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7/31/2019 BADRINATH Part 2
1/8- 7 -
As the title goes, this is about the glory of the
most exquisite, ancient and powerful place on
this planet. The Headquarters of the very Ancient
Hierarchy of Beings who have transcended the
birth and death and have now dedicated their
existence for the upliftment of the rest of us who
are still struggling to find the way forward.
The gigantic mountain ranges of Himalayas,
which extend for thousands of square kilometres,
are broadly divided into five parts - Nepal,
Koormanchal (Kumayu), Kedar-Khand, Jalandhar
and Kashmir. Badarinath is located in Kedar-
Khand and is considered most holy of all.
The very air that flows in this sacred place is said
to purifying and conducive for Tapas or Penance.
While sending Sri Uddhav to Badarivana at the
time of his ascension to Vaikunta, Lord Sri
Krishna says to him that the very breeze that
flows over the holy Alakananda River would
purify him and annul his sins and that he can
happily live there doing tapas and meditating on
His form and attain to the Supreme Bliss and
hence he should proceed to Badarivana after His
ascent to Vaikunta. He also warns him to wear
woollen cloths and not to stay on empty stomach
while he is at Badarinath.
THE GLORY OF BADARIKASHRAMA II- By: Sanjay Bharatha
This principal source of River Ganges has a
number of sacred spots on its holy banks near
Badarinath. At various places in Badarinath there
are a number of secret and hidden sacred spots
that are only described in various Puranas and it
is only those who are blessed and those who are
meant to visit such sacred spots are either guided
by unseen forces or all of a sudden find
themselves at such spots.
Apart from such secret Teerthas or pilgrim spots
there are a number of pilgrim spots that are very
famous and visible to the naked eye and which
are known to all those who are familiar with
Badarinath. Now we shall know about a few such
Tirthas that are described in various Puranas.
The presence of River Alakananda here at
Badarinath is a story in itself. It is said that due to
the prank played by Lord Narayana upon Sri
Lakshmi Devi, she was compelled by Him to curse
Mother Ganga and Himself. As a result of such a
curse He gets a face of a horse that enables him to
kill an evil Asura and Mother Ganga is made to
flow near Badarinath in the name of Alakananda.
Thus it is due to the curse of Ma Lakshmi Devi
that we have River Alakananda to cleanse our
sins. All this was a part of the drama enacted by
Lord Narayana for the benefit of humanity.
Map showing Four Sacred Places in Himalayas
Sri Krishna Sending Uddhava to Badari-Vana, also
in the Picture Maharshi Maitreya who lives in
Kalapa Village near Badrinath
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Now as we come out of the Temple of Badarinath
and get down a few steps, on the right we find a
small shrine of Adi Kedareshwar Mahadev, Lord
Shiva. It is said that earlier this place was chosen
by Lord Shiva to do Tapas. Once upon a time Lord
Shiva had severed the fifth head of Lord Brahmain a rage due to the non-conformity of Dharma by
Lord Brahma. That head got stuck to Lord Shivas
hand owing to the sin called Brahma-hatya, the
Killing of Brahma. It would not come-off in spite
of many measures taken by Lord Shiva to absolve
that sin. Wandering from place to place when
Lord Shiva came to Badrinath, the fifth head of
Lord Brahma fell down near a spot known as
Kapala-Moksha or Brahma Kapala. From that time
onwards Lord Shiva began to stay at that sacred
spot.
And later Lord Narayana came there in the form
of an infant and began do Tapas at the placewhere Lord Shiva was staying. Seeing this Lord
Shiva along with Ma Parvati shifted his abode to
the nearby place called Kedareshwar or
Kedarinath.[It is said that in earlier days there
used to be a single priest who used to worship at
the four shrines of Badarinath, Kedarnath,
Gangotri and Yamunotri. All these four peaks can
be seen from a place called Tunganath that lies
above all these four spots and houses a temple oflord shiva].
Yet even today a small shrine of Lord Shiva is still
there at Badarinath. It is said that Lord Narayana
will not be happy with those who do not first
worship Lord Shiva at the said Adi Kedareshwar
Temple.
