Celebrating The First International Day of Yoga

OM NAMO NARAYANAYA MANTRA BANK
Going up to Vishnu Peak
“Om Namo Narayanaya”
By Swami Shivabhaktananda
In a natural rock cave, on the summit of Vishnu Peak in the Himalayas, is the ‘Om Namo Narayanaya Mantra Bank’,
a repository for thousands of sheets of “Om Namo Narayanaya” mantras written by peace-loving devotees from
around the world. It was established by Swami Vishnudevananda in 1987 as part of his ongoing mission for World
Peace. A large crystal stored with the mantras transmits this powerful peace thought-energy like radio waves
throughout the world. In May 2015, an expedition set out from Gangotri to make a new bank deposit.
Our expedition party consisted of: Ivan,
Ishwara, Swami Shivabhaktananda,
Vyasa, Vinod, Krishna, and Prema,
accompanied by a guide, and two
porters to carry the mantras. The
expedition to ascend Vishnu Peak
proved to be intense and much harder than any
of us imagined.
Early in the morning, we set off towards the
peak; the beginning of the trail was pleasant,
meandering through forest. However, that did not
last for long, and soon we were faced with what
was really ahead of us – climbing! It soon became
apparent that the journey was not going to be
suitable for Vyasa, and we encouraged him not to
pursue going forward as things were getting harder
by the minute. He acknowledged our concerns
and carefully made his way back. Those of us who
remained then continued on our way up, crossing
small glaciers, forests, and thick shrubs.
After five hours of climbing, we could finally
see the Vishnu Peak more clearly ahead and
above us. At this point we decided to leave all of
our things behind and tackle the last part of our
journey carrying as little as possible to speed up
a bit – time was pressing, especially as we knew
the way down would not be easy either. Prema
and Vinod were tired and decided not to proceed
any further, which enabled the rest of us to move
a bit faster. Not only were the sun and hunger
proving to be obstacles by this point, but mainly
the lack of oxygen, as we were already over
4,000 metres high. Headaches and nausea kept
cropping up and made things even harder.
After another two hours, we finally got to the
upper part of the mountain. Our happiness was
soon to be checked, however, when we asked the
guide where the cave with the mantras was: he
did not know. We walked around for the next few
hours, searching for the cave with the little energy
we had left, but could not find the right place. Our
guide had been to the top of the mountain a few
days before our expedition set out, with Deepak,
the owner of an adventure shop in Gangotri, who
has been staff in New Delhi for a few months.
The team ready for the climb
They had reached the top of the mountain and
had found something like a shrine, so we were
confident that they had found the cave. Sadly,
though, for our expedition it was to remain elusive.
We all sat together and came to the con -
clusion that it would be best to find another safe
place and leave the mantras there on the peak.
Chanting Om Namo Narayanaya with the last of
our breath and mixed feelings of accomplishment
and failure towards our initial intention, we
deposited the mantras under a beautiful square
rock that looked like a hut, installed a small
Vishnu statue that we had brought from Gangotri
and had used to do Pujas in Swamiji’s cave, did
arati, and started making our way down the
mountain. It took us another seven hours to get
down, testing the patience, endurance and faith
of everyone, including the guide and porters.
When night fell we were on our last stretch
and by nine in the evening we found ourselves
safely back in the Guha, having bid farewell
to Krishna, Prema, the guide, and the porters.
It had been a strenuous day and all we wanted
was to sleep and overcome the pain in the body
and the discomfort of having been at altitude.
The next day was Mother Ganga’s birthday,
an auspicious day of rest and festivity which we
all enjoyed. For the occasion, we offered a special
Sivananda Guha, the starting point for the ascent
“The beginning of the trail was pleasant in the forest
but that did not last too long!”
bandhara in the name of the organisation at the
Krishna annakshetra, where we were taking
biksha daily for the Sadhus. We were blessed with
the presence of more than 100 sadhus that came
to partake of homemade samosas, gulab jamun,
paneer pakoras, fresh mangoes and some other
treats prepared by the kshetra.
After our adventure to the peak, we spoke
to Swami Hariomanandaji who was in Gangotri
for the festivities, and he gave us better inform -
ation about the cave and its location. He also
mentioned a guide that had been there with him.
Within the coming year, Deepak has been tasked
with finding out exactly where the cave is so that,
when we attempt this trip again in the future, our
goal will be successfully accomplished.n
In May 2016, Swami Shivabhaktananda will be
leading a Himalayan Pilgrimage to Chardham
Yatra and Vishnu Peak. Dates to be announced.
Swami Shivabhaktananda
is the director of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga
Camp, Val Morin, Canada
email: swamishivabhaktananda@sivananda.org
YOGALife |Autumn/Winter 2015
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