The bond of religion; an added beauty in Nepal-India ties

The family of the ARYALS in Saptari district where I was born had some intimate connections with the holy place in Brindavan which is in U.P, India. Brindavan is a place where Lord Krishna, one of the seventh or eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, grew and preached "Karma". Lord Krishna believed in the theory that do your work with dedication but never expect any return. That was his message which is yet popular in our society.

This connection used to bring our family members to Brindavan quite often. I recall, my late mother and father to have visited Brindavan several times. When I grew I could guess that Brindavan should have big temples of Lord Krishna where people from around Nepal and India visited and felt closer to the God. Even today, one could see thousands and thousands of the Nepalese wishing to go to Brindavan and prefer even to die at the banks of the holy Yamuna river for they believe that if they leave this material world being there would mean that they secured MOKSHA. A holy dip in the Yamuna river meant free from all the sins and a secured place in the heaven after death-the ultimate truth.

It was not for nothing that my grandfather too had expressed his desire that at time of his death be he carried to Brindavan. But alas! We could not do that. Likewise, my grandmother too had the same desire but she counted her last breath in Biratnagar and hence her desire remained fulfilled.

And very late, my mother, late Chija Devi Aryal had apparently wished that she wished to count her last breath in Brindavan and if that could not be possible, she had confided with my father when she was alive, let the rites and rituals of her first death anniversary be performed in Brindavan, India.

In fact this revelation we the sons could know only very lately by our august father (83) and hence me and my brothers in Biratnagar are all set to proceed to Brindavan to honor the last wishes of our late mother. I recall my mother used to recite long verses in Sanskrit fluently from The Sri Mad Bhagbat and me listening to the Hindi translation of the same. This was a practice that continued in my house for years and years. We had a small room meant for worship where photographs of various gods and goddesses were hung. Prominent were Lord Krishna's photographs. This practice in one way or the other also had some impact on my mind and since then I too started taking keen and sincere interests on the teachings, preaching, actions and political maneuverings of Lord Krishna specially in the Mahabharat event.

I consider Lord Krishna to be a shrewd diplomat-par excellence. Lord Krishna's sympathies for the Pandavas were evidently clear but then yet he managed these things quite skillfully. Lord Krishna's teachings offered to his disciple Arjuna at time of the battle of the Mahabharat is simply superb. It was here at the battle-field that Krishna told Arjuna that only He and none else was the universe and that every thing emanated from Him and vanished in Him. It was here that Arjuna was made known that he was the real Almighty and the rest in the material world were nothing. It was here at the battle ground of Kurukhestra located in Haryana close to Delhi that Lord Krishna offered special "eye-sight" to Arjuna and the latter could see the Lord in His all pervasive figure. Looking at this gigantic figure, later Arjuna too concludes that he was just a means in the battle and that Lord Krishna was to act in his favor without letting the latter know about the hidden fact.

Brindavan has a special place in the hearts of the Hindus around the world. There are many stories related Lord Krishna in Brindavan which I wish not to go into the details.

Perhaps this explains the religious connection that we the Nepalese people have with India.

Politics apart, Nepal and India will have to have maintained this bond for centuries and centuries to come. Whether one liked it or not, this is the added beauty of Nepal-India ties.

Conversely, the majority of the Hindu population in India would prefer to pay homage to Lord Pashupatinath in Kathmandu. If they could do so would be their lifetime achievement. The climax of it all is that Nepali religious system would demand a personality from South India as the chief priest for the Lord Pashupatinath temple. This appears too much but then this is a fact and we have been maintaining that since hundreds and hundreds of years.

On top of it all, the Nepali Hindu monarch is considered by India's Hindu population as the "incarnation" of Lord Vishnu and hence he is respected all over India as the lone Hindu monarch of the entire Hindu world. How one explains this? But this is a fact-a fact that the Indian establishment also can't dismiss even if some thing went wrong in Nepal-India ties. Just recall 1989 and then the following years when late King Birendra was greeted by the Indian leadership even when He was in a private trip to Agra. People queued for miles and miles on his way to Agra, we were told. Some even managed the dust under the feet of the King as if it were the dust of the real lord Vishnu. This prevails yet and that too unconditionally. How one would explain this fact?

India honors the Nepalese monarchs on two grounds I suppose: firstly because she knows that King in Nepal is a unifying factor and that the Nepali King represented the incarnation of Vishnu, speaking on grounds of the religion.

When in the late 60s I cleared my Intermediate of Science examination from Biratnagar, my grand pa suggested me point blank that I admit my self in Allahabad University, Varanashi, India. When I asked him about the reason, he said that if I were there I would enjoy the blessings of Lord Bishwa Nath-Lord Shiva. Indian City of Varanashi houses one of the finest Lord Shiva's temple in the world only next to Pashupati Nath in Kathmandu. The temple in Varanashi is really a masterpiece, I am told.

Though I rejected his suggestions then but now I could guess that my grandfather would have told me to go to Varanashi only because of these religious reasons. The fact is that Varanashi has been a seat of learning since time immemorial. Many Nepalese from east and west, north and south have educated themselves from Varanashi and other similar places in India. This also adds to the beauty of Nepal-India ties.

Brindavan is a two hours distance from Delhi by train. It is close to Agra and Mathura.

Though Nepal also possesses equally renowned holy places such as Barah Chetra, Dev Ghat and the likes where one could perform such rites and rituals but the time-honored tradition forces us to visit India. More so it becomes a must when your loved and dearest ones express their internal desires and wish their kids performing such rituals in Indian temples then one is left with no options other that to fulfil their last wishes.

It is in this light that I will be out of Nepal for two weeks. With a very heavy heart I wish to tell my readers here and abroad that the Telegraph weekly is suspended for two weeks. We will appear only on May 8, next month.

May lord Krishna bless my valued readers both within and without.

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