Shri Sudhindra Mahime | Mission Badrinath

Published on Facebook, 8th June 2018, on the eve of Badri Yatra arranged by GSB SEVA MANDAL.
Narration by Shri. Kaup Kamalaksha Shenoy, Mumbai
Written down by Shri. Vilas Shenoy, Mumbai

Where there is will there is the way for mortals but for self-realized like our beloved Srimad Sudhindra Tirtha Swamiji, where there is Divine Will, nature will move heaven and earth to bring it to pass. This was witnessed by very few punyavaan shishya vargas, who accompanied HHS, on his maiden yatra in the year 1968 - now fondly remembered as 'Mission Badrinath'.

Courtesy - Shri Kamalaksha Hari Shenoy, Mumbai

HHS was nurturing a long-standing yearning to visit Badrinath, which may have been due to the following:

• Badrikashram is an abode of Chiranjeevi Veda Vyasa. At the behest of the creator of the universe, Grandsire Brahma, Vyasa sought the help of Mahaganapati to write down stanzas recited by Vyasa from memory - thus the epic script of Mahabharata was inscribed at Badrikashram. This great epic has stood the test of time of five thousand years and is still the guiding force with the Bhagwat Gita at its core. Veda Vyasa is also the presiding Deity of Kashi Math Samsthan and thus, highly revered by our HHS.

• Madhvacharya, the chief proponent of Dwaith philosophy of which Kashimath Samsthan is an ardent follower. He often visited Badrinath to meet his Guru, Veda Vyasa and received directions from him to write commentaries on Bramhasutras and Mahabharata epic. It is believed that Madhvacharya was the third reincarnation of Vayu, son of Lord Vishnu. While Madhvacharya disappeared from human sight in 1317, it is believed among his followers that he is also a Chiranjeevi and is still present even today in Northern Himalayas (Greater Badri) continuing his spiritual pursuit with Sri Veda Vyasa but beyond ordinary vision.

• Near Bhim pul, a makeshift rock boulder bridge built by Bhima, the Saraswati River merges into Alaknanda (one of the two headstreams of Holy Ganga). We, Gaud Saraswats, have a close link to Saraswati river.

Mission Badrinath was a great test for the retinue of shishya vargas, because of the very tough terrain of an uneven muddy road and regular landslides that were taking place during those days.

Nothing deterred our beloved Swamiji. Many of the staff members of Samsthan quietly dropped out because of the precarious condition of the pilgrimage, but our smiling God was looking forward to the sojourn with enthusiasm. An army major in charge of that area was contacted and he assured of all-out cooperation to make the yatra comfortable for our Swamiji and the accompanying yatris.

Yet things were not so easy - after combating the uphill task of reaching atop, the news came that the army officer was transferred on an emergency on the borders - worry was writ large on the face of shishya varga. Looking at the crowd gathered there, someone suggested that we should wake up in the early hours of the morning and stand in the queue and escort Swamiji, but practically even at that hours, the rush was tremendous. So, they had to satisfy themselves with just a parikrama of the temple, our Param Pujya Swamiji was totally at ease and smiling as if he was assuring shishya vargas that everything will be alright

On the second day, as the retinue were doing parikrama, Swamiji asked Sant Bhadragiri Achyutdasa, a famous GSB Kirtankar to sing bhajan and with tear full pleading eyes, Bhadragiri Achyutdasa began to sing hymns in praise of Vyasa, HHS was also involved intently with Bhadragiri Achyutdasa and lo and behold, the miracle just happened.

This morning was reserved for a customary once in a year pooja by Govt. of India and the temple was kept empty for an exclusive visit of the Secretary and his wife, who was representing Indian Govt. As the retinue escorting Pujya Swamiji was doing parikrama, halfway at the back entrance of the Badrinath temple, a serene-looking sage in the normal outfit, appeared and opened the back door and escorted Swamiji right inside the sanctum sanctorum (garba graha) of the temple and just disappeared, not to be seen again! The security outside was annoyed but could do nothing to stop our Swamiji

Once inside, Swamiji joined the Raval,(Head Pujari) in the recitation of Veda mantras more proficiently, more competently and aptly than the Raval, that the Secretary who was irked at first was awe inspired and Raval was found gaping at this divine intrusion when the consciousness level and bliss increased tremendously. After this, the arthi was shown to the deity and as a custom, the arti should be taken to a Swamiji first, but as Pujari unknowingly touched the flame with the palm of his hand first, HHS just directed him very politely to the minister couple, who were chief sevedar of that day seva.

The Raval( pujari, the sole conductor of all the important rituals performed in the temple, a highly qualified authority appointed by Sankaracharya ashram) hailed from Kerala and Swamiji had a lengthy dialogue in fluent Malayalam with him and a rapport was established. In the evening, the same Pujari inspired by our HHS, came with full paraphernalia, flowers and fruits to receive Swamiji with full honour at Joshi mutt Birla house and had a lengthy discussion on spirituality and was very much impressed and the next day morning the temple was booked for our Swamiji’s exclusive visit and our Pujya Swamiji personally performed a very grand Seva, witnessed by the punyavaan shishya vargas.

So the mission Badrinath turned into pilgrimage Badrinath. The unanswered question that remains is, who was that great sage who escorted Swamiji inside the temple? Was it Veda Vyasa himself?

Vyasaya Vishnu Rupaya,

Vyasa Rupaya Vishnave;

Namo Vai Brahmanidhaya,

Vaasishtaya namo namah

Translation - I, pray to Vyasa, who is himself Vishnu form and Vishnu, who is Vyasa form and who is the descendant of Vasishta, and who is the treasure of Brahmanic knowledge