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To
the north of India is the Himalayan mountain
range. As with other mountains, the Himalayas
are adorned with snow caps, vegetation and many
species of birds and animals. There are also
the ashrams of many great saints. The divine
abodes of many devs (demi-gods), including Mahadev
are also situated here. The divine river, Ganga
also has its source in the Himalayas. The River
Ganga splits into 7 separate rivers, purifying
the earth with its benevolent flow.
Lord Nar Narayan Dev, the worshipful deities
of Bharatkhand also reside in the Himalayas,
in a celestial place called Badrikashram, where
They are in continuous prayer for the benefit
of the souls of Bharatkhand. Shatanand Muni
describes Badrikashram, in Bhagwan Shree Swaminarayan’s
biographical scripture, Satsagi Jeevan, as the
image of Akshar Dham. Here, even the different
animals live side-by-side, shunning their natural
predatory instincts. The ashram’s residents
also includes many thousands of great saints,
with countless others coming and going. Swami
describes the Badri tree and its fruits, explaining
its sweetness and lack of thorns. Even the demi-gods
such as Brahma come to see the Badri tree regularly.
The enormous size of the tree lends the name
Vishala to the ashram. Uddhavji & Naradji are
also residents of Badrikashram. The place is
so pure that even the effects of Kali Yug cannot
enter the Ashram and infiltrate the minds of
the residents.
The background to Uddhavji’s arrival in Badrikashram
is worth knowing. When God Shree Krishna decided
He wanted to leave this mortal world, He called
Uddhavji and told him to spread His true knowledge
- Krishna’s true form known as Purushottam Narayan
in His heavenly abode Akshar Dham, beyond all
the cosmos and all creation. Uddhavji realised
God’s physical presence in this world was about
to cease. He could not contemplate an existence
without God’s presence. After Shree Krishna
passed on, Uddhavji was overcome with grief
and searched for solace, instead of following
God’s command. He knew Badrikashram was a very
peaceful place, where numerous saints resided.
He thought he would find peace and solace there.
Uddhavji arrived in Badrikashram and did find
great peace and experienced the presence of
God, who resided there in the dual form of Shree
NarNarayan Dev.
By The Almighty’s wish, hundreds of great saints,
such as; Maitreya, Angira, Garg, Marichi, Vasishta,
Atri, Valmik, etc. arrived in Badrikashram on
one ocassion for the darshan of Lord Nar Narayan
Dev, having completing a pilgrimage of Bharatkhand.
Before meeting Lord Nar Narayan Dev, all the
saints bathed in the purifying waters of the
River Ganga. When the saints went towards the
Badri tree, they saw Lord Nar seated beneath
it, and paid due respect. Lord Nar, who was
already accompanied by the Nine Yogeshvars,
welcomed the above named saints. Lord Nar offered
the saints seats of straw, and expressed His
joy in meeting them. They were informed by Lord
Nar that Lord Narayan will soon bless them all
with His presence. The saints replied, “Oh Lord
Nar! The best of all Mankind! You are The Almighty.
Both You and Lord Narayan are one and the same.
However, it is Your Greatness that You have
assumed two images. Oh Lord Nar! We are very
fortunate to have arrived here and meet You.”
At that moment, Lord Shree Narayan enters the
assembly. The Lord has tied his hair up in a
bun. His body is glowing from the severe prayers
that He is undertaking. In one hand, the Lord
carries a Kamandal (a vessel for carrying water).
In the other, He carries a stick of Palaash.
He is dressed in all white. Showering His divine
sight over all the Rushis, Lord Shree Narayan
enters the assembly, and sat Himself on the
seat of straw.
All the saints paid their respects to Lord Shree
Narayan by offering different items made from
all types of flowers. By the grace of Lord Shree
Narayan, all the saints went into trance and
saw The Almighty God Supreme in Akshar Dham.
When the saints opened their eyes, they saw
the same image in front of them! All the saints
thus prayed to Lord, “You are the all-merciful.
Those who do not accept Your shelter by listening
to the discourses from saintly persons are destroyed.
Without Your shelter, no-one is happy. The only
route to happiness is Your shelter, whether
now or in a hundred years’ time. Oh Lord! You
are beyond all that mortal and immortal. Being
born of Dharma & Bhakti, You have undertaken
prayers for benefit of Your followers. Even
the great serpent, Shesha cannot reach the fathoms
of Your glory.”
In reply, Lord Shree Narayan said, “Oh Munis,
I am very pleased by your arrival. You are dearer
to Me than all the demi-gods such as Brahma.
I cannot forget you all, because of your most
benevolent attitudes. You travel the world and
give blessings to the pious souls and continuously
remember Me.” “Oh Munis, where have you all
just come from.” The Munis replied, “O Merciful
One! We have just arrived from Bharatkhand.”
