Himalayan Journey (Contd.)

ON the fourth day, they started on their journey higher on the hills. As they climbed higher and higher, the scenes and landscapes they saw were found to be simply enchanting. On the right the sacred Ganga was rushing downhill in all her glory, and on the left, high rocky hills, full of foliage and trees, presented at once a thrilling and absorbing sight. The very air there was charged with the divine presence of Ram. The far-off hills and valleys, the varied-hued sky in which the white fleecy clouds assumed fantastic shapes, the snow-capped mountains, hundreds of miles away up, dazzling in the rays of the sun as though they were covered with sheets of silver: all these constituted indeed, an imposing sight! O, the charm of the scenes! O Ram! Poor Ramdas cannot find adequate words to describe the grandeur, the beauty, the wonderful glory of the sights that met his bewildering gaze.

As he walked on, he drank deeper and deeper of the splendour of Ram’s infinity and was lost, lost, lost in the intoxication of it all. O Ram, Thy kindness to Thy slave is really unbounded. From day to day both Ramkinker and Ramdas walked on at a high speed. Ramdas felt no fatigue, no pain, no discomfort of any kind. He was as fresh as ever. It was all due to Ram’s grace whose name was always on his lips. Thus mountain after mountain was traversed and as they climbed on, grander and newer scenes presented themselves before their wondering sight. It was a journey in the land of enchantment. It was all a bewitching dream full of the glory and greatness of Ram. There Ram exhibits His marvellous powers. He is a mighty conjurer. Vision after vision dances and flits before your eyes, and unconsciously you fall under the subtle charm and spell of this great Magician. You forget what you are and where you are. You are simply absorbed and lost in the surroundings – like a wisp of smoke in a hurricane.

Ramdas was walking at high speed – nay, he was veritably flying. Even the difficult ascents were scaled in no time. Most of the time, he was unconscious of his body. His mind was entirely merged in Ram who alone appeared to him in those enchanting scenes. Higher and higher climbed the indefatigable pilgrims. Ramkinker, who had a heavy bundle to carry, complained of Ramdas’ running speed, since he could not keep pace with him. But Ramdas was not his own master. Ram was his master. At a certain place they missed each other, causing anxiety to both; but, however, Ram brought them together at a stage called Rudraprayag. Thousands of pilgrims are every year ascending these hills and during this season, i.e. from March to June, a regular stream of people is going up and coming down the hills. All the pilgrims, Sadhus and others whom Ramdas met on the way were very kind to him. Some rich merchants from cities like Bombay were very solicitous. Because Ram is kind, all are kind, and Ram is in all.

The mountains are peopled by hill-tribes – a fair complexioned and well-built race. They live by cultivation and cattle and goat-breeding. Naturally their lives and ways are simple. Their faith in God is very great. “Ram, Ram,” is always on their lips. If you talk to them they tell you with a glow of pride that they are the descendants of the Rishis that lived in those hills. Their clothing is wholly made of wool. Males wear long woollen coats and drawers and a black cap, and women, rough blankets in place of Sarees. These blankets are prepared there out of the wool yielded by the sheep they tend. So the food-stuffs and clothing – the two essentials of life – are the produce of their own labour. Even while walking from place to place, every man and woman carries a quantity of wool which he or she is spinning on the way. They have simple pit looms on which they weave the yarn into cloth. Since their mode of life is free from the baneful touch of modern civilization, they live simple, pure, honest and pious lives.

At different stages of the journey over the hills, under trees or in small huts or caves, are seen Sadhus engaged in austerities. To seek their company and remain there, for ever so small a period, is a great privilege. The society of a Sadhu is a much needed bath for the mind. The pure atmosphere he creates around him by his meditations is the river in which the mind bathes and is purged of evil thoughts and impressions. Upon these sacred hills are the Ashrams of such famous Saints as Narada and Agastya Muni. There is also a place called Pandukeshar where the Pandavas are said to have halted for some time during their journey to Kailas. There is a temple here and some old inscriptions, upon plates of copper. The first place visited by Ramdas and Ramkinker on the heights was Trijugnarain. The ascent to this spot was sharp and steep, and it was a plateau surrounded by hills covered with snow. Hence the cold here was intense. The pilgrims remained here for one day.

Then after descending some distance another chain of hills was mounted. Here the path was narrow, rugged and dangerous – frail, rickety bridges had to be crossed, at three places large tracts of snow had to be traversed. On account of the perilous nature of the path, every year many pilgrims are reported to have slipped down the cliffs and been washed away, in the rushing torrents of the river, many hundreds of feet below. One instance of a narrow escape may be mentioned here.

At a certain stage in the middle of an ascent, Ramdas was sitting on the path awaiting Ramkinker. This was the edge of a high cliff and the river was flowing far below. The path was very narrow. A girl of about 16 years, full of energy and activity, was coming down on her return journey. It was a sharp descent. Her pace was rapid and the sharp downhill path only accelerated her speed, and in spite of herself she was running down at uncontrollable velocity. Down, down she came. She was excited, her face was flushed and she knew she was being drawn down automatically, and it was beyond her power to control herself. Instead of running towards the hill-side, she was staggering down to the edge of the path – the very brow of a precipice.

Ramdas watched the scene with breathless suspense. He was silently calling upon Ram to save her. Ram alone could and none else. Now she came up to the edge, and with a superhuman effort controlled herself. She had come to the very brink. Part of her left foot was out of the edge. O Ram, how terrible a condition! Ram, Thy name be glorified. Ramdas looks and sees the girl falling on the path right across uttering ‘Ram, Ram’. Saved, saved! Ram saved her! She got up; did not wait a minute, but continued her walk further down. Dauntless girl! What a marvellous faith in Ram is thine!

The other was the case of an old woman who gave up her body in the basket in which she was being carried by a sturdy mountaineer who was specially engaged for the purpose. At certain stages in the journey this carrier would lower down his burden for relief, and the last time he did so, it happened to be near the place where Ramkinker and Ramdas were resting on the roadside. The bearer, as usual with him, lowered the basket on a rock and asked the old mother to step out of the basket for some time. But receiving no reply, the hillman peeped into the basket and a cry of surprise and pain started from him.

“The poor woman is gone”, he exclaimed.

O Ram, Thy will is done. Then walking higher and higher, Ramdas and his kind guide eventually reached Kedarnath. This was indeed a grand place. It was plain land in the midst of high towering mountains covered with snow. The cold here was extremely severe. O Ram, Thy kindness to Thy slave was so great that Thou hadst made him almost proof against cold.