THOUGHTS AT WAGHA BORDER

As we walked between the railings, to take our seats on either side of the tarmac, I could feel a ripple of excitement going up my spine. For, here at Wagha border, I had just to glance across to catch my first ever glimpse of Pakistan. This could well be the sentiment of most of the 45 members of my group, who were travelling from Kerala, way down south. Our group was on the Amarnath Yatra with Swami Sandeepananda Giri and Wagha Border was en route. And so here we were in time to watch the Beating the Retreat ceremony which is performed every evening on both sides of this Indo-Pak border.

Wagha, for the uninitiated, is an army outpost, lying between Amritsar and Lahore. The distance from Amritsar would be about 28 kms.

Earlier in the day, we visited Jallianwallah Bagh, the Durgiani temple and the spectacular Golden Temple situated in the ‘Pool of Nectar’, from which Amritsar  (Amrita saras) gets its name. The city as we know it today dates back to the 15^th century, but its association with Ramayana is proof that the city existed many thousands of years earlier. It is here that Sage Valmiki wrote the epic and the place is said to have been blessed with Lord Sri Ram and Sita Devi’s presence, during their years in exile. Today the city is the center of Sikh history and culture and trade—a beehive of activity, bearing testimony to Sikh enterprise and hard work.

But to get back to the Wagha Border ...

Soldiers form the Border Security Force of India and Pakistan Rangers on the Pakistan side go through the exercise of Beating the retreat and Change of Guards every evening at 6 pm, marking the end of the day and bringing down the respective national flags.

As we settled down in our positions, one began to take in the atmosphere and the feel of the place. From the small office building, loudspeakers were blaring patriotic filmi music of the sixties. The fairly large gallery, across the building was jam-packed and people kept time to the music. Some girls even got on to the tarmac to do an improvisation of the bhangra. Every now and then, after each song, slogans like “vande mataram” and Bharat Mata ki jai”, would be sounded over the speakers, which were greeted with lusty cheers from the gallery. The patriotic fervour was almost palpable. As we waited for the actual ceremony to begin, I was reminded of the crowd at an India - Pakistan ODI cricket match, waiting for the opening batsman.

The formalities began when a six-footer of an Indian soldier, marching and thumping the land with his boots reached the last point of the Indian border. The soldiers on both sides of the border do not carry rifles or guns, but they pound verbal artillery at each other while performing the ceremony. Their eyes and actions reflect the manner in which shells are fired across the border. The ceremony ended with the respective national flags being brought down on both sides to the accompaniment of the blowing of bugles.

By this time, the sun, which knows no man-made boundaries, had made its way to the Pakistani side. It caressed that land with the last golden rays with as much affection as it did earlier on the Indian side. Frankly, the whole exercise left me with a brooding sadness. While cries of Bharat Mata ki Jai rent the air, all I could feel was empathy for that maternal heart that was weeping as she stood in front of her children split into two enemy camps. Much like Kunti Devi whose heart was torn apart when her first-born Karna and her younger children,the Pandavas, fought against each other. If only they had realized they were brothers, no Mahabharata war would have taken place. If only people of the world today realized the significance of this message of Universal Brotherhood, no blood would be spilt unnecessarily.

WHITHER MY LITTLE LIGHT ? – KutOyamagnih

na tatra sooryo bhAti na chandratArakam

nEmA vidyuto bhAnti kutOyamagnih

tamEva bhAntamanubhAti sarvam

tasya bhAsA sarvamidam vibhAti

A beautiful mantra found in the Upanishads. This is often chanted during the ‘Arathi’ or offering of lights before the deity. No translation would be faithful to or encompass the true meaning of these short verses. For indeed, there are layers of meaning. And the mantra is doing just what it is meant to do – helping one or leading one to journey to one’s inner depths to reach the ultimate destination of Self- realization. – MananAt trAyate iti mantra.

A rough translation of the mantra would be:

The sun cannot illumine That; neither can the moon and stars; nor can the bright flashes of lightning. Then whither this little light of mine? Indeed That does shine, following which everything reflects That light. In That light (brilliance) all of this Universe is illumined.

As mentioned earlier, this mantra is chanted while doing the ritual of Arathi with lighted lamp or burning camphor. The ultimate purpose of any ritual is to lead one to Brahman or Atma, which in common parlance is God. (The ritual and mantra are nothing but means to an end – the end being God – realization of Self-realization. Both are one and the same and once you realize that Truth, you are really realized!)

Thus, as the mantra indicates, the sun, moon, stars or even the lightning are incapable of revealing that Supreme Light. Its brilliance is such that it cannot be comprehended by our naked eye. How then can this little fire that we wave before the deity be expected to show us that vision? Yes, we do know the futility of the action… yet, in full knowledge of that ‘ignorance’, we offer the Arathi in It’s honour. We hope and pray for that true light to be revealed and lit in our hearts.

Indeed,That alone is the real light. When That is shining, the sun, the moon, the lightning, the fire and all else are its reflections. And yes, that verily is the light that opens our inner eye to see that the light shining within us is the same as the Supreme Light. Hence the last line of the mantra – In That Light all the universe is illumined. That is to say that when we realize the truth about our Self, everything else becomes crystal clear and bright in the light of that Knowledge.

Having reached that Ultimate Destination of the Abode of the Supreme, which is our Self, there is no more going back to our mundane, earthly selves. This is also the import of the similar metaphor in the verse 15.6 of the Bhagavad Gita, which contains the pure essence of the Upanishads.

na tad bhAsayate suryo
na shashAnko na pAvakah
yad gatva na nivartante
tad dhAma paramam mama

Neither the sun, the moon nor fire can illumine that Eternal state. And for one having attained that state which is My Supreme Abode, there is no going back to the material world