॥ શ્રી સ્વામિનારાયણો વિજયતે ॥

VACHANAMRUT PARATHĀRO

2. Shri Hari’s Childhood Leela and Van Vicharan

On the sixth day, Kotra, an evil-minded spirit, came to kill the child Hari. However, the gaze cast upon her by the divine child started burning her and she slipped away.

When three months and eleven days passed, Rishi Markandeya came to the house of Hariprasad. Hariprasad very cordially welcomed the Rishi and knowing him to be a great astrologer, he requested him to name his new child. Pleased at being given this opportunity, the Rishi cast the horoscope of the child. Reading the horoscope, the Rishi smilingly said, “Oh Hariprasadji! This is a child who will not only take away all your miseries, but will also free all those who will seek his shelter of all their miseries. As he is born in the zodiac cancer (Karka), he will be known as Hari. Again, as the child is dark in complexion, he will draw the minds and indriyas of those who take refuge in him. He will therefore be known as Krishna. Both these names combined will give him his third name Harikrishna.

“This child of yours has the attributes of Shivji in tyag, gnan, tapas, dharma and yog, and will, as such, be known as Neelkanth also. He possesses the mark of a padma on His hand and also the thunderbolt urdhvarekha⁴ and lotus on His feet by which he will wield dominance over lakhs of people. The child possesses all the redemptive attributes. He will fully protect you from all the dangers.” So saying the Rishi completed the reading.

Hariprasadji, pleased at the prediction given by Markandeya Rishi, gave him abundantly in the form of ornaments, rich clothes and gold coins. The Rishi, pleased at the showering of such profuse wealth on him, stayed there for one day. He then started on a pilgrimage to Prayag.

Hariprasadji and Bhakti Devi felt extremely fulfilled at the prediction the Rishi had made about their divine child. Shree Hari, the divine child, also became the source of their joy as He played various childlike but divine pranks. The child began to grow like the moon.

When the child completed the fifth month, he was made to sit on the floor. On completion of the sixth month, he was taught to eat food. In the seventh month, his ears were pierced to decorate them with gold earrings (kundals). On completion of the second year, the child’s head was clean-shaven.⁵ On that very day, which was the fifth day of the dark half of the month of Jyeshta in S. Y. 1839, the demon Kalidutta came to kill the child, but his evil plans failed and he died a tragic death, having collided with trunks of trees.

Hariprasadji, tired of the harassment he had to face from the evil-minded people, left Chhapiya along with all his family members and came to Ayodhya, where he made his permanent residence. When Shree Hari attained the age of five, he was taught to write the letters of the alphabet. In his eighth year, he was given the sacred thread which ceremony was performed with great pomp.

The child Shree Hari then assumed a serene demeanor, and accepted the brahmacharya ashram as his stage of living and started studying the Vedas. In a short time, Dharmadev, who was a great pundit, made the child well-versed in the Vedas, scriptures, Puranas, Itihasas and Dharma-shastras. By his analytical studies, he drew out the essence of the above scriptures and sorted them out as follows:

The fifth and the tenth Skandhas from the Shreemad Bhagwat, Vasudeva Mahatmya from the Skanda Purana, Bhagwad Geeta, Vidurniti and Vishnusahasranama from the Mahabharat, and Yajnavalkya Smriti from all the Dharma-shastras. He rewrote the essence in brief in a small book which he used to keep with him for his daily studies.

When Shree Hari entered his eleventh year, his mother Bhaktimata became ill and Shree Hari gave her the knowledge of dharma, gnan, vairagya and bhakti. With the tenets of the divine knowledge imbibed by her, she attained the divine abode Akshardham. She was thus freed from the curse of Rishi Durvasa.

After some months, his father Hariprasadji realized the essence of knowledge by the grace of his divine son, and he also was freed from the curse of Durvasa and thereby attained Akshardham.

Dharma and Bhakti, who had returned to Akshardham, assumed divine forms and stayed with Shree Hari. After some time, Shree Hari without intimating his relatives left home on the pretext of going to the river Sarayu for ablutions since he was gripped by a sense of deep detachment. He went towards the north for performing tapas. He had put on a small outer garment with a loin cloth under it. His body was covered by a deer skin. He had a staff in his hand. He had put on a white sacred thread, and around his neck he had put on a double-stringed necklace of tulsi beads. On his forehead, he had applied the tilak projecting upwards with a round kumkum mark within the tilak. He had matted hair. To His waist was tied a girdle called munj.⁶ He had a rosary, a gourd, a begging-bowl and a filter cloth in his hands. Shaligram (Vishnu) and the murti of Balmukund were tied on to his neck. The small book – the Essence of the Shastras – he had tied under his shoulder. He was now known as Neelkanth Brahmachari. He crossed the river Sarayu.

Neelkanth Brahmachari started his journey northwards, and after some days he came to the valley of the Himalayas into a dense forest. After some days when he passed the forest, he walked over the Himalayas and reached Muktanath (on the river Gandaki). Here he performed severe tapas and propitiated the Sun-God. After this he stayed there for some months and then started southward. He again came across a very dense forest in the valley of the Himalayas and roamed in this forest for nearly twelve months. Here He found under a banyan tree a yogi seated in meditation. His name was Gopal Yogi, as he later learned it. He approached him. Here he learnt under him the ashtang-yoga. He stayed with him for one year at the end of which He inspired the yogi to realize His divine form. With this realization the yogi became fulfilled. He left his body and attained Akshardham.

