108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru
33. तुषाराचलसञ्चारी Tuṣārācala-sañcārī
One who travelled across the snowy mountains (the Himalayas)
Since tuṣāra (synonymous with ‘hima’) means snow and acala, mountain, tuṣāra-acala refers to the snowy, majestic Himalayas. His Holiness was sañcārin, One who travelled, across the Himalayan region.
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In a benedictory address on 1st February, 1968 at Shivamogga towards the end of His first all-India tour, His Holiness recounted as follows:
“When I set out, I had no inclination to undertake such a long tour, save an occasional desire to visit Varanasi, bathe in the holy Ganges and have the darśana of Lord Viśvanātha. I wished to behold, if possible, the Himalayas once, visit Badrinath and Kedarnath. Again, the urge to worship, if feasible, Lord Paśupatināth in Nepal was lurking somewhere inside. However, I made no efforts in this regard. When devotees exhorted me now and then to undertake a tour, I thought, ‘Let Īśvara’s will prevail,’ and consented. Even then, I had not thought of where to go, when and how. Somehow, things started to fall in place and the tour started, went on and is finally coming to an end. To a large extent, it could be said that the tour has been completed satisfactorily. Looking back, it is clearly evident that all these were, in fact, possible due to the glory of Śaṅkara Bhagavatpāda and my Guru’s grace.”
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His Holiness was the first Jagadguru Śaṅkarācārya after Ādi-śaṅkara-bhagavatpāda, to have visited Nepal.
The King of Nepal requested His Holiness to visit Nepal and His Holiness acceded. On 3rd March, 1967, His Holiness set out for Kathmandu, Nepal, from Hitauti in Uttar Pradesh. He was given a royal welcome in Nepal. He visited the Paśupatināth Temple that evening. He also visited the temples at Bhaktapur including the Dattātreya Temple. Back at Kathmandu, His Holiness worshipped the Saptamātṛkās (seven Mother Goddesses), visited the Guhyeśvarī, Tuljā Bhavānī, Budhanīlakaṇṭha and Bālāji temples.
He then proceeded to Tribhuvan University, where He was greatly impressed by the manner in which boys of eight to ten years of age chanted the Vedas. So pleased was He that He gave special presents in cash to the teachers and the students. He also visited Swayambhu, one of the holiest Buddhist Chaityas in Nepal.
On 9th March, His Holiness performed the Mahāśivarātri-pūjā at the Paśupatināth Temple, (as described under nāma 80.)
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On 22nd May, 1967, His Holiness commenced His journey towards Kedarnath, the first stop being Rudraprayag, considered as sacred as Prayagraj in the plains. Here, the Mandākinī flowing from Kedarnath meets the Alaknandā that flows down from Badrinath, and along with the underground Sarasvatī, they form a triple confluence to which immense sanctity is attributed. Situated on a spacious ground above the river is the temple of Rudranāth, the presiding deity of Rudraprayag. His Holiness performed the night pūjā in the temple premises.
His Holiness left for Guptkashi the next afternoon and reached there by about 8 p.m. The important temple in this place is dedicated to Lord Viśvanāth. His Holiness worshipped Lord Viśvanāth and also visited other places of religious importance in the vicinity.
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The distance from Guptkashi to Kedarnath is about 47 kilometres and in those days had to be covered either on foot or on horse-back. His Holiness left on foot for Kedarnath on 24th May, 1967, with a pick of His camp followers. The trek from Guptkashi began on the morning of the 24th. En route, the halting places were Phata on the 11th kilometre, Rampur on the 22nd, Sitapur on the 24th, Gauri Kund on the 32nd and Rambara on the 41st. It was 4 p.m. when Rampur was reached. After ablutions and bhikṣā there, the journey towards Gauri Kund was resumed. This was a strenuous journey, but the constant rustle of the river, the intermittent roar of the wayside cascades and the exultation of walking with His Holiness, provided relief for all. By the time the party reached Gauri Kund at 9:00 p.m., it was raining cats and dogs. In spite of the late hour and the inclement weather, the local inhabitants turned out en masse. His Holiness immediately had His bath in the tapt-kuṇḍ (hot spring) and commenced the Candramoulīśvara-pūjā, which concluded by midnight.
The last lap of the journey to Kedarnath commenced just before noon the next day. His Holiness climbed the 14.5-kilometre-long steep and mountainous path barefooted and reached Kedarnath in the night. Here is His recollection of this experience:
“In the meandering and constantly ascending path to Kedarnath, the terrain was strewn with pebbles, boulders, smooth granite slabs and offered variety. Sharp pebbles pricked the feet; the heels were sore due to hard rocks; at places, it was slippery due to thin films of streaming water. As the day wore, the vagaries of weather - sharp afternoon sun, rain during dusk and a chilling wind with light snowfall as the night advanced - were in full view.
“Accompanied by growing darkness, the fall of snowflakes was like a shower of ‘droṇa-puṣpa’ (Leucas aspera or Thumbai / Tumbe) on the face and a bed of sugar for the feet. The snowfall was incessant. The leg joints were stiffening. It was nearing 9 o’clock at night. On one side of the narrow path was a ravine, over 500 feet deep, with the torrential Gaṅgā below. On the other was the rocky steep mountain. Diminishing visibility led to uncertainty regarding where to tread. To compound this, having briskly trekked far ahead of the entourage, I was alone, with none in sight or earshot. Turning back was not an option. Catastrophe was just one false step away - either bang on the butting rock or fall on the lap of Mother Gaṅgā! Lo and behold, a person approached me from the direction of the temple with a lantern and escorted me! What else if not the glorious divine sport of Śaṅkara Bhagavatpāda?”
On the evening of the 27th His Holiness personally performed pūjā to Lord Kedārnāth. After the pūjā was over, He stood before the Lord in enraptured silence, His mind filled with adoration in the presence of the Supreme Lord of the Himalayas.
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After staying for a day at Kedarnath, His Holiness started on His downward journey and reached Guptkashi on the evening of 28th May, 1967. On the morning of the 29th, He had His sacred bath in the Gaṅgā and Yamunā-dhārā opposite the temple and worshipped Lord Viśvanāth.
He started for Joshi Math through Rudraprayag and reached the place late at night. He was received by Śrī Śāntānanda Sarasvatī Mahāsvāmin, the Jagadguru of Jyotir Math, with much joy. He visited the Nṛsiṁha temple that has a śālagrāma said to have been worshipped by Bhagavatpāda, and also temples of Navadurgā, Kṛṣṇa and Viṣṇu on the 30th. He visited the various shrines and other important places in and around the Maṭha and after a long and cordial conversation with the Jagadguru of Jyotir Math, left for Badrinath (described under nāma 53).
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After visiting Rishikesh and Haridwar, His Holiness proceeded via Dehradun, Ambala and Jallandhar, to Jammu and Kashmir. He stayed in Jammu for two days, and granted audience to administrators, military commanders and tourists who flocked to see Him and take His advice. Early in the afternoon of the 9th June, 1967, He left for Ramban and there He worshipped at the Rāma Temple. On the 10th, His Holiness reached Srinagar.
On the 11th, He visited Sri Shankaracharya Temple, situated on the Shankaracharya Hill in Srinagar, and worshipped the massive Bāṇaliṅga there. In the afternoon, He proceeded to the Mārtāṇḍa Temple, dedicated to the Sun God, which is situated about 64 kilometres from Srinagar. He proceeded to Abhedananda Ashram on the 13th, where He addressed a public meeting of the citizens. He delivered a benedictory address on the 14th, to listen to which, military and civil officers had congregated apart from the general public.
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