Doing missionary services in Bharoli Bhagor

Shriniwas Joshi

Last week, I wrote an obituary on Dr Ohri and inadvertently mentioned him as Dr Vidya Chand Ohri instead of Dr Vishwa Chandra Ohri because in our personal chit-chat, I used to call him Vidya Charan (at the feet of the Goddess of Learning), and that had occupied my mind. I have also to thank Ludwig Habighorst for the excellent photograph of Dr Ohri that was used in it.

This week I am mentioning two names, Ramesh Chand Sharma and Sukhdev Shastri, who are doing virtuous services in a small and serene Bharoli Bhagor village of Badaran panchayat in Nadaun block of Hamirpur district. The Census of 2011 reports that the village has only 90 families with a population of 379. The village, however, beats Himachal Pradesh in the literacy rate. It is 89.15 per cent compared to 82.80 per cent of the state. It is about 170 kilometres from Shimla and I was there recently.

The day I visited the village, a havan was going on there (see photo). It was “11 Kundiya Ati Rudra Mahayajna”. On each of the 11 kunds (pits for sacrificial fire), 11 Brahmins were dropping the oblations (aahuti). It means there was an assemblage of 121 Brahmins propitiating Rudra through Yajna. And the yajna was to be for 11 days whose entire expenditure was being borne by Ramesh Chand Sharma or through donations collected by him.

He told me that the objective of this yajna is “global welfare”. And he has been arranging it every year for the past about 12 years. As many as 25 lakh aahutis are given during the yajna which consume 15 quintals of saamagri (grains etc). The aahutis consist of four kinds of substances - the nutritious, the odoriferous, the sweet, and the medicinal.

Every havan comprises two procedures, i.e., the dropping of oblation (aahuti) and the chanting of hymns (Vedic mantras). With each aahuti, ‘Swaahaa’ (I offer) is chanted. Here sva means ‘oneself’ and haa means ‘to offer’. The implication is the offering of oneself for the sake of others, the aahutis are meant as substitutes for oneself. One is reborn through the act of sacrifice, the old being is burnt and a new, divine being emerges. A yajna is, therefore, a transforming rite. One who performs yajna gets transformed; it is the start of a new life. One burns impurities such as ignorance, greed, anger, ego, hatred and lust by giving aahutis of rice, barley, sesame seed, jaggery, nuts, giloy (a herb) etc. and ghee. The grains symbolise one’s ego which is being sacrificed and ghee is a symbol of goodness which helps in the burning of one’s evil.

Sukhdev Shastri has his wife from Bharoli Bhagor and he made the village as his karmkshetra (work-field). He left the government job and started running Shri Lakshmi Narain Gaushala. He and his team is looking after 108 cows left to their fates by the real owners (see photo). He is so devoted to the gaushala that he wishes to be cremated there only and his followers want to inscribe “I’m watching” on his samadhi. He is a philanthropist to the core. He got a dharmshala made for Himachalis at Hardwar. It has the lodging facilities for 300 persons.

He deserves kudos for giving a pension of Rs 550 per month to each of the 50 widows or deserted women hailing from Kangra, Hamirpur and Una district. All this he does through donations received by his efforts. His plans are that he would be taking 100 boys to Hardwar on the 11th of April for the thread ceremony there. All expenditure is to be borne by his organisation. He also dreams of giving villagers chance of aeroplane ride. It will be an added feature of pilgrimage touring that he has been conducting for the villagers since 1992. I was glad to see my former Divisional Commissioner (retired) PC Dogra there contributing his bit to these activities.

It was a very satisfying day to see all this happening in a village where both Ramesh Chand and Sukhdev are doing missionary services away from the glare of the media.