The Mahakumbh Realisation

(Inspired from a real-life story...)

It's 2:30 pm in the afternoon. Raghu was in the midst of the famous crowd of Mahakumbh Mela that is held in Haridwar. He wasn't looking for something specific, it was just out of sheer curiosity to know more about the humongous gathering of saints, seers, ascetics, yogis, and mystics- one of a kind festival in the world. He encountered several naga babas, several tantriks, yet something was missing in his search, something different. Yesterday he discussed in-depth the science of Hatha Yoga and several intertwined aspects of Kriya with Munibir Yogi, a 110-year-old Yogi who has come from remote areas of the Tibetian region. While Raghu was moving through the densely populated path in the Mela, his glance suddenly fell upon a child, who was shining bright and was playing nearby a tent. He tried to ignore that several times until he realized he had been staring at the child for quite some time now. There was a man in a tent who was observing this with a little grin on his face. Raghu was magnetically drawn to this child and played with him for about an hour. After that, Raghu went straight to the man in the tent who seemed to be a guardian of that little child. He is dark-skinned, healthy, and looks to be in his mid-sixties.

"Are you the grandpa of this child?" Raghu asked curiously.

"I am his father." replied the man with a gentle smile.

Raghu was amused. "B..But.. How? I mean, err..." Raghu blabbered to say something which the man understood in a moment. He wanted to know why he had set up a family at such a later stage in his life.

"Okay. If you have some spare time in your hand, let's sit for a talk. I wish to tell you my story" the man said in a gentle tone. 

"Yeah, sure!"

"Almost 45 years ago, I took sanyas and spent 30 years of my life exclusively for spiritual sadhana. I was a complete celibate and refrained from any social interactions. Everything was going well until one day, for 2 minutes, I lost consciousness..." 

"Lost consciousness as in?" Raghu asked with a curious tone.

"My lust dominated my mind for 2 minutes and I made love with a woman from the base of the Himalayan zone, near Tibet... I impregnated her, and hence my 30 years of sadhana was destroyed in 2 minutes..." he stopped for some seconds and then continued, "I could have immediately left the woman alone and being an ascetic, wouldn't have had any problems. From the inside, I am free from all worldly bonds. But what was to happen had happened. It can't be reversed. I can't start my sadhana now. I had no way out, as there was no point in roaming as an ascetic without sadhana. So I decided to conduct the process of family gracefully for this life..."

"But what about your sadhana?" asked Raghu.

"Well, I have to take on a new body to restart it again, and until I get a new body, I am trying to be with the necessary karma so as to not repeat the same thing again. So, I am waiting for my next life to happen and also into dutifully conducting the family for now." the composure and smile were constant in the man's face during this entire conversation.

"Can I ask you one more question? Don't you regret what has happened?" asked Raghu.

"Haha! What's the point of regret. Visiting down the memory lanes to make yourself miserable isn't the most intelligent way to experience the moment that creation has bestowed upon you to live. Acceptance is the only way to truth." 

Raghu was flabbergasted. He had to leave now. But he felt blessed to have come across that touch which quenched the unknown thirst he was having. He was astounded by the maturity, clarity, balance, and simplicity of an aspiring sadhaka that left him transformed for the rest of his journey.