In front of this Adi Kedareshwar Temple is a
temple dedicated to Adi Shankaracharya, who
installed the present idol of Lord Badarinath that
was lying at the bottom of River Alakananda near
a spot known as Narada Kunda.
As we come further down we come to a hot water
spring known as Usna-Kunda. Near the feet of
Lord Badarinath very hot water springs out from
Narayana Mountain and is allowed to flow into
Usna-Kunda to facilitate the devotees to bath in it.
This is the most thrilling experience for the
devotees in those ice-clad mountains and is no
less than a heavenly experience to bath in thosesacred waters in the nail biting cold all around.
Adi Kedareshwar Temple situated upon Garuda-Shila
Temple of Adi Shankaracharya at Badarinath
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Such a bath actually relieves all the tiresomeness
of the devotees who come to visit this holy shrine
against all odds of nature, in most of the cases,
travelling at least for 2 days in those gigantic
peaks of Himalayas. It is also said that bathing in
those holy waters burns all the sins of thedevotees and also cures the diseases.
There is a story as to how this holy hot water
spring came to be at Badarinath. Once upon a time
in an Ashram of a Rishi a small female child was
crying and her mother said to her that if shedoesnt stop crying then she would give her to a
Rakshasha, a demon. At that very instant a Demon
happens to be there and overheard this
conversation and decided that that girl will be his
wife. All this is unknown to the mother of that
child as she had said it just to make the kid stop
crying.
After a few years that child is married off to
Brighu Maharshi and this makes that demon very
angry and he waits for the right moment to
kidnap her. Once when Brighu Maharshi is out of
his Ashram the demon kidnaps his wife, who was
at that time pregnant with Brighu Maharshis
child. But before kidnapping her, he asks the
sacred fire that is kept in Brighu Maharshis house
whether or not it is true that the girl was
promised to him when she was a kid. Now as fire
is supposed to always tell the truth, the Fire God
Agni says that it is true.
And then taking Agni, the Fire god as a
witness that demon kidnaps the women. But as he
forcefully carries off the poor wailing women who
has no idea as to what was happening, she begets
a child, who later goes on to become Chyavan
Maharshi. Due to the splendour of that child that
demon is burned to death. When Brighu Maharshi
returns to his ashram and comes to know what
transpired, he curses Agni to become Sarva-
Bhakshi, that is, to become all-devouring.
Getting the shock of his life, Agni approaches Sri
Veda Vyasa who advises him to do penance at
Badarinath to absolve his sins. Agni comes to
Badarinath and pleases Lord Badarinath with isintense penance. Lord Badarinath appears to Agni
and says that his sins have been destroyed by his
mere coming to this sacred spot and asks him to
remain at Badari in one of his forms and burn
away the sins of the devotee who come there.From that time onwards Agni remained at
Badarinath in the form of a hot water spring
coming out from near the feet of the Lord and
cleanses all the sins of the devotees who bath in
those holy waters.
Usna Kunda the hot water pond at Badrinath
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It is also said in Skanda Purana that just as it is
immensely beneficial to do penance and holy
deeds at this Tapta-Kunda or hot water spring, it is
immensely destructive to commit any sin here.
Hence one needs to be very careful in the Tirthas
and be of pure thoughts and deeds.
Five sacred Rocks near Badarinath:-
1. Garud-Shila:- It is said in Skanda Purana thatGaruda the vehicle of Lord Vishnu did a severe
penance at a place 25 miles before Badarinath
and has the vision of Lord Narayana who then
advised him to go to Badarinath and fast for 3
days worshipping him. Garuda does this
penance and then Lord grants him boons.
Apart from being the Lords vehicle, one of itwas that the rock upon which he did the
penance be named after him and that those
who worship it be freed from all sorts of
poisons.
