
The path is not easy but the rewards are worth the
endeavor. When we walk on a plain path, it is easy
to go on; when we go downwards, it is easier and
faster, but when we want to go to the top of the
mountain to look down at the world, we have to
climb hard with all our energy and with a strong will
to reach the heights. That applies to life also.
119

There has been a great change in my life and I


am happy about it. My life passes quietly among the
activities of writing, reading the sacred books and
practicing yoga and meditation. I live in the lap of a
beautiful Ashram on the bank of the Ganges and in
the foothills of the Himalayas. With the blessings of
God, the company of my husband, and the guidance
of my guru, I overcame all the troubles and difficult
situations that I have come across. Good as well as
bad times were there, but I always felt the loving
hands of God, protecting and guiding me. That’s
why I feel, indeed, that some drops of the Amrita fell
from the holy Kumbha into my life.
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Glossary

Adi Guru Shankaracharya: Great saint and


organizer of the Hindu religion.
Akharas: Hindu religious institutions.
Amavasya: No moon.
Amrita: Divine nectar that gives immortality.
Arti: Holy ritual in which flowers, incense, and lights
are offered to God.
Ashram: Place dedicated to religious activities or
spiritual.
Avatar: an incarnation of God.
Banjans: Devotional songs.
Bhagirathi: Another name of the River Ganges
Brahaspati: Jupiter.
Brahmachari: The person who has made the vow of
celibacy.
Brahmacharya: Celibacy.
Chai: India tea made with milk and spices.
Coolies: Suitcase and baggage carriers at the railway
station.
Crores: One crore is equal to 10 millions.
Dakshan: To see. To have a vision.
Danavas: Devils.
Devas: Celestial beings.
121

Dhotis: Two to five meters of cloth that men in India


wear.
Dosas: Sort of yeastless bread made of rice and
white lentils.
Ghat: Main place for bathing on the bank of a sacred
river.
Gran Sabana: Great Sabana. First part of the world
that emerged from the ocean.
Guru bhai: Brother by the guru’s initiation.
Guru bhehen: Sister by guru initiation.
Hari Om: Salutation. Hari is a name of Lord Vishnu
and Om is the primordial sound.
Idlis: A south India preparation made with rice and
white lentils.
Japa: Repetition of a mantra.
Kajal: Black eye pencil.
Karma: Action.
Karmayogini A woman who has attained union with
the Divine and is dedicated to do service to
humanity.
Kirtans: Repetition of one of the name of God
accompanied with music.
Kurtas: Long and loose shirt. Upper part of the
Salvar Kurta.
Lassi: Drink made of yogurt.
Lord Shiva: Consciousness.
Lord Vishnu: God in the form that keeps the
universe in harmony.
122

Maha Kumbha Mela: The great Festival of Aquarius.


Mahabharata: Longest and oldest epic.
Mahadev: Lord Shiva.
Mahamandaleshwar: One of the highest positions in
the Hindu monastic orders.
Mahasamadhi: Place where a saint’s body or ashes
are kept.
Mahatmas: Great souls. People who have attained
enlightenment.
Maheshwara: Lord Shiva.
Mala: Hindu rosary.
Mantra: prayer.
Mataji: Mother.
Mesetas: Spanish name for the table-top shape
mountains.
Moksha: Liberation from the cycle of death and
reincarnation.
Naga Babas: A type of ascetics who wear no clothes.
Parathe: Stuffed yeastless bread
Pardeshwar: Lord of mercury who is also Lord
Shiva.
Prakiti: Nature projected as female power (shakti)
Prana Shakti: The power of the vital energy
Prana; Vital energy
Pranam: Salutation
Pravachan: Religious or spiritual discourse.
123

Puja: Holy ritual


Pujari: The person who performs a Puja
Pundits: Hindu priests
Puranas: Old sacred Indian books
Purnima: Full moon
Purusha: Non Manifested power projected as male
force.
Ram Lila: the life of Ram, an Avatar of Lord Vishnu.
Rudraksha: Seed that has different shapes or faces
when it is developed.
Sadhaka: The person who does spiritual practices to
attain enlightenment.
Sadhana: Spiritual practice.
Sadhus: Ascetics. Monks.
Salvar Kurta: Typical Indian women’s cloths
consisting of long pajamas and long shirt.
Sambar: Yellow lentils soup with vegetables.
Sanskaras: Strong desires that remain unfulfilled
and thus try to be fulfilled in future births.
Sanyasini: A women who has taken the monastic
vows.
Sati: Wife of Shiva.
Satsangs: Talks about spirituality. It’s literal
meaning is “In company of the Truth”.
Shakti: Energy. Power.
Shiva: In the Hindu trinity, Lord of destruction.
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Shivalinga: Force of creation. Symbol representing


Lord Shiva.
Siddha Ashram: Place dedicated to spiritual
activities for accomplished yogis.
Swamis: Monks that belongs to a certain Hindu
order. Ascetics.
Tantra: Thread or uniting force in esoteric rituals.
Tepuyes: Sort of mountains with a plane square top
that looks like a table.
Upanishads: Sacred spiritual books.
Uttar Pradesh: One of the northern states of India.
Vedas: Four sacred books in which all the
knowledge has been kept since times immemorial.
Vichitra: Very ancient musical instrument.
Yagya: Holy ritual with fire.
Yogi: The person who has united with God.

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