Moola Dwaraka and Porbandar

Kirti Mandir(Gandhi's Home)

Moola Dwaraka and Porbandar

On 04 Feb 2005 morning, we left Dwaraka and visited Har Siddi Mata Temple and Moola Dwaraka where Lord Krishna during his Journey from Mathura to Dwaraka spent a night and reached Porbandar. At Porbandar, we visited the birthplaces of Mahatma Gandhi, Kasturba Gandhi and Kuchelar. We had darshan at the Bharatmata Temple and Anjaneya Temple. Somnath was to be our night halt.

Moola Dwaraka

This is the place where Lord Krishna is believed to have spent a night during his journey from Mathura to Dwaraka. He left the place in the morning and moved to Bhet Dwaraka. The place is deserted and is near KODNAR. One has to travel in a jeep up to a point and then walk up to a mound where stands an enclosure having a stone slab representing the spot where Lord Krishna set foot.

Porbandar

It is the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, Kasturba Gandhi and Sudhama/Kuchelar, a friend of Lord Krishna from his Gurukul days. Hence, Porbandar is also known as Sudhama Puri or Sudhama Dwaraka.

Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 02 Oct 1869 as the youngest child to Putlibai, the fourth wife of Karamchand. He belonged to a community of grocers known as Modh Barias. Both his father and grandfather rose to the position of Dewan of Porbandar State. Gandhi was born in Kirti Mandir located. The exact place of his birth in the building is marked with a “ Swastika “ symbol. To commemorate the birth of Gandhi, a 79 ft high building has been built adjacent to Kirti Mandir. This building adjoining Kirti Mandir has a library of Gandhian books, a prayer hall, a nursery and a steeple decorated with episodes from Gandhi’s life.

It will not be out of place to mention a few landmarks in Gandhi’s life. He learnt his first lesson in non-violence from his father who wept silently when Gandhi confessed to his boyish mistakes. He was sent to London to study law but only after taking a vow not to touch wine, women and meat. In England, he was shy and diffident, could not speak English fluently and was ignorant of British manners. The principles of renunciation and non-violence advocated in the New Testament made a deep impression on him.

After becoming a barrister in 1891, he tried to practise law in Indian courts but was disappointed and dejected due to his ignorance of Indian laws and the practice of lawyers paying commission to touts to get cases. Disillusioned, he set sail to South Africa in 1893. It was South Africa, which made Mahatma Gandhi. He went there as a young, shy, brief less barrister and returned as an extra-ordinary leader who had mobilized masses for a novel fight. His ideas were shaped in South Africa. In this, Ruskin, Tolstoy and Thoreau influenced him. The principle of Satyagraha was born in South Africa.

Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in Jan 1915 and founded the Satyagraha/Sabarmati Ashram in May 1915. He left Sabarmati Ashram on 12th March 1930 vowing not to return till India got its Independence.

Vaishnav Jan To was Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite hymn. A reproduction of the hymn and a translation by Kushwant Singh is given below:

The Original Hymn

Vaishnov Jan to taynay kahyeeyeJay peerh paraaye janneyray Par dukkhey upkar karey teeyey,man abhiman na anney ray
Sakal lokma Sahuney bandhey, Ninda Na karye kainee ray Baach kaachh, Man nischal Raakhey,dhan-dhan jananee tainee ray
Samdrishi nay trishna tyagee, par-stree jaynay mat ray Vivihva thaki asatya na bolay,par-dhan nav jhaley haath ray
Moh maaya vyaayey nahin Jeynay,dridth vairagya jana manma rayRam-nam-shoom taalee laagee,Sakal teerth seyna tanma ray
Vanloohee nay kapat rahit chhay,Kaam, Krodh nivarya rayBhane Narsinhyo tainoo darshan kartakul ekotair taarya re.

Mr. Singh's translation

A godlike man is one,Who feels another’s painWho shares another’s sorrow,And pride does disdain.
Who regards himself as the lowliest of the low,Speaks not a word of evil against any oneOne who keeps himself steadfast in words, body and mind,Blessed is the mother who gives birth to such a son.
Who looks upon everyone as his equal and has renounced lust,And who honours women like he honours his motherWhose tongue knows not the taste of falsehood till his last breath,Nor covets another’s worldly goods.
He does not desire worldly things,For he treads the path of renunciationEver on his lips is Rama’s holy name,All places of pilgrimage are within him.
One who is not greedy and deceitful,And has conquered lust and angerThrough such a man Saint Narsaiyon has a godly vision,Generations to come, of such a man, will attain salvation

A favourite quotation of Mahatma Gandhi runs thus:

Gandhi's Talisman

"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."
- One of the last notes left behind by Gandhi in 1948, expressing his deepest social thought.

Kasturba Gandhi

Kasturba was born in the same year as Gandhi at Porbandar. Her father was a well to do businessman and their house was 150 yds. behind that of Gandhi. She was married to Gandhi in 1882 and she did not accompany Gandhi to England as she was already a mother by then. By 1900 she had four sons. Gandhi decided in 1906 to practise celibacy and hence the couple never had sexual relations thereafter. Throughout her life, Kasturba was a steadfast companion to Gandhi in all his experiments in South Africa and India.

From 1904 to 1914, she was the heart and soul of ‘ Phoenix Settlement “ in South Africa. The strict and tough regimen of Ashram life affected her and on 22 Feb 1944, she died in the lap of her beloved husband. Her selfless existence, silent suffering, sacrifice, humility and faith were reminiscent of Anasuya and Arundhati.

How did Gandhi himself evaluate Kasturba?
“ Her greatness lay in complete self effacement….I learnt the lesson of non-violence from my wife…”.

On her passing away, Sarojini Naidu remarked:
“ Never once did her feet falter or her heart quail on the steep path of perpetual sacrifice…she has taken her rightful place in the valiant assembly of the beloved heroines of India’s legend, history and song.”

A special commemoration stamp was brought out by the postal dept. on her 20th death anniversary.

Sudhama Mandir

Extremely poor but self respected Sudhama and Krishna’s friendship will be remembered for ages as the best example of friendship. It is in memory of this friendship that a temple has been built in Porbandar. It is popularly known as Sudhama Mandir.

Sudhama (also called Kuchela) studied with Balarama and Krishna under Guru Sandipani. In course of time, Sudhama got married and was derisively called Kuchela, the one who always wore tattered clothes. His only concern in life was his selfless love and devotion to Lord Krishna, his friend. Kuchela’s wife could not endure poverty for long. She suggested that he approach Lord Krishna for material help. Sudhama agreed and with a bundle of puffed rice as a gift for his friend, set out for Dwaraka.

At Dwaraka, he was heartily welcomed by his friend who guided him to his own seat and washed his weary feet. Krishna enquired about Sudhama’s family. Krishna noticed the bundle in Sudhama’s hands, opened it and had three mouths full of the puffed rice before Rukmini stopped him since she feared that Krishna would give away all the riches.

Sudhama bade good-bye and only on his way back, realized that he had not asked Krishna for material assistance. He chastened himself thinking that it would have been selfish and shallow of him to ask for assistance from a bosom friend.

When he reached home, Sudhama was stunned to see a huge glittering palace instead of his hut. He was equally stunned to see his wife and children coming out of the palace decked in rich clothes and wearing jewels. Strange are the ways of God! Sudhama became rich overnight but wisely directed significant portions of his wealth to the poor and needy.

--Continued--