26th February, 2021 - Ayaansh's 2nd Birthday !
The day started with extremely pleasant view of Full Moon above the ocean in a clear sky. The light was reflecting on the roaring sea felt like it was trying to calm it down !
Unfortunately I couldn't capture that spectacular moment in my mobile camera. Above pic is the closest one I found but still nowhere close to the beauty we experienced.
It was 05:00 am. Sound of nature - chirping of birds, sound of the waves, full view of moon and soothing flute I was playing on phone. I couldn't have asked for a better start of the day !
One of my favourites morning flute music !
Soon after Ayaansh got up, around 07:00 am, all of us got dressed up to visit Ganapati Temple and seek blessings of Bappa. We left our shoes back in our car and started walking barefoot from parking to temple. When we reached the temple, to our surprise, there was absolutely no rush, no crowd, no queue for darshan. Most of the people were wandering near the beach.
We headed straight towards the sanctum. After we prayed to Swayambhu Ganesha, we requested Pujari to get Abhishek done on the occasion of Ayaansh's birthday. We were not allowed to wait because of Covid-19 situation though.
There is path specially made for the devotees, that surrounds the temple and the hill. We completed this 1 km pradakshina (parikrama) holding Ayaansh. The path covered with shadow of trees made us forget the pain while walking barefoot on a path made of stones with sharp cuts and edges.
At the end of the path, we came back, prayed and collected prasadam and decided to travel our next destination which was still a mystery to us !
Swami Everywhere !
Even before we reached Ganpatipule, Aakanksha was searching for a math (monastery) of Swami Samarth on Google Maps near Ganpatipule. We came across one near Chiplun but still Aakanksha had this intuition that there is another one nearby. She started searching for it on Google again and again but she couldn't find exact results. Suddenly she thought of searching for Paduka rather than searching for math and there it was ! - Swami Samartha Swayambhu Paduka Math
Path Of Devotion
We decided to follow Google Maps as we had no other alternative. My experience with Google Maps in past few years has not been very pleasant. Sometimes it has navigated me to middle of nowhere or made me stand facing the wall at the dead end declaring it as the destination. This time again it was putting us through an experience which could have made us feel skeptical on any other day or for any other destination.
After driving down the hill through a narrow road, we reached a point from where it was asking us to take a left turn. It was a narrow lane between 2 small houses. We looked at that rough muddy road and thought of seeking humanly help. There was a bike rider behind our car who must have figured out that we are lost !
Upon asking him about the math, he looked at us like we were idiots who had no idea what we were looking for ! He denied existence of any such math in nearby area.
We had not just seen this math on Google Maps but there were few reviews and good ratings given for the place. So of course !!! We were adamant on finding the place ! This time we decided to rely on Google Maps and started following the path Google was suggesting. In any case we had no other option and nothing to lose but time ! We had no other agenda for the day but to find this place, offer our service and seek blessings !
We had a strong reason to believe that if we were informed about this math through a strong intuition then we had to trust it and follow the path it was showing us. Without any 2nd thought, we went ahead this path and enjoyed our ride to the fullest !
Google Maps navigated us to a place where we could see some small houses and farms but the math was nowhere to be seen and it had already declared that we had arrived to our destination. It was even hard to find anyone to guide us there. Fortunately we came across a small shop, shopkeeper confirmed that we have to drive bit more and we followed his instructions. Still the same ! The math was nowhere to be seen, not even a single board. We came across a lady passing by. We reached out to her to seek some help with directions. She confirmed saying that we already had left the math behind ! I had to take a U turn from a place where our Nexon could barely fit. This time when we started driving back, we could see the board of Swami's math on right side of the road. We took that right turn and parked our vehicle there.
As we got down and started walking into the village, we came across some houses and people sitting around. We enquired about the path further to the math when a female dog accompanied us on our way forward. We climbed down some steps, crossed a small bridge and finally we were at the math !
I can't describe that feeling exactly in words but let me try. Both Aakanksha and I felt as if we have been connected to this place. It had a homely feeling. The place seemed to be very old. It was covered with plants, trees, flowers. Floor was treated with mud and cow dung. Even the walls of the math were plastered with mud and cow dung. The roof was made with sheets of mud and dried grass. We entered sanctum while Ayaansh was occupied playing with a dog and on the steps.
Shri Narayan (Bhau) Sinkar
When we reached the entrance of the math, there was an old gentleman doing dishes by the tap fixed in nearby area. I called him softly. He reverted back politely and asked us our details and how did we find the place. After we introduced ourselves, he offered us water and tea. We never had such amazing tea ever in our lives. I started drinking tea recently but Aakanksha has been a hard core tea lover and even she had the same opinion ! Aakanksha was on fast since morning and had decided to break her fast after darshan. She was so happy when the tea was offered to her in the math. On the other side we were disappointed that we didn't carry anything while visiting the math.
We had a very limited info about this place. So we curiously asked for more details about the math. All this while, I had so many questions in my mind. Why is this place still not developed like any other math or temples we visit usually ? What's the story behind this place ? The name on Google Maps said it is 'Swayambhu' - Appeared magically and not brought or established by anyone. So, what's the story behind it ?
While we were wondering about it, this old Uncle - Narayan Sinkar who has been managing this math since last 35 years, brought us a book - श्री स्वामी समर्थ गौरव गाथा (Shri Swami Samarth Gaurav Gatha) by Prof. Namrata Bhat. It had a detailed history of the place.
