Pralaya in Kedarnath – some musings (part -2) (Dhari Devi connection)

Previous article:- Part -1  On the loss of Samadhi of Adi Shankara

In the previous article I raised a question whether the pralaya in Kedarnath signified the end of an epoch. This was prompted by the current trend of lack of interest in the preaching and commentaries of illustrious Gurus starting from Adi Shankara  and intrusion by Mleccha religionists and  researchers in belittling the wisdom imparted by these Gurus and Sruti texts. The current trend the world over is to see and dissect everything through some branch of science. This trend believes only in seeing and not in realising which is what devotion is about. In such a back drop, does the Pralaya indicate the coming of an Age of establishing even Faith through science?

I can see some leads in this direction. For example, the pralaya in Kedarnath brought into focus the nature of the terrain and the physical features in the vicinity of the temple of lord Kedarnath.  The oldest photographs taken in the year 1882 by the Geological Survey of India have surfaced now and have given important clues.  It shows that the temple stood on a raised or rocky structure in a kind of surrounding where water had flown. Take a look at that photo.

Scientists think that the shrine was originally located on a lake bed ((Read here). This is a valuable noting because this exactly fits with the etymological meaning of the word "Kedara" (केदार) which means "land under water"!

The pre-flood look of the temple confirms the opinion that the temple structure stood up in a shallow surrounding. Take a look at the temple as it looked before the pralaya.

The shops can be seen at a lower level. The buildings in the vicinity are also at a lower level. The 1882 photo shows that the temple was not a raised structure but was built on a naturally raised rocky formation. The etymological meaning of Kedarnath fits with this location. The mythological story behind the name Kedar is that a demon called Kedar was killed by Lord Shiva. This also fits with etymology as it could have meant a land that was pushed down.

This kind of interpretation of the meaning of names is one of the methods used by the sages to convey an idea.  We find a similar methodology in a narration in Mahabharata ((MB 13-93) where Yathudhani, a demoness was asked to find out the etymological meaning of the names of Sapta rishis and others connected with them. While the narration says that she fails to understand the meaning, we, the readers are able to understand the meanings and the collective implication of them in the light of current scientific revelations on human migration with change in climate. (Read here)   Therefore the etymological meaning of Kedara as a land under water needs to be given a serious thought.

Generally people think that Kedarnath came up or worship of Shiva as Kedarnath started with Bheema finding the hump of the Bull (Shiva) at the this place. That story on Bheema also says that the other body parts of the bull had fallen in other places which have hence become sacred worshiping places. Recently an-until- now – unidentified place of another body part of Shiva as Bull was found in Nepal. For a person of the current Times, this story (of the body parts of the Bull becoming the most sacred shrines of Shiva) would sound absurd. But one must know that the sages had not intended to spoon feed us on many a secrets of Divinity and salvation but wanted us to think, probe and seek the meanings. With this intention they formed strange stories so that they can be debated and hence remembered. The Mahabharata story on Yathudhani of finding the etymological meaning of the names of sapta rishis gives us a clue on the need to know the etymological meanings and link them up with events which are now established by science or other means.

In the case of Kedarnath, there is an olden  mythological story  of Shiva's obsession  with Uma which resulted in him forgetting his duties, as a result of which there was wide-spread anarchy in this world. 'He decided to undertake a severe penance to obtain his radiance. Living on air for 900 years, his penance had reached an unfathomable dimension. He decided to stop breathing and enter the ultimate state of samadhi - 'Bliss through Nothingness'. To prevent his inhalation, he placed a small wooden block in his mouth. This resulted in a tremendous generation of energy that escaped by blasting through his skull and fell on the himalayan mountains with such a mighty force that it flattened numerous himalayan peaks to the ground. This very spot is Kedarnath.'

This implies that the present location of Kedarnath had sunk – perhaps due to some geological activity. The Himalayas are folded mountains and there is continuous geological activity happening in them. The temple location could perhaps be a peak by itself which got sunk at some time in the distance past. What Bheema found was a self manifest Shiv linga of that peak.

The explanation of geological activity has another mythological dimension too. The famous marriage of Shiva with Parvathy – who was Meenakshi of Pandyan kingdom in Tamil lore – had taken place here in this region of the Himalayas. This story says that the Himalayas lowered due to the weight of many gaNas and sages who assembled to witness the marriage. In order or balance this, Shiva ordained sage Agasthya to go to the South. This again reiterates that this region or the peak in this region sank lower at some time in the past.

Having told the connection to the geological changes in the form of mythological stories on Kedarnath, let me now show some unique features of this region.

If Shiva was the bridegroom whose marriage was conducted here, where was Parvathy? She was in Kalimath and Dhari Devi, a little distance away. Dhari Devi also is consecrated on a natural formation of rock or part of a hill. (Picture below)

The unique feature of this Devi is that her head is here in this temple while her torso is worshiped in a place called Kalimath.  There is no image of the deity in Kalimath but only a Sri Yantra is consecrated! This is one among the Shakthi peeths and is unique with the presence of the other two Devis, namely Saraswati and Lakshmi.  There is a speciality about this feature which I will write in the next article. In the present context I want to show something else.

