Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra

In between teaching courses at Maharishi Institutes of Management, I had some time off. So 3 of us American faculty decided to take a yatra to one of the holy sites in India. A pilgrimage to a spiritual place is called a "yatra". We decided on a yatra to Kurukshetra, the battlefield where the Pandavas and the Kurus fought it out over 5000 years ago.

As you may recall from the Mahabharata, just before the battle commenced, Lord Krishna and Arjuna, the top warrior for the Pandavas, went out to the middle of the battlefield between the 2 opposing armies. There Lord Krishna delivered his discourse on attaining enlightenment. This lecture is contained in the Bhagavad Gita.

Our idea was to go to the same spot where Krishna and Arjuna talked and read the Bhagavad Gita there.

Kurukshetra is about 3 hours drive time North of Delhi in the State of Haryana. We drove up in the afternoon, got some rooms. The next day after morning program we started our expedition. First stop was the Krishna Museum. This is a beautiful large building run by the Haryana State Government and contains art treasures depicting the life of Krishna. There are paintings, metalwork, stone sculptures, wood carvings, inlays, books, and more. It took over an hour to see everything. This is a place to remember for a future visit, because all we did was admire the artwork, there just was not time to read the descriptions of the major works. If we had done that, we would have spent the entire day at the museum. Even with only an hour it was very fulfilling and we felt that we had gotten a flavor of what one of the most influential figures in Indian history did and what his achievements inspired. We saw art work from each of the states of India and we saw representations from many of the time periods since Krishna was alive. If you are curious about Krishna, the single best place for the story of his life is the Srimad Bhagavatam.

Next we went to Brahm Sarovar. This is a man made lake that is built on the spot where Brahma stood when he created this universe. I know, I know, how could the creator stand anywhere before the creation was created? How could he have stood on THIS spot when it did not exist yet? What is the sound of one hand clapping? There are lots of conundrums on the Spiritual Quest, Grasshopper, and this be just one of the tiny ones. Nevertheless, we had to go there.

There are 3 spots I know of where Brahma supposedly created Vishwa, the material creation. Brahm Sarovar is one of them. It is incomparably beautiful. It is about 2 football fields wide and 6 football fields long, and as such is the largest open air tank in Asia. The water is very pure by American standards and is uniquely clean by Indian standards. Worship in this spot consists of putting on the bathing suit and going for a swim. Given that the temperature was over 90 degrees Fahrenheit, we were happy to perform our religious duties. We ‘worshipped’ for over a half hour and felt inwardly and outwardly refreshed by the experience. Lots of sadhus were around also bathing. People travel from all over India to bathe here. One of the traditions is that bathing washes away sins. People go to tirthas (ponds), gats (river docks), sangams (confluence of rivers), and bathe at auspicious times. All these are written up in the Vedic literature telling the merits to be obtained by taking bath at the appropriate time. The auspicious time for maximum benefit at Brahm Sarovar is during a solar eclipse. There was a solar eclipse a few weeks ago and I saw a photo in the newspaper of this huge place totally filled with people. The banks must have had people 20 deep, standing shoulder to shoulder. Must have been several million devotees. On the day we went there were probably a couple hundred people and the place was like a ghost town, that's how huge an expanse it is.

There is a 15th or 16th century woodcutting that reminds me of the flavor of Brahm Sarovar. Perhaps you've seen this famous image in books or magazines. It depicts an ordinary man on his knees in a barren field under an ordinary sky. His head has gone through some hole in the space-time continuum and the land on the other side is filled with celestial beings, planets & suns, glorious foliage. The man's face is filled with ecstasy. This woodblock has been used to depict the spiritual experience. If you pick up a book of Thomas Merton or St. Theresa of Avila, you are likely to see a photo of this image. We live in a mundane world, but when our consciousness is elevated sufficiently we can perceive a celestial world all around us that is wondrous and glorious. Saints and holy people from time immemorial have described this experience of living in the mundane while experiencing the celestial.

For most of us, the lure of the celestial is a quiet desire that we rarely speak out, but hope will someday bless our lives. We hope that someday, like that man in the woodcutting, we will perceive the divine all around us. There are some places on Earth where the veil between the mundane and the celestial is especially thin. Brahm Sarovar is one of those places. As I look out across the huge expanse of water, there is a faint mist rising up from the water that blurs the distant edges of the lake. The feeling in the air is euphoric. And I find myself peering intently into the distance. I look around me and observe my compatriots also glancing up from their immediate concerns to look off. What are we looking for? If challenged I would not at first be consciously aware that I was looking for anything. Then I would say that I did not know why I was looking or what I was looking for--I just found myself looking for something. It is as if the celestial is almost visible through the haze. Somehow, in someway, the subconscious recognizes that if ever I can see through to the divine level, it could be here. And so we find ourselves looking up from the swim to peer off into the distance, a look of expectation on our faces. Even on the mundane level, Brahm Sarovar is beautiful. I can only imagine what a celestial vision of the place must reveal.

Next we went down the road 3 km to Jyotisar where the legendary Banyan tree stands that shaded Krishna & Arjuna. This is where people believe the discourse that comprises the Bhagavad Gita took place. The battle field measures about 200 km long, and a lot happened during the 18 days of the war, and the event was over 5000 years ago, so this may or may not have been the exact spot. But the consensus of local opinion is that this is where it happened.

There are Banyan trees all around. We picked a nice shady spot and started reading Maharishi's Translation & Commentary of the Bhagavad Gita, Chapters 1-6. When we finished that, we switched to Annie Besant’s translation in order to complete all 18 chapters. It takes about 3 hours to read.

There were 3 dogs frisking near us. They took turns coming over and lying down with head facing us and sleeping while we read out loud. I was reminded of King Yudhisthira, eldest brother of the Pandavas. When it came time for the 5 brothers to pass out of this world, they started to hike up Mount Meru, abode of the Gods. One by one the brothers passed away. A small dog had taken to following them. Finally only Yudhisthira was left. He approached the gate to heaven and the watchman told him ‘No Dogs Allowed.’ Yudhisthira told him that the dog had loyally followed him this far, he could not abandon him now. A King never abandons his loyal subjects. This dog was the only follower he had left, could he please take the dog inside? The guard said, "No." So Yudhisthira refused to enter Heaven. The dog then transformed himself into Yama, the embodiment of Dharma, Yudhisthira's father, and told Yudhisthira that he had made the right decision and he should now enter heaven. These dogs reminded us of the story and it seemed like a good omen that they were there. They remained loyally with us for the entire 3 hour recitation of the Gita.

Reading the Bhagavad Gita is a fulfilling experience. Reading it at the spot where it was composed is a deeply satisfying event. We felt part of the history of this holy ground. We even seemed a part of the local legend as the local Indians gathered around us and silently stared at us while we read. Since they did not speak English, we do not know what they thought we were doing. Perhaps they heard the names of Krishna and Arjuna and were able to figure out what we were reading. Then again, maybe they were just looking. Does this morning's copy of the Kurukshetra newspaper have headlines saying, "Honkies Desecrate Holy Spot"? One of life's little mysteries.