Neelkanth then started northward and came to Adivarah tirth. From there he crossed over to Bengal and came to Sirpur, a town in the east. The King of Sirpur, Raja Siddhavallabh, was religious-minded. He saw Neelkanth and prayed to him to stay over there. Neelkanth stayed here for four months during the monsoon. A devotee of Kali and Bhairav, great in the art of sorcery, was vanquished of his ego by Neelkanth. With his black magic, this devotee of Kali had laid prostrate one Gopaldas who at the behest of the King had remained in the service of Neelkanth. Neelkanth relieved Gopaldas of the magic.

One Brahmin from Telangan accepted from the King of Sirpur an elephant and other valuables which he justifiably did not deserve. Consequently, he was turned dark because of this sin. He approached Neelkanth and sought his shelter for the redemption of his sin. Neelkanth blessed him and the Brahmin recovered his original complexion. He was thus liberated of his sin.

Neelkanth left Sirpur and came to the temple of Kamakshi Devi (Assam). Here again Neelkanth was confronted by a Brahmin who lived in a nearby village. He was also a devotee of Mahakali. He terrified the sadhus and Brahmins living there by his art of black magic obtained from the Devi. He made them all his disciples. He heard of Neelkanth and came to him to convert him to his creed. But Neelkanth was not moved. In his arrogance, he tried to terrify Neelkanth by his sorcery but it proved all in vain. He was stunned, as so far his art of black magic had never failed him. He could see the divine powers of Neelkanth. He came and fell at the lotus feet of Neelkanth.

Shri Hari then started from there and came to Mount Navlakha (near Balva Kund, Dacca). Here it was said that yogis numbering nine lakhs were performing yagna. The altar before them to perform sacrifice exuded fire from unknown sources. There were also hot water pools. These yogis or siddhas were mystics who could appear and disappear at their will. They knew Shri Hari was coming to them to give them His darshan and waited eagerly for His arrival. After meeting all of them, Shri Hari came down to the pilgrim place Balva Kund. From there he went to the confluence of the river Ganges and the Bay of Bengal known as Ganga-sagar. He took his bath here and crossing the river in a boat came to Kapilashram, where Bhagwan Kapildev, the proponent of the Samkhya school, had performed tapas. He stayed here for one month.

Neelkanth Brahmachari came from there to Jagannathpuri. Here he stayed for several months. Brutes in the garb of sadhus had flocked to this town. Neelkanth knew them and got them all annihilated in a quarrel that started amongst them.

Neelkanth then left Jagannathpuri and came to Adi-kurma, the well-known place of pilgrimage. He left Adi-kurma and walking through a dense forest for many days, reached Manas Pattam. The King of Manas Pattam, Satradharma, became his disciple. The sadhus who had gone away from Jagannathpuri had come here. They at once recognized Neelkanth and knowing Him as the cause of their destruction, they tried to harass Him, but King Satradharma came to know of their wicked designs and immediately sent his troops. The sadhus entered into confrontation with these troops and were all killed.

Neelkanth came to Venkatadri from Manaspur. He visited Shivcanchi and Vishnucanchi and came to Shree Rang Kshetra. He stayed here for two months. The Vaishnavas here entered into a dialogue with him and Neelkanth advised them to shed all their vices which as true Vaishnavas they should not indulge in.

Leaving Shree Rang Kshetra, Neelkanth started for Rameshwaram. Here He enjoyed the darshan of Rameshwar Mahadev and stayed for two months. During His stay here, He bathed daily in the sea.

He left Rameshwaram and went to Sunderraj, where He had the darshan of Vishnu. From Sunderraj He started off and entered a very dense forest. He walked for nearly five days, but got neither food nor water. On the sixth day, He came across a well. He drew water from it and took His bath. Then sitting under a banyan tree, He took out the Shaligram for His daily pooja and placed him in a vessel for bathing him. Strangely He could see that all the water that He poured on Shaligram did not gather in the vessel. Thinking that the Shaligram would be thirsty he poured four or five kamandalas full of water on Shaligram, but the vessel to his surprise was dry. He felt that the Shaligram had consumed so much water because of a mighty hunger, but he had nothing to offer him. When he was thus thinking, he saw before him Shivji and Parvati who came there riding their bull. They were standing there since Neelkanth was bathing Shaligram and offered Him sathva⁷ and salt. He mixed it in water and offered it to Vishnu first and then ate of it.

Neelkanth started from there for Bhutpuri where he performed the pooja of the murti of Shri Ramanujacharya and came down to Kanyakumari, also known as Kumarika Kshetra. From there he reached Padmanabh. From Padmanabh he went to Janardan and from there to Adikeshav. He had the darshan here of Vishnu in the form of Adikeshav. Thereafter, Neelkanth went to Malayachala, the Kulgiri mountain, where he had the darshan of Vishnu in the form of Sakshi Gopal. He stayed here for five days.

From Malayachala, Neelkanth Brahmachari came to Pandharpur. Here He stayed for two months and enjoyed the darshan of Vithalnathji. He left Pandharpur and came to the forest of Dandakaranya. This region was sanctified by Shree Rama’s stay, and therefore He circumambulated the whole region walking and then came to Nasikpur. He had the darshan here of Tryambakeshwar Mahadev. He then came to the banks of the river Tapi. He crossed the river Tapi and further crossed the Narmada, the Mahi and the Sabarmati. Crossing the region of Bhal, he came to Bhimnath Mahadeva in Saurashtra. From there He reached Gopanath Mahadev on the seashore near Talaja and walking in the coastal region He reached Mangrol, a port in Saurashtra.

Covering all the pilgrim places of Bharat, Shree Harikrishna Bhagwan uprooted the evil elements wherever He found them during His sojourn and established the Ekantika Dharma. He relieved the people of these regions of the bondage of maya, by gracing them with His darshan and also by accepting the food, water and other things offered by them.

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