VAISHNO DEVI : A Story of Goddess Vaishno Devi

The story is about seven hundred years old. Two kilometers away from present Katra town, is a village named Hansali. This picturesque-place surrounded on all sides by trees and brooks, pre­sents an thrilling view of nature. In the midst of this atmosphere a sound was reverberating in the mountains of Trikuta....

"I don't know hymns; I don't know how to adore thee; I don't know formal worship; I don't know even your shape; Neither I know the method of meditation nor the postures of meditation story all my sins and help to attain, whatever I deserve."

"Victory to you,, Oh mother Bhavani," said Pan­dit Shri-Dhar. His throat choked, tears rolled down the cheeks, sweat drops appeared over his forehead; lips quivered. Shri-Dhar asked mother, "You are the greatest of great. You are knower of known and unknown. Why don't you accept' my prayers? What are the short-comings in my wor­ship? Oh, goddess! Be benign unto me. Pardon my sins or else tell me in person that why children can't adore my home? How can my line of progenitors continue without my descendants?" Pan­dit Shri-Dhar was talking as if to him with emo­tion and devotion. His whole body was shivering & suddenly a murmuring sound came beneath the fallen dry leaves.

"Chhan, Chhan, Chhan...".

Sound of Pazeb (Anklet) filled the air. Pandit ji looked in the direction of leaves and the rays of blazing sun fell on his face. The whole atmosphere looked blissful. Shri-Dhar was aghast. He saw here. & there, but couldn't find anyone. He took it as his own hallucination and offered the flowers of wor­ship and left for his village. He had to conduct girl worship ceremony.

The girl worship ceremony started. Six small girls were sitting in line with folded legs. Suddenly Panditji's eyes fell on a ravishing face, full of beauty and splendor. Panditji was amazed and bewitched. It seemed as if hundreds of suns were blazing on her face. It was so innocent, as if thousands of lotuses had blossomed. This girl had never been spotted in the village earlier. Her clothes were red in color and she was wearing an anklet.

The girl put her feet in the front of Pandit Shri­Dhar. He started to wash her feet. Then he wor­shipped all the seven girls and served flowers. Later he served food and gave 'Dakshina' (offering in cash) to them. All the girls, except the divine shaped girl, left. Panditji was about to ask her some questions, when the divine goddess, in the form of girl, said to him, "I have come to you for an important job." On hearing this from small girl the devotee was overwhelmed.

 
The girl said, "You convey to people in the vil­lage and around, that you are holding a feast in the name of god." Before Panditji could ask her any­thing, the girl disappeared. Shri-Dhar was perplexed. Who was that girl? She should have been a divine girl. Then Shri-Dhar became anxious about holding of 'Bhandara', the feast in the wor­ship of god. He thought that he could invite everyone but who would arrange the eatables and other material required for it? He thought he could not conduct the feast (Bhandara). He thought that the mysterious girl may have been divine & wanted to examine his devotion. He resolved to in­vite people from the village and near-by places & left his home to invite all the people including 'Bhairav Nath'.

Bhairav Nath enquired of Panditji, if he could fulfill the requirements of so big a congregation. He warned him of bad consequences in case of fai­lure. He reminded him that once; Lord Indra was cursed by their guru for not being able to satisfy the appetite of guru and his disciples. He said to Panditji, "Our guru ji can burn the whole village by his curse in anger. So you think before deciding to invite us. You are committing a great blunder by calling us on feast." Panditji folded hands and said, "Sir, you are a great sage, saint and seer. By good luck, I have been able to see you. I have al­ready invited the people from far & nearby places. I have requested you to visit my home deeming it to be my duty. Although I know that I can't per­form such a big holy feast (Bhandara) yet I have to perform it.

"Why?” enquired yogi; "Holy sage, that girl has ordered me to perform it," said Shri-Dhar. "Which girl"? Again the yogi enquired "Fantastic! a small girl will arrange holy feast for such a huge group of holy saints". The saint turned towards his guru & said, "Sir, listen the words of Panditji. He says that a small girl wants to feed all of us and also the whole village." Guru Gorakh Nath replied," What harm is there to take the test? We should go and see ourselves, who this girl is?" The guru raised his hands and said to Shri-Dhar." We accept your invitation. We will arrive tomorrow in time.

 
Shri-Dhar got dead-tired by visiting the houses of people in villages and fell asleep at night. In the morning, he got worried about the arrangements for 'Bhandara'. People started to pour in.

It was noon. Sun was blazing high in the sky. Shri-Dhar was sitting out side his hut on a raised earthen platform. He was lost in worry as nothing had been arranged. Meanwhile the sound of saint’s arrival could be heard from a distance. Holy saint, Gorakh Nath, was proceeding towards the hut, accompanied by huge group of devotees.

The whole village hummed with activity and people thronged towards the hut. Some said that Panditji has got himself entrapped. Others thought that whole village will be put to disre­pute, because of Panditji's folly. Even ladies began to murmur.