This is the rock upon which Adi Kedareshwar
Temple is situated. It is found that there are no
serpents in Badarinath at all and even the
black scorpions that are found here areabsolutely harmless and do not sting even
when they are accidentally crushed while we
are sleeping on the ground. This is my personal
experience at Badarinath. Just a few miles from
Badarinath at Kedarnath there are a number of
huge poisonous serpents but those are
mysteriously absent in Badarinath. It is said
that this is due to the presence of Garud-Shila
or Eagles-Rock at Badarinath.
2. Narad-Shila :- This rock is located verynear to river Alakananda and under it there
is a small pond known as Narad - Kunda
that is visible only at certain times of the
year and at other times it is covered by the
waters of Alakananda.
Bhagwan Narada did penance here and was
granted boons by Lord Narayana. One of
those boons was that the Lord remains
near this rock. Hence the shrine of Lord
Badarinath is located here. And other was
that whoever sees, drinks from or worships
at the Narada-Kunda be born again only as
humans and not degenerate into other
species in their next birth.
3. Markandeya-Shila:- Once upon a timeSiddha Markandeya met Narada Maharshi
at Mathura and told him that he is finding
the practice of going on pilgrimages very
tough. Then Bhagwan Narada advised him
to go to Badari as it would give him the
benefit of visiting all the Tirthas. Hence
Markandeya Rishi came to Badarinath and
did fasting and worship just for three days
here to please the Lord. Lord granted him
the boons at this place and one of it was
that the Lord has his permanent abode at
this place.
Small temple of Bhagawan Narada
Maharshi at Narada-Shila
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4. Narashimha - Shila:- after killing theAsura Hiranyakasyapa, Lord in the form of
Man-Lion was very angry and upon the
worship by the gods to calm down he
granted their wish and came and dipped
himself in Alakananda river and remained
there in the form of a holy rock, called
Narasimha-Shila, protecting the devoteesfrom evil influences.
4. Varahi-Shila:- Lord Varaha, an Avatara ofLord Vishnu came to Badarinath
immediately after rescuing the earth and
bringing her back from the nether world of
Rasatala. He remains here at Badari in the
form of a holy rock ever since.
Now as we proceed further along the banks of
Alakananda river towards the north we come
across Brahma Kapal. It is the place where the fifth
head of Lord Brahma fell off from the hand of Lord
Shiva. It is said that if one performs the ritual for
the benefit of ones ancestors here, they attain to
higher planes and if they happen to have fallen
they would again rise and get good birth.
Almost all those who come to Badarinath perform
this ritual here for the sake of their ancestors. It is
Siddha Markandeya being blessed by
Bhagawan Nara-Narayana at Badari-Vana
Brahma-Kapala- The place near Badari where
Lord Brahmas Head Fell
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It is said that here Lord Indra did his penance for
Lord Vishnu and got back his Kingdom from the
clutches of Asuras. It is said that if one baths in
this waterfall on the 13th day of the bright half
(approaching Full Moon) of any month and does
worship, one gets to go to Lord Indras World after
ones death.
Now on as we keep moving on this side of the
river on the Narayana Mountain we come across a
small shrine of Mata-Murthy, the mother of Nara-
Narayana Rishis. Nara-Narayana Rishis were born
to Dharma and Murthy Devi. When both the
brothers wanted to do Tapas and left for
Badarikashrama, their mother could not
withstand the separation from her beloved
children and came to live with them at Badarinath.
It is said that the Lord was always immersed in
Yoga-Samadhi for the welfare of the worlds but
promised to his mother that he would come to
visit her once a year at the place close to
Badarinath where His parents decided to perform
their penence. Thats why even to this day Lord
Badarinaths Utsav Moorthy (Idol meant for
procession) is taken to the temple of Mata Murty
on Vamana Dwadasi day and no worship is
performed in the main temple at Badarinath but
Lord is worshipped along with his parents at
Dharmasthal (named after His father). This place
is around a mile from the main temple of
Badarinath where the two auspicious rivers
Alakananda and Saraswati meet.
said that once such a ritual is performed here
there is no need to perform the annual ritual for
the same purpose. Exactly below this place in the
river there is Brahma-Kunda. Here Lord Brahma
had worshipped Lord Vishnu in order to get back
the Vedas that were stolen by an Asura and got
those back through Lord Vishnu after the Lordkilled that Asura.
