A JOURNEY TO BARSANA

by Dr. Brijesh Kumar

It was 29th January 2001 when Brij and his brother-in-law, Hitendra went to Delhi for some
work. Having finished the same, they looked at each other with mischievous eyes as if
wanting to do some adventure, and they sprung up to drive towards Mathura - Brindavan on
the National Highway 2 connecting New Delhi, the capital city of India and Bombay about
1000 miles away. Mathura town is about 120 kilometers from Delhi on this highway. This is
one of the best roads you will find in India. Brij and Hitendra are both householders and
seekers.
While driving this morning from Aligarh to Delhi, Brij has been reading aloud the book "Atit
Yatra" authored by a great Kriya Yogi, Swami Jnanananda, who now lives in Mussourie, the
Himalayan town in the northern state of India, Uttar Pradesh. 'Atit Yatra' which means 'A
Journey in the Past', is a lucid autobiography of a great saint who came to India in 1952 from
Switzerland as a Kriya student, and roamed around this vast spiritual land as a Sadhu. He
was later given Diksha and Sanyaas by his Guru, Swami Atmananda Giri, the childhood friend
of Swami Yogananda Giri, in the tradition of the Dasnami. During his journey in the past,
Swamiji met several spiritual stalwarts of India, such as, Swami Sivananda and Sw.
Chidananda of Divine Life Society, Rishikesh, Swami Krishnanada of Haridwar, Sw Hanuman
Prasad Poddar of Geeta Bhawan, Rishikesh, Shri Sw Tapovan Maharaj and Sw. Bhumananda
of Vashishta Cave, Sw Brahmananda, Sw Shraddhananda of YSS, Bapuji of Gujarat, , Sripad
Babaji of Brindavan, and numerous other saints during his sojourns as wandering Sadhu in
the forests of India. He met several saints in the high altitude Himalayas, who have indicated
to him where Babaji still lives.
Sw Jnananandaji spent a good time with the child saint of Brindavan, Sripada Babaji. He used
to call him 'Chote Babaji', the little saint. Swamiji roamed around the forests of Madhya
Pradesh in Central India with Chote Babaji. While Brij was reading the text from Atit Yatra,
Hitendra was driving. Both were thrilled by the account of Sripad Babaji as both of them had
met this saint in Brindavan before his Mahasamadhi in December 1996. Brij was absolutely
thrilled by Swamiji's account of Sripad Babaji in Radha Bhava. The land around Brindavan is
called Brij Bhumi, the land of Lord Krishna. There is a place called Barsana, where Radha ji
used to live, and Krishna used to come to meet her from the Nandagaon across the Yamuna
river. This is a land where the Ras, the divine dance of Radha-Krishna was played.
As the car progressed through the highway towards Mathura, they saw a signboard directing
towards Barsana, 17 Km from the highway towards right. Hitendra asked if they should move
towards Barsana. Brij replied,'Without doubt!'. As they landed on this very rough terrain road,
windows of the car were opened to breathe in the fresh air of Barsana. The fields were plush
green and farmers were returning from the fields as it was about the dusk time. They had
stopped reading Atit Yatra at this point and were wondering that Swamiji and Sripad Babaji
once might have traveled this road on feet to go to Barsana. Till three kilometers away, the
hills of Barsana were not seen. They were wondering if they are in right direction. Suddenly,
the hills appeared to the very great excitement of both, and they soon reached the foothills.
There was no difficulty in finding out the way to the top to the Sriji's Temple. This temple is
devoted to Radha-Krishna and one has to climb stairs to reach this beautiful temple. Eyes of
Krishna and Radha are shining bright and there is a benevolent smile on their faces. There is
an open terrace in front of the temple. One can view the entire town of Barsana from here. We
could see the ancient ruins of Barsana on the left hand and a valley on the right hand which
once again rises towards the 'Maan Mandir' , where Radha used to wait for Krishna, as later
Sripad Babaji used to wait for Sw Jnananandaji at the same place.
After having darshanas at the Sriji's temple, both travelers asked a devotee the way to Maan
Mandir. He showed them the way and they quickly moved on. The route was through a small
rocky forest full of monkeys. In between came the Jaipur Mandir, built by the ruling family of
Jaipur many years ago. It has a beautiful architecture. A similar temple is built at the Braj
Academy, the yoga institute started by Sripad Babaji in his later years. Both travelers then
reached a small temple of Radhaji, where there was a raised platform, and it was said that
here Radhaji used to enjoy swings. Travelers moved on and reached at the foothills of Maan
Mandir. Just before that both enjoyed the beautiful sunset from the hills. As they climbed the
stairs made of rocks, they kept chanting their diksha mantras. The entire environment was
vibrating with love of Radha-Krishna. Whenever one comes across another traveler on these
routes, the usual greetings are "Radhe Radhe".
After climbing a short while, travelers reached the top, but found that Maan Mandir is closed,
though, a sadhu informed that the deities have been taken down and now 'Thakurji' is being
brought up. Both travelers by now knew that there is a saint, Ramesh Babaji living in the
Maan Mandir premises. Initially Brij thought perhaps this saint is known as 'Thakurji'.
Travelers enquired about the saint and they were informed that Babaji is down the hills where
he will stay till late evening. Both decided to go and have darshanas of Babaji.
Soon the place where Babaji was sitting was found. The small corridor which lead to this
house was full of flowers and plants. The veranda was covered with thick chicks as it was a
winter season. Both travelers entered and were greeted by a devotee. They expressed that
they have come to meet Babaji and they were ushered in to a lowly lit room, where Babaji
was sitting on a wooden cot. There was an old lady sitting on a bed facing him. There were
some other devotees either sitting at the lotus feet of Bababji or standing. Babaji looked at the
boys and asked them to sit. Both did a sastanga pranam to the saint. The saint asked how
they reached there. Brij explained. Saint asked,"What do you want from here?". Brij
replied,"Baba, just your kind blessings!" Baba then informally asked the travelers to stay back
and have food. Brij explained that they will like Babaji's permission to leave the same evening
as they could drive back to Aligarh in about two hours. Baba asked them to have food and
then move quickly before it is too dark. This was Baba's concern and love. Baba mentioned
that he does not give any diksha and just takes care of all. He said,"If you have attained
diksha, your work is finished."
Travelers accompanied a devotee of Baba, Bhayyaji, to a nearby householder's place, where
they were given lovely food comprising potato curry, rotis, and sweet 'khir'. This was the first
meal of the day for the travelers. Bhayyaji, then offered to drop both of them to their vehicle
which was parked at the foothills. They went with him on his motorcycle. Bhayyaji informed
that Babaji is living in Barsana for over forty years and he never goes out of the Brij Bhumi.
Bhayyaji had even known Sripad Babaji, with whom he had once traveled to Nainital. Bhayyaji
showed the way to Govardhan and Mathura. They greeted each other by "Jai Shri Radhe!".
Travelers moved on again reading 'Atit Yatra' on their own journey in the past. Jai Shri Radhe!