Suddenly, the sky was overcast with clouds and for a moment it was almost dark and later bright sun appeared again and darkness disappeared. Surprisingly a divine girl, wearing red apparel and a trident in hand, appeared in front of Shri-Dhar. Nobody could know, from where, the girl ap­peared.

The divine girl said, "Panditji, leave your wor­ries. Everything will be arranged. You get up and ask the holy men to get into your hut and eat food." Shri-Dhar got up and requested the saints to grace his hut.

Guru Gorakh Nath said, "How can I sit in your hut with my three hundred and sixty disciples? For us, open space, outside the hut, will be suita­ble. Your hut is too small. Panditji, please arrange to serve the foods, outside the hut." Shri-Dhar re­plied, "Sir, the girl has invited you inside the hut." Guru ji proceeded to hut and his disciples followed him one by one. All the people got accommodated inside the hut and there was still some room left. People of the village sat outside. Bhandara started. The divine girl started to distribute food from mystic pot (Kamandal). Panditji became happy while others were surprised. Everyone got food of choice. Numberless foods of varied tastes were distributed and people ate to their heart full.

 
On seeing this, Gorakh Nath and Bhairav-Nath admitted in their conversation that the girl had some supernatural powers. They decided to probe about her antecedents. The girl reached near Bhairav Nath, serving food. He said to the girl, "You have served food to everybody as per their choice. Now serve me also food of my choice." The girl replied, "Your holiness, what do you want?" Mother knew everything. She wanted to play a sport with her child in the same way, as a mother .plays with a baby or as a baby plays with his toys. So in spite of knowing everything about Bhairav she wanted him to spell it out.

Bhairav said, "Bring for me meat and drinks (wine)." The girl replied, "Sir, please do not forget that you are sitting in a Brahmins hut and this au­spicious feast is vegetarian. So please ask only those foods which are vegetarian." Bhairav stood by his choice. He wanted to test the powers of this amazing girl. Discussions started over this issue and Bhairav lost temper. He tried to catch hold of the hand of girl. The girl (goddess) disappeared. Bhairav, also, was not an ordinary human-being. He went into samadhi (Intense meditation) and saw by his spiritual powers that the girl is moving towards Trikuta Mountains. His quest increased. He wanted to know the whereabouts of the girl, her source of power and the mystery surrounding her. He became restive and as such sought per­mission from his Guru, to follow the girl and to know her abode. He told him that he wanted to know the secret of her powers and their source. Guru Gorakh Nath allowed Bhairav to pursue the girl and wished him good luck.

Bhairav left for Trikuta hills. He saw, in medita­tion, the path taken by the girl and followed her.

Meanwhile Pandit Shri-Dhar became restless just like a fish out of water. The divine girl had left the hut since last two days. He was continuously gazing towards the unknown. He stopped eating, drinking and talking. It seemed as if the jug of water had been snatched from the hands of a thirsty man. The day passed in this way and night set in. He fell asleep.

While sleeping Panditji felt, as if, someone is pressing his hand on his head. The soft touch of hand gave him relief and he opened his eyes. To his astonishment, he found Durga goddess riding a lion, adorned with ornaments, trident in her hand and many other-weapons gracing her dazzling and sparkling personality. Panditji reverently bowed down his head and sang hymns in the worship of mother. Mother enquired of Panditji, "Why did you stop eating and drinking? How can you worship with an empty belly? Come, I will show you my abode." Shri-Dhar followed mother with folded hands. It seemed, as if everything was mov­ing mechanically. He started riding up the hill. Then they reached near a cave. They entered the cave. The mother showed him her abode in the cave. The devotee was jubilant on witnessing it. Tears rolled down his cheeks in reverence. He bowed down his head and worshipped the god­dess mother. Then they came out of the cave. The moment he ejected-out of cave the bright light fell on his eyes and Shri-Dhar awoke from his sleep. It was dawn. The Sun had come out scattering red rays in streaks in the sky. Shri-Dhar got up from the bed.

Panditji was very happy. The scenes witnessed during dream were still fresh in his mind. The pic­ture of mother astride a lion in full glory, was caus­ing a commotion to him. He remembered every bit of path, place, the goddess in 'Pindi' shape, the beautiful cave, the mountains falling on the way etc.

 

  Nine months passed by. Bhairav Nath was loit­ering on the mountains in search of mystic girl. He sat in meditation several times and tried to know the whereabouts of the girl through mystic pur­suits but he failed. Although he knew that the di­vine girl is hidden somewhere on the same moun­tain yet he could not locate her. The path, she fol­lowed, was not clear. Earlier, he had seen a 'Lan­gur Veer' (monkey) with a red flag in hand with the girl. Then he saw the girl hitting a stone with an arrow and water gushed out of that stone. Bhairav reached near that place and again sat in meditation. He saw the girl standing at the moun­tain top. Bhairav went to that place and found the foot-print (marks) on the stone. Then he could not locate the girl for nine months. His innate desire for the search of girl, increased to the extent of mad­ness.