“O Munis, having attained the human body, are
the souls living according to My established
rules?”, asked Lord Shree Narayan. The Munis
responded sadly, “My Lord, there is no point
talking about the religious conducts. Those
kings and gurus who are entrusted with the responsibility
of defending religion are themselves trespassing
into immoral deeds. As a result, there is nobody
to look after the people. The people of Bharatkhand
have forsaken the path of Sadaachaar (moral
conduct) and have adopted the paths of killing
Brahmins, drinking alcohol, killing cows, theft,
prostitution and the likes. As a result, the
traffic on the highway to Yampuri (hell) is
very congested. In these dire circumstances,
there is no-one to teach and propagate the True
Religion. Therefore, we beg You to show mercy
upon the people of Bharatkhand and save them
from such predicaments.”
Lord NarNarayndev's parents Dharma & Bhakti
arrive in Badrikashram. Dharma & Bhakti heard
that saints had arrived in Badrikashram and
in order to fulfil their wish for seeing them,
they arrived here. Upon seeing their parents,
Lords Shree Nar & Narayan stood up and welcomed
them and offered them both appropriate seats.
All the other Munis, also paid due respects
to Dharma & Bhakti.
Lords Shree Nar & Narayan explained to their
parents, “Mother, Father, all these saints have
come from Bharatkhand. At present there is rule
of evil in the world. There is no-one to protect
the people from such evils. These Rushis have
brought such sad news.”
Everyone was very engrossed in listening to
what Lord Shree Narayan had to say.
At that precise moment, the Almighty Lord encouraged
Rushi Durvasa to come to Badrikashram. Halting
his prayers, Durvasa left Kailash and arrived
in Badrikashram and first bathed in the river
Alak Nanda which flows close by. Having completed
his mandatory Sandhya Vandan, Durvasa entered
the Lords’ ashram and saw the gathering under
the Badri tree. Everyone was so engrossed in
listening to the Lord’s immortal words, that
they did not realise that Durvasa had arrived.
Having waited 1 Ghadi (equivalent to 3 hours)
for someone to welcome him, Durvasa thought
that everybody were insulting him, intentionally.
As a result, Durvasa’s anger began to grow –
his eyes became red with rage, his body began
trembling – as if his body might explode due
to the anger raging within him. He raised his
arm and bellowed, “What a surprise! What a sad
thing this is. Those who should be promoting
good conduct are themselves adopting bad ones!
Having acquired all the good qualities such
as; education, yoga, knowledge, great heights
of spiritualism, etc. these great Rushis have
become arrogant and are now disrespecting me.
Others I can understand, but even this Dharma,
he is insulting me? I shall teach these people
a lesson and revenge this insult!”
“Listen now you members of the assembly! Presently
you are in the divine form, but you shall soon
be cast upon earth and suffer at the hands of
evil people and their evil deeds!”
Durvasa stopped speaking. When everyone heard
Durvasa’s curse, the whole assembly came to
its senses. Everyone looked behind and saw Durvasa
in a rage of anger. All the Rushis ran towards
him and paid due respect. They begged forgiveness
from Durvasa, but in return Durvasa became angrier.
Then the ever-peaceful Dharma came towards Durvasa,
performed Dandvat Pranam and said, “What you
have done is correct! The anger of great saints
is always a boon to the wrong-doer. We were
so engrossed in listening to Lord Shree Narayan’s
stories that we did not realise you had arrived.
Otherwise, we would have offered everything
to you, not just our respects. You are merciful.
Your heart is as soft as yoghurt. Please withdraw
your curse.” Because of Dharma’s begging, Durvasa
calmed down and said, “I never withdraw my words,
but I don’t know why my mind has softened. So
I shall bless you that God shall be born of
Dharma & Bhakti and will save you all from the
clutches of evil. Thus, you and the Rushis will
be relieved from my curse.” Having said this
much, Durvasa made his way back to Kailash.
Dharma, Bhakti & the Rushis were powerful enough
to curse Durvasa back. However, forgiveness
is the jewel of saintly people and besides,
this curse was the Lord’s doing. In fact, Lord
Shree Narayan could have stopped Durvasa from
uttering a single word. He did not. So much
evil had taken root in Bharatkhand that the
Lord made Durvasa the instrument of His visitation.
Dharma begged of Lord Shree Narayan, “O Lord!
Please save us all from the evil people.” The
Lord replied, “O father! Do not fear at all.
Whatever has happened was Purushottam Bhagwan's
wish. Almighty Lord through this curse shall
be born to you & Bhakti as a son and will save
you all from the evil people and extinguish
the evil activities while re-establishing religion
with Dharma, Gnan, Bhakti & Vairagya. So, go
and take birth wherever you wish on earth, without
fear of anything.”
Dharma and all the others bowed down to Lords
Shree Nar & Narayan and left for their respective
ashrams. They all began thinking about where
they would take birth. Dharma & Bhakti were
born to religious parents in Itaar & Chhapaiya,
respectively.