One can see that the manifestation of this deity too looks similar to the manifestation of Shiva as body parts of a bull. In the case of this Devi, the head lies in Dhari devi and the torso as Yoni / Sri Yantra lies at Kalimath. A thought provoking article says that these two temples lie in South west – North east direction in such a way that Shiva at Kedarnath is found located exactly to the North of the Kalimath Yoni.

http://srath.com/jyoti%E1%B9%A3a/mundane/vastu/kalis-anger/

This fits with the mythological story of Shiva's intimacy with Parvathy with the continuous beating of his drum. In this alignment a human intervention happened by way of removal of Dhari Devi (the head) on the day before the cloudburst happened at Kedar Dome. Agitations have happened to stop this removal / relocation of this Devi with people avowing to go into jal samadhi if the Devi was removed and temple allowed to drown in the proposed dam. The fact was that within a day after the Devi was removed, many people had attained jal Samadhi!  A similar act of removal or dislocation of Dhari Devi in 1882 also was said to have resulted in an enormous flood at Kedarnath.

One may dismiss this as coincidence or irrational belief or superstition. But let me show some other combinations in this location which indicate that there is something more than what can be dismissed as superstition.

This location has been famed as the location of Shiva – Parvathy marriage. The marriage has been solemnised by Vishnu, the brother of Parvathy. In the above picture, if we extend the Dhari Devi- Kalimath axis, it connects two important locations. Take a look at the picture below to see what they are.

The arrow mark shows the location of kalimath which is close to Ukhimath (Usha Ki Math). That axis passes through Rishikesh on one side and Badrinath on the other. This is Hari- Hara axis that is empowered by the three forms of Shakthi at Kalimath. The presence of Brahma – another of the Trimurthy – is understood to be present in Kalimath as that shrine is located on River Saraswati, the consort of Brahma. The disturbance to the nodal points of energy in this axis is bound to disturb the harmony in the energy flow. That is what happened when Dhari Devi was removed from this exis.

Now looking at another important location, it is Triyugi Narayan temple  where the marriage of Shiva- Parvathy took place.  There is a continuously burning Homa Kunda in this temple which once again indicates a continuous geological activity – something told as non- stop copulation of the Divine couple.

We can see that Kedarnath, Kalimath and Triyugi Narayan temple form an isosceles triangle. This can be extended to Badrinath on the other side of Kedarnath – Kalimath axis. This is how it looks:

This is only a rough illustration and a detailed analysis can be made. Similar links can be made for the centres of divinity where the body parts of the Bull were supposed to have landed. The same can be done for the all the 108 Shakthi Peethas too. The reference to body parts must have some etymological meaning and interpretation. My purpose in showing these connections is that there does exist some unique centres of energy flow in these and between these regions which are worshiped as sacred places. The Sri Yantra at Kalimath is indicative of some energy flow in that spot.

So far Sri Yantra has been cited only once in crop circle patterns. But then it appeared not on fields, but  on a dry lake bed in the state of Oregon in the US.

People in the West think that is the handiwork of aliens! The supposedly scientific minded people don't consider it to be a superstition to believe in the existence of aliens. But our Sanatana system sees this as a manifestation of Shakthi  or the Supreme Energy who is the driving force behind all the three acts of creation, sustenance and destruction. The shape of manifestation of this energy is apparent in Oregon but in Sanatanic system its presence has been perceived by sages and Gurus without the aid of external vision.  One such location of the presence of this Shakthi is Kalimath which is well intertwined with other supreme forms of Energy (Badrinath, Kedarnath, Rishikesh and Triyugi) that reverberates divinity.

The identification of these sources did not happen recently, not did it happen in Bheema's time or Adi Shankara's time. The fact that the mythological narration of this exists in puranas in the form of the story of Kedar and as Shiva's penance- energy falling in Kedarnath shows that these have been identified in a remote past and remembered in story form which was transferred from generation to generation. How to capture the essence of it was taught in various ways in Upanishads and Epics which was simplified by Adi Shankara for common people.  But the present world had slipped very much down from a level of how to grasp such simplified knowledge. The present world understands only in seeing as believing. Perhaps a scientific or rather a geological understanding of these regions  might wake up the people to the truth behind mythology and the connection to Divinity. Perhaps the pralaya in Kedarnath indicates the emergence of a New world order with reference to understanding sanatanic traditions in the light of modern science.

The narration so far must also put at rest the question whether the pralaya would shake the Faith of the people. With more revelations coming from these regions as Energy sources, people would realise that it is more than just bartering Bhakthi for a gain in return, it is to do with realising the Supreme Energy and taking refuge in That.

In the next part I would narrate some revelations on Shakthi from some inscriptions and its relevance to the belief that removal of Dhari Devi caused the destruction and loss of life – as though she considered the people as Raktabija and devoured them.

(continued)