One day his eyes fell on a hermit. Bhairav en­quired of hermit, "Sir, have you seen any girl here?" The hermit replied, "Perhaps you are not aware, that goddess Maha Devi lives here. Who else can stay here?" Bhairav asked, "Where can the girl, whom I am searching, hide for nine months? Is it not possible that she is hidden in the cave?" Saying so, he started to enter a narrow cave beneath the hermit.

The hermit stopped Bhairav. He stood in front of the cave mouth and said, "Oh fool! The girl, whom you think as ordinary human being, is all powerful goddess 'Adi Kumari' * . It is good for you to return back."

It is said that when evil times are to be-fall on a man, his intellect fails. Bhairav Nath also acted in the same manner. The more he was forbidden by the saint, the more he became stubborn about en­tering the cave. He thought how a girl could re­main hidden in cave for nine months. A cave can­not -become a womb (Garb-Yoni). He vowed to enter the cave. Mother goddess was witnessing the mental agony and turbulence of Bhairav. In fact, it was her own sport (Lila). She could annihi­late Bhairav in a spur of moment, but she wanted to continue the play a bit more.

On seeing Bhairav entering the cave, she tore open a path behind the cave by her trident and came out. The goddess went ahead, while Bhairav followed her. At last the goddess reached near the beautiful cave on Trikut Mountains. Goddess asked Bhairav to return back and stop following her, but Bhairav refused. So the goddess kept 'Veer-Langur' (monkey) as a guard on cave-mouth and entered in the cave. Bhairav also started to enter the cave. However Langur-Veer stopped him. He said to Bhairav, "Mahamaya has forbid­den me from allowing anyone to enter into the cave. So please take leave." Bhairav got agitated and asked Langur, "Who are you to stop me? I am Bhairav-Bali. I can go to any place." On saying this Bhairav snatched 'Gada' (club) from Langur and started hitting him. The two fought battle royal for a long time, till Langur fell down. Bhairav threw him away and entered the cave. Goddess saw him entering and took the shape of fierce 'Chandi' god­dess and killed Bhairav by her sword.

Probably the play of goddess had come to an end. When a child plays with a toy and it doesn't move according to his choice, he may break it. He is the master of toy. In similar way, Maha Devi broke the toy (a creation of her own Maya). The sword of goddess tore through the body of Bhairav so ferociously, that the head of Bhairav fell on the mountain peak. This place, in these days, is called as Bhairav- ghati.

 
Bhairav Nath was not an ordinary human being.

He was a spiritual saint. His head separated from the body, but the consciousness still remained. He felt sorry for his conduct. He repented and im­plored to goddess, "Oh! the mother of’ creator, foundation of universe, I am not sad for having lost my life, as my end has come at the hands of mother of creation. I will get 'Moksha' (Liberation). But mother, please pardon me. I was ignorant of your girl-form. Great mother, if you won't pardon me, then the whole world will consider me as a great sinner and abhor me.

On listening the prayers of Bhairav, the mother took pity on him. She gave him a boon and said, "After my worship, people will be worshipping you also. Your soul will be liberated. The devotees will visit your shrine after pilgrimage to my abode. The devotees, who pay obeisance to you, will also get their desires fulfilled. As per this boon, the pil­grims of holy Mata Vaishno Devi shrine later visit the temple of Bhairav Baba. The place, where the Bhairav's head fell, houses a temple in the name of Bhairav.

 
Meanwhile, Shri-Dhar had become impatient after having holy 'darshan' of goddess mother in holy cave in a dream. He started to march towards Trikuta Mountains on the same path as he had witnessed in dream. Sometimes he used to forget the path but immediately a picture of the path would come in his eyes. In this way, he went on searching the cave and ultimately reached the cave mouth. He became joyous and entered the cave. There he saw mother goddess in 'Pindi- Rupa'. Shri-Dhar prayed holy mother with hymns and oblations. He worshipped mother with deep reverence. He made a daily routine of worshipping 'Pindis' and serves the mother in several ways. The unswerving faith and devotion of Shri-Dhar pleased the mother goddess and she appeared in front of her devotee and gave him a boon of four sons. The mother blessed Shri-Dhar and said, "Your future progeny will worship me for long times to come and they will be blessed with happi­ness, wealth, health and velour." Since that day, Shri-Dhar and his descendants have been wor­shipping the mother. After this event Shri-Dhar spread the message far and wide and the cave be­came popular amongst masses. People come in millions to visit the holy cave and get their desires fulfilled.

Reason why thousands of people visit Vaishno Devi everyday

As per the story of Vaishno Devi it is believed that Vaishno Devi forgives people for their bad deeds. The hard efforts one has to take to reach Vaishno Devi are considered as exam put up by Mata to wash-off all evil thoughts and past bad deeds from one’s life. Thus, to get free from bad thoughts and make future peaceful, thousands of devotees visit Vaishno Devi each day. The number has reached to 5 million per year since last few years.