As we proceed towards north from here to where
the river takes a turn, we come to a place called
Atri-Anasuya Teerth. It is where Mahrashi Atri and
his wife Anasuya did there penance.
Now lets come to the other side of the river
opposite to Brahma-Kapal. Here there is a big
ground which is rarely found in these mountain
ranges and as we proceed from there towards the
Village known as Mana, we come across a silvery
flow of water from the Nara Mountain. This is
called Indra Dhara waterfall.
Veda-Dhara water-falls beside Indra-
Dhara waterfalls on Nara Mountainopposite to Badrinath Temple
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This is the place where the pilgrims who dare to
go to Swargarohini or Sathopanth rest for the day.
And only one in thousands who visit Badarinath
goes on these very dangerous pilgrimages as the
route is very tough and if one is even a bit careless
then its the end of the story for him. Usually only
two periods are suitable to undertake this tough
pilgrimage. One is at the end of Vaishaka (end of
April-beginning of May) Month and the other
would be at the beginning of Jestha (end of May-
beginning of June) Month. At these times the ice
that is formed on the mountains would be hard
and hence it becomes possible to walk on it.
Now as we travel along the Narayana Mountain
towards the north-west direction to visit other
pilgrim centres we come across very beautiful
waterfalls known as Sahastradhara or the
thousand waterfalls. These waterfalls flow from
the top of Narayana Mountain.
It is said that Sri Maha Lakshmi too accompanied
Lords parents to Badarinath to do the service of
the Lord and she choose a place about 3 miles
from Badarinath Temple, it is called Sri Lakshmi
Vana, the forest of Sri Lakshmi Devi. It is very
interesting to note that there is no much
vegetation nearby Badrinath but once you enter
the precincts of Sri Lakshim Vana you find a forestof varieties of trees mainly of very large
auspicious Bhoja trees that are very important for
a number of rituals. May be this is the same place
that is referred to as Sri Vana in Suddha literature.
This is a very beautiful place that has a water fall
which is called Lakshmi-Dhara.
Lakshmi-Vana, a tract of greenery near Badari
where Bhojapatra trees are found
Lakshmi-Vana on the way to Sathopanth
Hard Ice enables us to walk on our way forward
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After they did and became purified they decided to
multiply their forms and be permanently at
Badrinath in one of their forms, the waterfalls and
continue to do Penance. Likewise there are 12
Dharas called Dwadashaditya Dharas or 12 Sun
waterfalls. Here the 12 deities, the sons of Kasyapa
Rishi, who are the 12 personifications of Sun god
did their penance in order to get the position as
Sun Deity and each becomes a personification of
Sun for each of the 12 months.
Another 4 waterfalls that are personifications of 4
aims of Human life, namely, Dharma, Artha, Kama
and Moksha are said to be in the same vicinity. But
it is impossible for a common pilgrim to identify
those out of the hundreds of waterfalls that areflowing there. It is only possible if some divine
soul shows those to us. After crossing these
Dharas we come to Chakra-Teertha.
This is the last spot before we go to the very
famous and very auspicious Sathopanth Teertha.
Chakra Teertha is in the form of a discus and is a
plain ground in the midst of these two gigantic
Mountains. In the next issue we shall cover theother auspicious spots around Badarinath.
(To be continued)
There is no mention of a thousand waterfalls in
this region in the Puranas but there is a mention of
a number of other waterfalls like Pancha-Dhara,
the waterfall form of 5 deities who are the
personifications of 5 pilgrim centres at various
places in India. They are Prabhas, Puskar, Gaya,
Naimish and Kurushetra.
It is said that as a number of pilgrims visit these
holy places annually and get cleansed of their sins,
these sacred spots eventually began to lose their
power and purity due to accumulating sins of thevisitors and when they prayed to Lord Brahma he
advised them to do penance at Badrinath.
Sahasra-Dhara during winter
Chakra Tirtha a tract of land in a circular
shape. The last stop before we reach
Satopanth Lake