Oh My God! Aren’t You Omnipresent?

Bang in the middle of pilgrimage season at Kedarnath, heavy torrential rains led to floods and landslides, which have completely wiped out many villages. Media reports indicate 1,000 dead and even after the armed forces rescuing / evacuating close to 1,00,000 citizens, over 3,000 citizens are still feared missing or stranded. Add to that the loss of public and private property running into hundreds of crores.

Every year, crores of citizens go on pilgrimages to Amarnath, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Tirupati, Vaishno Devi, Sabarimala, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Benares, Pandharpur and many other holy places. Some of the renowned temples and shrines e.g. Siddhivinayak Mandir (Mumbai), Sai Baba Temple (Shirdi), Golden Temple (Amritsar), Dargah Sharif (Ajmer) and congregations like the Kumbh Mela (held by rotation at Haridwar, Allahabad, Nasik and Ujjain), Chaar Dhaam yatra (the four holy sites of Puri, Rameswaram, Dwarka, and Badrinath) also attract crores of pilgrims every year. Many temples and shrines have, over the years, acquired the reputation of fulfilling people’s wishes, which explains the number of devotees who visit these places.

Pilgrims fall in various categories...from those who have recently entered this world to those who have been here for many decades; from the devout who consider it their bounden duty to visit, pray and pay respects, to those seeking blessings for betterment of their lives or those whose wishes have been fulfilled; from the healthy and able bodied to those seeking divine intervention (for self or near and dear ones) to regain health; from those who wish to commence a new venture to those wanting to atone for the past. Many from the earlier generations believe that a visit to holy shrines helps to attain salvation. People have a multitude of reasons for a pilgrimage and many of them even go every year. To each his own!

Pilgrims often face trying conditions in the form of extreme climate, weather, long and difficult journeys, treacherous pathways, mountainous terrain, terrorist threats (like in Amarnath), health hazards, etc. It is only their faith and belief in the Almighty that gives them the strength and determination to overcome all hardships in pursuit of the divine darshan. The word ‘darshan’ means a ‘glimpse’ and many a time, that’s all they get, because there are thousands waiting in queue for their turn. At some places, devotees are even pushed and shoved if they linger on even for a few seconds more! Imagine such a long and arduous journey for a glimpse lasting only a few seconds! Yet the devout and the faithful continue to throng these temples and shrines undeterred. Faith moves mountains!

Any place where people assemble in such huge numbers is prone to disasters like stampede due to panic or poor crowd management, breakdown of man-made structures due to overload, etc. In fact, mishaps during pilgrimages are common occurrences, leading to death, serious injuries and loss of property. And when ‘Act of God’ disasters strike - like the one in Uttarakhand - it further compounds these tragedies with much serious and long term consequences of enormous proportions. There are heart rending stories of people whose homes have been washed away, of lost lives, people separated from their families and desperate attempts to find the missing. Imagine their horror and helplessness!

One begs to ask...what wrong had these people committed, to be subjected to such a horrific ordeal, including death in some cases? Nothing whatsoever! The pilgrims only wanted a darshan of their Lord, to offer prayers and seek blessings. When they left their homes, all they had in mind was the satisfaction and happiness they would derive from the visit to their Lord and the eternal hope that their prayers would be answered. They knew the hardships they would have to face, but the thought of reconsidering the journey would never have touched their minds. In the end, while some were fortunate enough to survive the disaster and return home safely, others were not so. Some lost their near and dear ones while some others were hoping against hope that their dear ones would be traced and rescued and return home unscathed. Hope floats!

People tend to look for God in shrines, temples and places of worship. Many deeply religious people spend a lot of time in prayers and worship and are regular visitors to various holy shrines. Most of them genuinely believe that is necessary to express gratefulness to the Lord for the blessings bestowed or wishes fulfilled. But does God reside only in shrines and places of worship? Does He wish people to please Him? Can God be pleased only by a personal visit and by the offerings? Here I quote a couplet by the renowned Urdu poet Nida Fazli - “Gharse masjid hain bahut door chalo yoon kar le, Kisi rote hue bachche ko hasaaya jaaye.” [The place of worship (mosque) is far away, so let us reach out to our Lord by bringing back a smile on a child’s face.] 

Expanding the logic, a timely help extended – however small - to someone in dire need or distress is likely to please God equally or even more than a pilgrimage, the offerings and the paeans. Such a distressed person is likely to believe that it is a God sent help in answer to his prayers. We learn from media reports of some outrageously high amounts or precious objects of considerable value donated by devotees to prominent (but far off located) shrines/ temples. Creditable gestures indeed, but the donors may never know for which particular noble cause it will be used and when will it be used. It possibly does not matter to them because they might quickly move on to some other noble deed. But wouldn't it be great if such people directly spent such amounts – or at least a part of it – for the betterment of the underprivileged, deprived and needy around them? We have heard of wealthy businessmen who have dedicated a part of their fortune (running into many crores of rupees) for philanthropy and are personally overseeing its deployment. Does this not mean worship in another more meaningful and effective form?

Now let us consider the contrary facet to this discussion. We all have a ‘pooja ghar’ in our houses with idols and images of Gods and Goddesses. There are also some nearby temples where we can go. Can we not offer prayers before them instead of traversing miles and negotiating unfriendly climate and terrain? The Gods and Goddesses residing in our ‘pooja ghar’ or in nearby temples and those residing in the temples / holy shrines are the same! Our prayers will definitely reach the Almighty as He is certainly not rigid to respond only to those who personally visit the holy shrines where He is known to reside. And at home or in the neighbourhood temple, you can converse with your Lord for as long as you wish; no one asks you to hurry up! Granted that the atmosphere of a holy, sacred and revered place is indescribable and one may feel much closer to his Lord, but what really matters are the feelings and sentiments of faith and devotion. So as long as you have the right feelings, should it really matter whether you pray at home or elsewhere? To quote Marathi poetess Vandana Vitankar, "Shodhisi maanava raauli mandiri, Nandato dev ha aapulya antari!" [Why does man look for God in temples and shrines? God resides right within you!] 

So simply close your eyes and pray. God is omnipresent; He is ubiquitous!

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Note: Religion and faith are sensitive subjects. This piece only puts forth some practical aspects and is not intended to hurt religious sentiments.