Tales from Kashmir
Swami Lakshman Joo Raina is the last known philosopher-saint belonging to the Kashmir School of Shaivism. His contribution to the revival and understanding of Shaiva Siddanta (the Principle of Shiva) has been most profound and abiding. He is also recognised as the greatest contemporary scholar and teacher on the subject and has guided scholars around the world in their study of Shaivism. My personal relationship with him was of eternal love between a father and a daughter. All through his mortal life I have enjoyed his deepest affection and loving indulgence.
I first heard about the Swamiji from my cousin Jagata (Dr. Jagat Mohini Kaul). Jagata had just arrived from Srinagar to join the Lady Harding Medical College in Delhi. She was distantly related to the Swamiji and was very fond of him. She also fascinated me with the stories about him.
The Swamiji was born in one of the most respected and wealthy Pundit families of Kashmir. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, his father Narayan Joo Raina, apart from owning lands, orchards and properties, owned more than hundred houseboats. Hence, he was known as Naav-Narayan (Boat Narayan). The child Lakshmana was always absorbed in thoughts of the Lord. To distract him and to involve him in the affairs of the world, his engagement was fixed at the tender age of thirteen with the young and innocent Sharada. At the very prospect of marriage, he ran away from home and was found only when his quest for Shiva was fulfilled.
These interim years he had spent in the company of some of the greatest sages of contemporary India. During his early days of renunciation, the Guru of all contemporary Gurus, Swami Shivananda Ji Maharaj had adopted him. At his Ashram in Rishikesh, Swamiji not only engaged himself in the service of leprosy patients, but also learnt his early lessons in spirituality. He also seems to have spent sometime with Swami Ramdas in his Ashram at Kanchangarh near Mangalore. He had met Anandmai Ma and he also won the love and affection of Ramana Maharishi with whom he stayed at Tiruvannamalai. It appears that when he first encountered Ramana, he fainted with ecstasy.
Eventually, his father learnt that there was a young sadhu matching the description of Swamiji at a place called Sadhu Ganga. His father requested him to come home and Swamiji eventually relented on the condition there will be no more talk of marriage and he would be permitted to build an Ashram on the most scenic banks of Dal Lake next to Nishat Garden in the land belonging to the family and preach and teach Shaivism to the spiritually hungry community of Kashmiri Pundits. That is how Ishwar-Ashram came into being. The child Sharada who was engaged to him to be married had in the meanwhile refused to marry anyone else and had also dedicated her life to Lord Shiva. After the ashram was built, she expressed her desire to enter the ashram and serve the cause of Shiva. Ever since she has stayed in the ashram. She reminds one of ‘Sharda Ma’ wife of ‘Ramakrishna’. She indeed could be an incarnation of ‘Sharda Ma’.
Swamiji was no ordinary renunciate. By the time he came back to Kashmir he was already hailed as a great philosopher-teacher of Shiva Siddanta. Scholars of Indian scriptures flocked to him from all parts of the world and he made every effort to share the knowledge he had acquired with all genuine seekers without any discrimination. He was the honorary principal of a Sanskrit college and a Professor Emeritus for Banaras Hindu University for PhD students of Indian Philosophy and taught many Indian and foreign students. He did not perform miracles and was totally dedicated to Gyan Marg, the path of knowledge.
One evening when I had just started work in the Psychiatric Department of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jagata landed up at the institute. I was about to go home, but she insisted that Swamiji was on a rare visit to Delhi and we must go and see him. Jagata, though younger than me, always used to have her way. So instead of going home I found myself entering the house of a Kashmiri Pundit devotee in Lajpat Nagar. Till then I had never met any guru or a sage in my life so my heart was full of excitement and anticipation and fear of the unknown.
I distinctively remember Swamiji sitting on the floor in the lotus position, in the middle of the drawing room, surrounded by a large crowd of men and women. He had a long face and a broad forehead with a vermilion mark, and his eyes were closed in deep meditation. The room was vibrant with the chant of:
Shivoham Shivoham Shivoham Shivoham
Shivoham Shivoham Shivoham Shivoham
Shivoham Shivoham Shiva kevaloham
Shivoham Shivoham Shivoham Shivoham
Shivoham Shivoham Shivoham Shivoham
Shivoham Shivoham Shiva kevaloham
Meaning: (there is only Shiva, there is only Shiva, there is only Shiva - there is nothing but Shiva). Here Shiva meant the God Almighty.
We were hypnotised by his majestic looks and the dazzling aura emanating from his being. He appeared to be the very form of Shiva. It was the closest I have come to experiencing the divine in human form. We sat down on the floor and fell into the chant along with others. To my mind this has remained the sweetest chant about God till this day. Whenever I think of the God Almighty, my lips automatically whisper Shivoham Shivoham. Thus I acquired a guru mantra like a boon ‘unsought’. It is amazing that in my long years of acquaintance with Swamiji, I never asked him for any spiritual favours other than seeking his company which in itself was an ultimate spiritual
favour.
In the room full of adults, the experience we two teenagers were undergoing was so intense that the tears started rolling down our eyes. As he opened his eyes he spotted Jagata and me sitting in a far corner of the room. He captivated us with his gaze for a while and then beckoned us to come close to get his blessings. Like twins we walked over together and bowed in front of him with devotion. He patted us on our backs with an electrifying touch and gave us a piece of crystal candy each as prasadam. I went home with heavy steps as if drugged and euphoric with divine intoxication. I was sorry that I would never be seeing this sage again as he was leaving the very next day for Ishwar Ashram, his abode on the banks of the Dal Lake next to Nishat Garden in Srinagar………
to be continued…
