The Yoga capital of not just India but the world.
How can it not be !
After all it's another name of योगेश्वर श्रीकृष्ण !
There is an interesting story about this place and my initial days of spiritual journey. We visited Hrishikesh on 15th November, 2020.
Let me go back in time a bit more. My father-in-law was expecting to get transferred at work. His last 2 years of service were left before getting retired. Possible places of his transfers from Mumbai were Delhi, Assam, Chennai, Baroda, Dehradun etc,. Finally, when he got a confirmation and it turned out to be Dehradun, Uttarakhand. A place in the close vicinity of holy places like Haridwar, Hrishikesh, Badrinath, Kedarnath etc,. So he moved to Dehradun with family and settled there in couple of weeks after he received formal confirmation.
Unfortunately in the same year my uncle passed away so we didn't celebrate Diwali at our home. Considering the given situation, since Aakanksha was missing her parents and wanted to be with them, we planned a trip to Dehradun for a week. I could work from home from there, so it wasn't a challenge for me to move there for a week.
It was the same time when I used to meditate in the early morning. Since the time we planned a trip I had a strong urge to visit Haridwar and Hrishikesh so I expressed the same to Aakanksha. Having a weekend in hand during our one week stay, Pappa arranged for a vehicle and planned a one day short trip to Haridwar and Hrishikesh.
Our first stop was at Haridwar.
Considering Covid-19 situation, we had not planned to get inside water for bath in Ganga or any rituals. Although we decided to just step down a bit and touch water with our feet 1st time I was getting inside a water of holy river Ganga. Water was little cold.
While Aakanksha and I had our dipped feet in cold Ganga, she had her extremely overwhelming moment and she burst out crying. Somehow, suddenly she remembered one of her close family friends who passed away many years back.
Later we visited Mata Mansa Devi temple on top the hill from where we could see magnificent view of Haridwar and Ganga.
If Dehradun can be imagined as situated at bottom of T then right top of T is Haridwar and left top of T is Hrishikesh. We had our lunch on the way and then reached Hrishikesh.
Hrishikesh seemed to be very different as compared to Haridwar. Haridwar was crowned performing rituals and taking bath in the holy Ganga.
Hrishikesh looked more like a tourist place initially. People had come there for river rafting , Yoga and of course to experience the spiritual aura of this holy place.
As soon as we got out of our car, a government licensed local guide, caught hold of us. He started narrating details of the place from historical and mythological perspective as we walked down the small lanes of the town.
I had recently started reading Bhagvad Gita. When I visited some of those temples and places I could relate it with some references from Bhagvad Gita. E.g. we saw a huge chariot ( Kapi Dhwaj ) of Arjuna and Shree Krishna and Lord Hanuman sitting on top of it.
After visiting few more temples we reached Ganga Ghat, where there was nobody except for us. Our guide started narrating a story of Raibhya Rishi who penanced there for a very long time until Lord Vishnu appeared and blessed him. According to him, when Lord Vishnu appeared, only his head was left and rest of the body was converted to dust and skeleton. The point he was trying to make was only Kesh (hair) was all that was left and hence the name ऋषी (Rishi ) - केष (kesh). I just smiled and said nothing.
Actual meaning of हृषिकेश - Hṛṣīkēśa is Lord of Senses ( इंद्रिय के स्वामी). हृषिक् (Hrishik) in Sanskrit means Senses (इंद्रिय) ईश (Ish) means Lord. Shree Krishna is Lord Of Senses. Everyone else except Shree Krishna are under the influence of Satva (सत्व), Raj (रज) , Tam (तम) Guna including the other two supreme Gods Bramha and Shiva. Shree Krishna and his all incarnations are Trigunatit (त्रिगुणातीत) - Beyond 3 Gunas. One who wants to become a supreme devotee of Shree Krishna, should 1st learn to control his senses. Starting from tongue. The one who can gain a control over his tongue can manage to gain a control of rest of the senses also.
Shree Krishna also says that whatever you do, do it to please his senses not yours. Mahabharat on Kurukshetra was Shree Krishna's will. Because he wanted to - विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।
Arjuna wasn't ready because he was not ready for the war. He was thinking about the pain he would go through by hurting his relatives and friends. But when Bhagvad Gita was told by Shree Krishna, it changed his mind and he fought for Shree Krishna and became undisputed warrior of the war. That was a fruit of his karma as a warrior. Shree Krishna didn't take the credit and let his devotee / student take the credit.
Har Har Gange !
Later, we decided to step down into Ganga just to get our feet wet like we did at Haridwar. Meanwhile, Ayaansh had gone crazy looking at the water and waned to dive in. Pappa decided to step in first, while holding Ayaansh. Our guide warned us about slippery floor. Just before Pappa stepped in, I dipped my foot in the water and the very moment I slipped in and fell in Ganga within a fraction of a second and without realising what was happening. As I was already inside water with clothes on and mobile, purse, etc., inside the pocket, I struggled to take my belongings out first and handed them over to my family. I continued to struggle to find a strong support to hold on to before falling down again. By then I was almost wet.
Although I had no plans to get in the holy Ganga for a bath, I almost had a bathing experience.
Shree Krishna says in Bhagvad Gita - 10:31
"I'm the river Ganga" 🙏🏼
When I read that after a few days, I had goosebumps recollecting my experience. I was speechless !
The water was supposed to be 14°C - 15°C cold. When I came out of water, I was warm. I didn't have a chilling experience . Although I had to go buy new clothes right away.
After the incident, we wrapped up our trip, even though we had time in hand. It felt as if the sole purpose of the trip was served ! There was nothing more remaining...
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