Places impact you for a variety of reasons. And the same place impacts different people in different ways. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual experiences, where every single person’s experience is unique. And personally, every spiritual experience is unique, the same person can have different deeply spiritual experiences at different places, at different times. This thought has emerged because of my own experiences over the years, but especially so this year, with different and unique experiences at various places I have visited recently. I began this year with a visit to Baroda (Vadodara) with friends. It was meant to be a relaxed trip, a touristy trip, with our sons. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt, but the highlight of that trip was a visit to the Lakulisha temple at Pavagadh. It was the iconography of the temple that I connected with, and I spent a few hours simply lost in the details of the figures carved around the temple. There was an indefinable connect with
Bheema,
it is said,
once came across an old monkey, lying with his tail across the path. Not wanting
to step over the tail, Bheema asked the monkey to move. The monkey replied that
he was too tired, and could Bheema himself move the tail, since he was so
strong? Bheema, always confident and proud of his strength, bent to lift the
tail, but was surprised that he couldn’t even shift it an inch! After trying
multiple times, he finally gave up, acknowledging that his strength was no
match for the monkey. Pleased, the monkey revealed his true form. He was
Hanuman, the older son of Vayu, the wind, and thus Bheema’s elder brother. He
then blessed Bheema, promising to stay by his side in the great war which was
to come.
I remember being fascinated by this story when
I was a kid, because of the way my mom told me the story… of Bheema and Hanuman’s
conversation, and Bheema’s futile efforts to lift the monkey’s tail. As I grew
older, the story continued to fascinate me, since it is one of those events
which binds the two greatest epics – the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha!
Recently, I was reminded of the story once
again, when a Hanuman Langur sat in our path, tail extended, refusing to
move!!!
We
were on a safari
in the Satpura National Park, while visiting the Denwa Backwater Escape, on an
invite from Pugdundee Safaris. The morning safari had been a washout, the
animals keeping well away! We were returning, rather disappointed, when this langur
stopped us, and made us smile, at his stoic behavior!
As
someone so fascinated
by mythology, legends and their origins, I couldn’t have asked for a more
memorable experience!!!
The article seems to be so interesting. Yes i have heard about the story of Bheema and Hanuman. But I never experienced such a thing. Thank u for sharing your memorable experience with us.
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