Introduction
Maha Kumbh was insane for those who have not lived in Bharat and in whom Bharat does not live.
It had very high decibels but it was completely peaceful.
There was absolute chaos with completely stunning divine order in it.
It was unfathomable to those who have no idea what Sanatana Dharma is.
Experience
Whoever was walking, riding 2-wheelers or driving 4-wheelers on whatever space one could find, there was complete discipline in that. No one was giving space to anyone but no one was snatching away anyone’s space.
Even though space was at a premium, I saw that in the 72 hours that I spent there, no one was pushing anyone out of his/her space.
Everyone who came to seek blessings of ‘Triveni-Mata’, was focused on getting what he/she came for. Everything else was just secondary.
There was no class difference amongst the people gathered there to seek Divine anugraha and that showed the class of Hindus.
Everyone was oblivious to the noise outside as he/she was experiencing so much peace in his/her inner region.
Description
Maha Kumbh cannot be described. It has to be experienced.
However, one CAN describe the material aspects of creating the transient city and many HAVE described, so I need not repeat that.
The spiritual aspects have many layers and to decipher each of them, one has to come here, spend several days, be on their feet, visit different akhadas, attend pravachana-s, discourses, do satsanga, join seekers and immerse in the Kumbh city dham.
What did I learn?
The Kumbh Mela experience teaches us that this Sanatana dharma is alive and thriving due to that most common man living in the heart of Bharat, that exists in the far corners all around, away from the hustle and bustle of urban life. Hundreds of millions came walking from long distances; old and young, healthy and infirm, men and women, rich and poor. There was some fatigue on some faces, but there was immense satisfaction of achieving something in their hearts.
The survival of this Sanatana dharma has less to do with the English-educated urbanites, with some exceptions though, with no disrespect to them, please. But, the truth must be told as I perceive it and no one needs to agree with me.
I saw many such common men and my astha in my dharma and my Rishis, the founders of this most benevolent dharma, that wishes only ‘good’ for the entire humanity, grew manyfold.
I would like to share one of my experiences with a commoner.
When we went for darshan of Bhagwan Nag Vasuki, we removed our footwear and one such ‘common woman’ who was selling flowers took it upon herself to look after them.
After we were done with the darshan, when we picked up our footwear, we offered her some money as fees for looking after them. She declined very politely saying that she would not accept the money as we did not buy anything from her. Even after insisting several times, including by my wife, she was firm in her decision.
So eventually, we did buy some flowers from her and paid for the flowers and she did not like that idea much because we were done with the darshana, but grudgingly accepted the money. My heart cried with joy because I realized that this ‘common woman’ is the reason why we have survived as our civilization and our dharma.
Though I have experienced such incidents many times in Bharat, this was more refreshing and reassuring why I feel so much pride in my civilization.
I heard several stories from several devotees about their positive experiences and I am sure millions of words have been poured out on Social Media as well as on Main Stream Media, so I would not repeat them.
Conclusion
This small Kumbh story that I am writing is because I could not hold myself from expressing my thoughts and feelings, while at the same time, I find myself most incompetent to write about this spiritual and civilizational event that has been taking place since the last about eight thousand years or even before.
When the rest of the world was living in caves or on the hills wearing leaves from the trees and hunting the animals for food with some pre-primitive iron tools and gazing at the stars in the night wondering who was lighting these lamps in the night up in the sky, our Rishis were counting these lamps as well as observing and recording their cosmic movements with precision that amazes the scientists of today.
My humble suggestion to you is that if you want to know about Kumbh Mela, please go and spend time there. Most probably, none of us will be able to visit another Maha Kumbh in this lifetime (next Maha Kumbh is 144 years later), so do visit Ardha Kumbha, or Purna Kumbha whenever they are scheduled.
Jai Ganga Mata, Jai Yamuna Mata, Jai Saraswati Mata.
Udit Shah
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