The Amarnath caves are one of the most famous shrines in Hinduism, dedicated to the god Shiva, located in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The shrine is claimed to be over 5,000 years old and forms an important part of Hindu mythology.
What is it , that you know always, that all the yogis always want to know?The Devi once asked her beloved Nath, Shiva.Shiva smiled,laughed, and then spoke exaltedly like a poet,'this earth upon which we sit, the hills,these trees, the springs,this soft wind,even the moon! the sky! those distant stars that bejewel the night as offerings to you,truly, dearest," He exclaimed, arising,"The entire universe is a projection from the pristine essence within me; this human bodied yogi you love-your husband, Shankar! I am always the knower of the highest transcendence, I am always the knower of what is always.The Devi was impressed,but, "where do i fit in?" she asked teasingly"You, Parvati," He urged emphatically, "are the embodiment of Shakti, my inseparable power of dynamics, you cause the projection.without you,there would be no manifest world,and i would remain ever, in my transcendence , by myself."Seeing that his young wife was pleased , Shiva continued,"and so this beautiful miracle, that tonight we sit two beings in love, chatting, admiring each other and our surroundings,such a beautiful creation ,of which we are now a part,and yet i tell you, the secret is that we are the perennial source of all that is..."Even as Shiva was expounding the most secret Agama of Srishti rahasya to the Devi, a trickle of water on a portion of their cave wall began solidifying, in the form of a magnificent LINGA,which is, of course, the symbol of all creation.It was as though to demonstrate the manifestation ofa subtle state into a grosser one,as if to freeze the magical words for posterity. As though to make explicit , the truth that water and ice are one,and yet each contains the other."Witness, my dearest", said Shiva "this linga as a symbol of our love; a reminder of our eternal togethernessa vision of the eternal principle of shiva shakti ,therefore a vision of foreverness in its simplest form.And when shall my children get this vision? demanded the mother , latent ,in the bride.In due course of time,many kathas later O devi vouched Shiva any being that attains to this station to which you are primal witness, shall be granted the Amrita.
This was the divine prelude to AMARNATH. Shiva had asserted that the whole world is his playground, every place is pervaded by his divine essence,and yet ,there are places where this divinity is more clearly perceived,places where the individual's consciousness is uplifted spontaneously into universal being.places,where yogis and bhaktas have meditated and done tapas , in order to get closer to the pristine truth.And these are stations which do give the feel of the truth.And Amarnath where the whole truth had been expoundedby the NATH himself.is an extremely powerful station,still vibrating with the divine essence of existence ,still echoing shiva's words and parvati's love ....still remaining the fountainhead of all life. And so, the rishis went for darsana,the siddhas went,the sadhs went, the naths went, the kulas went the sants went, and went so many other blessed ones,so many went like a backward flow of waters, back to the origin, and felt for themselves the presence of the perennial source,so many sang prayers ,gave offerings , meditated and then came back home to tell the others stories of AMAR NATH, the master storyteller. Till today Amarnath stands as a colossal sanctorum.Till today we team up every year, to go for the yatra - holy trek to have darsana of the lord's symbol in its prisitne glory .And the numbers grow .But the enigmatic shivlinga waxes into fullfillment in a phase,or wanes into disappearance in another, and we all want to witness it in its purna avastha,And this desire becomes a great platform for shiva's leela. our aspirations give way to the lord to enact his play! He is a great performer, he is Natraj,and when he has a devoted audience, you can be sure that the play is in full swing,and not only is Shiva present, He is dancing.....and the happy bhaktas can feel His dance in their own ....they are sure of His presence much before they reach the cave,Sure that He has been with them from the first steps of the yatra....and when they reach the top and see the Shivlinga for themselves,it is a great fulfillment.and this goes on and on,and more and more bhaktas have darsana, go home, pass the word,and yet more people join the yatra , and it goes on happily.And then, suddenly,news comes,The lord has disappeared.This is an abrupt change of sceneit is disappointing, it is a sadnesswhat has happened?where has Shiva gone?volleys of discussions begin, why has he gone?Who is responsible? who is irresponsible?has something annoyed Him?and these debates are happening mostly in places far from Amarnath itself ..and as the scene shifts from the mountain to our discussive armchairs, so does our focus.We get more involved in intellectualism,we remember to blame, but forget the game!We begin to forget that all is Shiva's Leela, all is the play of Natraj, we begin to forget Natraj Himself !This is to be noted, we actually are forgetting Shiva when we are animatedly arguing about him,we forget that he can take care of his own schedules,we forget that even in the Puranas one of His chief characteristics is to appear and disappear at will,we forget that this is the same Shiva who can mesmerise the doubting by snowing hairat (astonishment) into Shivratri!We forget that we at our best are custodians of faith ,not just of symbols,we forget that seeing ,always ,is not the only believing,sometimes,it is believing that enables "seeing".We even forget that Amarnath, the very ephitet of lord Shiva means, the Nath always exists! And happily, far from the television arguments, there are still thousands who are climbing each day to "see' their beloved Natheven if he Appears not to be there.This is real spirituality, to have faith that God always is, even if he Appears not to be there.This to be noted, it is not a disappearance of shiva, but his appearing, not to be there, where he always is!He is everywhere , but in our discussions, we forget.Throughout the ages, the lord has always been.In Amarnath the shivlinga always comes,sometimes it disappears ..much like the enigmatic mobeing always full,appears to wane, whereas it is actually nested in the lord's matty hair!Sometimes, as we all in J&k should know too well, even the cave is lost, till the lord wills that it be found again..It is all the lords will. we are but finders, discoverers, faithkeepers.some keep the faith by praying for shiva to show his shivling, again,some keep the faith by going on climbing regardless,some do keep the faith by trying to have meaningful discussion for future,some keep the faith in their heart..And i am glad some keep the faith by planning and tending and feeding and then, cleaning the disposals of evergrowing numbers of pilgrims,regardless of any detraction.It is good that some assist Shiva in felicitating others, He doesnt need anything from us,but this is our chance to participate in the Leela as attendants, so we offer in the spirit of "Tera tuj ko arpan". i am glad also that people with senior temporal positions in administration have risen to the occasion and made arrangements for our guests who come from far ,and the numbers will grow ,for Amarnath will not only continue to abound for bhaktas in India,but there will be a day when it will be a great pilgrimage destination for seekers all around the world also ,in mundane terms, it has the potential.When this happens is ,of course Shiva's will and when He chooses, He will appear in the hugest Shivlinga..We, will wait in great attendance..Aum Namah Shivaya!