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Pilgrimage to the Amarnath (July - Aug 1898)
Pilgrimage to the Amarnath (July - Aug 1898)
Total Records Found: 21
25 Jul 1898
S
Swamiji and party went on to Achabal through scenery of exquisite beauty. They roamed about the gardens of Jehangir, bathed in a still pool opposite the Pathan Khan's Zenana, took their lunch in the first garden, and in the after- noon rode down to Islamabad (Anantnag). (LSV 2.369)
25 Jul 1898
S
At Achabal the Swami announced to his companions during the open-air lunch, his intention of going to Amarnath with the two or three thousand pilgrims then en route for that shrine. As a special privilege Sister Nivedita was allowed to join him on the pilgrimage, so that she, as a future worker, might have a direct knowledge and insight into that time-honoured religious institution of his country. (LSV 2.369)
25 Jul 1898
S
It was settled that his other Western disciples would accompany the party as fir as Pahalgam and there wait for the Swami's return. Accordingly, they returned to the boats that evening and prepared for the journey. (LSV 2.369)
26 Jul 1898
S
Left for Bhavan, the first stopping place for Amarnath. Swamiji full of enthusiasm for the pilgrimage, living mostly on one meal a day and seeking no company much save of sadhus. (LSV 2.370)
27 Jul 1898
S
Swamiji halted for the night at Bhavan. The place had been transformed into a village fair, but with a religious touch and centring on the sacred springs. When Mrs. Bull and Nivedita approached the Swami's tent, they found him surrounded by a crowd of Hindi-speaking sadhus who were plying him with questions. (LSV 2.370)
28 Jul 1898
S
Reached Pahalgam and camped at the foot of an arrow shaped ravine, beside roaring torrents of Lidder. (LSV 2.370)
28 Jul 1898
S
Swamiji stayed at Pahalgam whole next day in order to observe Ekadasi. Other members of the party stayed here awaiting the return of Swamiji and Nivedita. (LSV 2.370)
29 Jul 1898
S
On their journey to Amarnath. (LSV 2.370)
Jul 1898
S
Swamiji encountered strong opposition from the orthodox sadhus, because of the presence of his foreign disciples. When their tents were pitched too near the pilgrims' camp, the sadhus clamoured for their removal to a greater distance. The Swami treated their complaints with scorn, till a Naga sadhu came up to him and said meekly, "Swamiji, you have the power, but you ought not to manifest it!" The Swami understood, and on the next morning (29th) the party's tents were moved up to a lovely knoll, at the head of the camp, where they had the rushing Lidder in front of them, and pine-covered mountains beyond. (LSV 2.371)
29 Jul 1898
S
That afternoon the Swami took Nivedita round the camp to be blessed -- which really meant, says the latter, to distribute alms. (LSV 2.371)
30 Jul 1898
S
Swamiji and those with him left for Chandanwari, where they camped on the edge of a ravine. It rained all afternoon. (LSV 2.372)
31 Jul 1898
S
Just after Chandanwari, there is an ice-bridge, which the Swami insisted on Nivedita's crossing on foot, this being her first experience of such a thing. A steep climb towards Pishu Ghati followed, and then a long walk on a narrow path that twisted round the mountain-side. Above the tree-line, where they were now, the ground was carpeted with edelweiss and many other kinds of flowers. The path passed above Sheshnag, a lake fed by two small glaciers. Nivedita writes of its "sulky water". That is how its green water appeared to her. (LSV 2.372)
31 Jul 1898
S
Swamiji and party camped at Wavjan, at a height of 12,500 ft. All afternoon and evening the coolies had to forage for juniper, to use for the camp fires. The Tahsildar's, Swamiji's, and Nivedita's tents were pitched close together, and a large fire was lighted in front of them; but it did not burn well. (LSV 2.372)
1 Aug 1898
Letter
Swamiji's letter to BRAHMANANDA From SRINAGAR (CW SV 8.456)
1 Aug 1898
S
After crossing the Mahagunus Top, a pass at 14,500 feet, they reached Panchtarani, the "Place of the Five Streams", at the same height as Wavjan. The cold there, says Nivedita, was dry and exhilarating. In front of their camp was a dry river-bed, all gravel, and through this ran the five streams, in all of which the pilgrim was to bathe, going from one to the other in wet clothes. Heedful to observe every rite of the pilgrimage, Swamiji fulfilled the law to the letter in this matter, escaping the observation of his spiritual daughter in doing so. (LSV 2.372)
2 Aug 1898
ME
The day of Amarnath itself, there was first a steep climb, followed by a descent, where one false step would have meant death. Then they walked along a glacier till they reached a flowing stream. In this the pilgrims bathed, before entering the cave after a short, stiff ascent. Swamiji had fallen behind, perhaps intentionally, so as to be alone with his thoughts. He came up, sent his waiting disciple on ahead, and bathed in the stream. When he reached the cave, his whole frame was shaking with emotion. The cave itself, says Nivedita, was "large enough to hold a cathedral, and the great ice-shiva in a niche of deepest shadow, seemed as if throned on its own base". His body covered with ashes, his face aflame with devotion to Shiva, the Swami entered the shrine itself, nude except for a loin-cloth, and prostrated in adoration before the Lord. A song of praise from a hundred throats resounded in the cave, and the shining purity of the great ice-linga overpowered him. He almost swooned with emotion. A profound mystical experience came to him, of which he never spoke, beyond saying that Shiva Himself had appeared before him, and that he had been granted the grace of Amarnath, the Lord of Immortality, namely not to die until he himself should choose to do so. (LSV 2.372)
Aug 1898
S
The reader will see a connection between this experience and the words of Shri Ramakrishna. (LSV 2.373)
Aug 1898
0
As a result of exertion, Swamiji's physical condition was permanently affected. We do not know whether the intensity of his mystical experience was the cause or whether it was the combination of freezing cold, excessive physical exertion, and lack of oxygen; or both. A doctor later on said of this Amarnath experience: "Swamiji, it was almost death! Your heart ought naturally to have stopped beating. It has undergone a permanent enlargement instead." (LSV 2.373)
Aug 1898
S
On the journey back to Pahalgam the party passed the celebrated Lake of Death. (LSV 2.374)
Aug 1898
S
At Pahalgam, there was joy when he again met his other Western disciples. He talked, says Nivedita, "of Shiva, and the Cave and the great verge of vision". (LSV 2.374)
7 Aug 1898
S
(LSV 2.374)
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