[ After returning back to Bangalore, I contacted the author Prof Namrata Bhat and requested her that if she could courier all 4 volumes of her books. ]
Bhau moved from Mumbai to Dabhole 35 years ago after his company shut down and dedicated rest of his life for the math and serving Swami !
This reminded me Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 5, Chapter 14, Text 10
क्वचित्सकृदवगतविषयवैतथ्य: स्वयं पराभिध्यानेन विभ्रंशितस्मृतिस्तयैव मरीचितोयप्रायांस्तानेवाभिधावति ॥ १० ॥
kvacit sakṛd avagata-viṣaya-vaitathyaḥ svayaṁ parābhidhyānena vibhraṁśita-smṛtis tayaiva marīci-toya-prāyāṁs tān evābhidhāvati.
Translation :
The conditioned soul sometimes personally appreciates the futility of sense enjoyment in the material world, and he sometimes considers material enjoyment to be full of miseries. However, due to his strong bodily conception, his memory is destroyed, and again and again he runs after material enjoyment, just as an animal runs after a mirage in the desert.
Purport :
The main disease in material life is the bodily conception. Being baffled again and again in material activity, the conditioned soul temporarily thinks of the futility of material enjoyment, but he again tries the same thing. By the association of devotees, a person may become convinced of the material futility, but he cannot give up his engagement, although he is very eager to return home, back to Godhead. Under these circumstances, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in everyone’s heart, compassionately takes away all the material possessions of such a devotee. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.88.8): yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ. Lord Kṛṣṇa says that He takes everything away from the devotee whom He especially favors when that devotee is overly attached to material possessions. When everything is taken away, the devotee feels helpless and frustrated in society, friendship and love. He feels that his family does not care for him any longer, and he therefore completely surrenders unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord. This is a special favor granted by the Lord to a devotee who cannot fully surrender to the Lord due to a strong bodily conception. As explained in Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 22.39): āmi — vijña, ei mūrkhe ‘viṣaya’ kene diba. The Lord understands the devotee who hesitates to engage in the Lord’s service, not knowing whether he should again try to revive his material life. After repeated attempts and failures, he fully surrenders to the lotus feet of the Lord. The Lord then gives him directions, and, attaining happiness, he forgets all material engagement.
Meanwhile, Bhau told us about Swyambhu Paduka under the Audumber Tree.
Audumber Tree
उंबर (Umbar) / औदुंबर (Audumbar) in Marathi,
අටිටිකිකා (Attikka) in Sinhala,
ಅತ್ತಿ (atti) in Kannada,
మేడి పండు (Medi Pandu) Telugu,
மலையின் முனிவன் (Malaiyin munivan) in Tamil,
அத்தி (Aththi) Tamil,
അത്തി (Aththi) Malayalam.,
ডুমুর (Dumur) in Bengali,
डुम्री (Dumri) in Nepal .
The following is an extract of Chapter 19 of Shree Gurucharitra which describes the glory 0f Audumbara :
Namdharak: leaving other holy trees why Shri Guru lived under the Audumbar tree ? Greatness of Ashwattha is described even in the Vedas, Why then he preferred Audumbar?
Siddha: Shri Vishnu took Narasimhawatar to kill the demon Hiranyakashyapu. He tore the belly of the demon by his nails. And took out the intestines and put them around his neck as a wreath. Narasimha’s nails were filled with strong poison and so caused great heat in his body. Shri Laxmi took Audumbar fruits and thrust Narasimha’s nails in them. The poison and the heat of the body subsided and Goddess Laxmi and Narasimha swamy were pleased. So they blessed the Audumbar tree - "You shall always bear fruits and people will worship you as the Kalpataru . Strong poisons will be subsided even by your sight and sterile women will get issued if they worship you with devotion."
We spent quite a lot time admiring the aura, positivity of the place. After a long time we were spending time at such a Holy place where there was no crowd. It was calm and peaceful. Ayaansh was also happy, like he had found his countryside native place. He was running all over the place. Bhau asked us if we would like to have lunch there. We were already overwhelmed with that warm welcome and humble offerings. It was the first time when we visited a temple / monastery where instead of devotees offering to God, God was offering to devotees. We thought it would be too much to expect from this old gentlemen without any notice. While we denied his request humbly, in our mind we decided to come back again and offer our service to Swami.
From our conversation Bhau learnt that we are going back to Ganpatipule. He asked us, if we could drop him on the way. We felt as if it was an immediate answer to our prayer regarding serving Him. In case you are confused what I'm talking about, let me elaborate -
Srimad Bhagavatam has multiple references stating that -
"Worship of the devotee is considered more effective than direct worship of the Lord"
On our way back to Ganpatipule, Bhau narrated more details of the history of this math. Lot of those details were shocking and surprising ! We dropped him on the way and came back to our hotel.
In case you are willing to offer your service towards development of the math, please find the Bank and Google Pay details -
Surendra Sadashiv Kore (Treasurer)
IFSC Code : IBKL0001698
A/C No : 1698104000007887
Google Pay : +918275271650
Now, while I'm writing this sitting on the couch at my Bangalore residence, my heart and mind is still thinking about the math and service we would love to offer to Swami !
Comments