Divine Moments

A natural cave, which devotees used to crawl to sanctum sanctorum for darshan of Mother Goddess, was about 500 meters from security post. To make devotees life easier two new tunnels are carved our little ahead of this natural entrance.  At the natural cave there was a small temple outside.  A few devotees were singing prayers. Most often now, this cave entrance is not allowed to be used now. This cave route was waterlogged due to very heavy rains. We were walking barefoot. Stone surface was so cold my feet were numb by now. We reached entry tunnel. It is very well maintained with tiles and rainwater drain. There was a small queue, only up to half of that 60-70 feet tunnel. It means hardly 30-40 devotees were ahead of us. We were reciting Stotras (odes of praise) of Mata (mother) Vaishnodevi. There was a chant of “Jai Mata Di” (hail the goddess) around. In this trance we reached in the sanctum sanctorum. Here we were bowing down in front of goddess, a divine moment. As there was no rush, even priest were not in hurry. They allowed us to stand till I finished one recital of “Shaptashati Stotra”. Our minds were full of devotion and intense pleasure. We cherished this moment, we longed for, since we discussed about it 3 months ago. Mata’s (mother goddess) wish, call and blessings have brought us here for this divine experience.

There is no Idol of Vaishnodevi in this cave temple.  Three pimples like stone bumps are present. They are called as "Pindi".  The right bump (Pindi) is of Goddess Kali, central Pindi is of Goddess Laxmi and little distant one on left is Sarasota. As per mythological stories Vaishnodevi draws power from all these three goddesses. One can read stories about Vaishnodevi in books and in Internet as it is easily available, hence retelling is avoided here. I have penned down our experiences on this trip. There are carvings and photos of other deities. I don't recall most as our concentration was solely on Pindis. We came out from the adjoining tunnel, drenched in limitless joy. I looked at Neha, she too was in ecstatic state. Her desire to visit Vaishnodevi was very strong. With blessings from mother goddess, she overcame asthma and climbed the hills in difficult climate. It was unforgettable, unique experience. We were feeling blessings of mother everywhere. We felt our physical and mental strength has multiplied manifold. Still we were reciting "Jai Mata Di". In this supernatural joyful condition we sat under a large tree. 

We came back in our senses from this trance like condition hearing recital of psalms (bhajan) by group of elderly ladies. Once family consisting of husband, wife and a small girl came out of cave. Those elderly ladies ran towards her. They bowed down to her. I asked Neha in amazement about it. She said, as per mythology, first pre-puberty girl seen immediately post darshan, is considered as a form of goddess. Hearing this I felt, are we forgetting great teachings of Hinduism. Are we following these great teachings? No, I don't think so, otherwise why there are molestation, rapes and eve teasing?

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