Divine Rewalsar Lake: Trio of Dharma by Abhishek Om

Jai Shri Radhey Shyam!

Jai Shri Hari!

I offer my obeisance in the feet of those sages whom child we are.

Last week I visited the Divine Rewalsar Lake again. Whenever we feel bored or feel low we used to go there, it’s nearly 30 km from my house. So as you can see in the display picture the divine lake of rewalsar. You can feel the divinity of this place, how serene it is… One who meditates can easily feel the presence of those great sages.

So let’s begin the story:

The first side of this trio.

Story starts a very very long time ago.

The lake you can see in the picture is the result of intense meditation of sage Lomas. To know more about Rishi Lomas click here

So here at this place Rishi Lomas meditated for years… Around 10 km away from this lake there is one temple devoted to Devi, and also it is said Rishi Lomas recited Devi Katha to the King, so it s possible that Lomas Rishi meditated on Devi there and the nectar of his devotion one can easily see in the form of Lake.

Now this is one side of this trio, Hinduism.

Now we will unravel he second side, Buddhism.

I hope you all know about Guru Padmsambhava. To know more about him click here.

Let me tell you a beautiful story of Guru Padmsambhava who’s born from a Lotus Flower, Guru Rinpoche and Princess Mandarva. Guru Padmsambhava was the founder of Tibetan Buddhism in 8th-9th C.E. He’s the foremost Guru of Tibetan Buddhists. Guru Padmsambhava is the founder of the Nyingma Pa

The Princess of Mandi Riyasat Princess Mandarva was a Siddha in herself as she meditated on Mother Divine. Many kings of nearby Riyasas sent marriage proposal to her but Mandarva was not in to this, far away from all these she had this intense feeling of finding her truth. Mandarva was a Hindu Princess who attained the position of Buddha’s spiritual wife in Buddhism. Mandarva’s thirst for knowledge brought her so close to Guru Padmsambhava that they fell in divine love.

Guru Padmsambhava came to Himachal and he lved here in these valleys for a very long time. Here in these valleys Guru Padmsambhava got enlightenment and he was the founder of Vajrayana Buddhism. When Guru Padmsambhava arrived in Zahor(old name of Rewalsar) thousands of people found solace in his teachings, his powerful personality impressed Mandarva. Mandarva had sought answers to many questions that arose in her life and it was Guru Padmsambhava’s wisdom tha provided her all answers. When Princess Mandarva got to know about Guru Padmsambhava’s arrival in Rewalsar, she started visiting him frequently and also she requested Guru Padmsambhava to accept her as his disciple. She was in spiritual path but she was not initiated by any spiritual master yet. At fir he refused but later on he accepted her and started giving her teachings.

Well, I can feel this, why Princess Mandarva was so desperate to get initiated. When we see such great Sage close to us and we came to know he is an enlightened we too got this desire that we want this state too. May be that’s why Princess Mandarva came to Guru Padmsambhava. That must have been reason why Mandarva ignored her father’s order and she continued to visit Guru Padmsambhava. This infuriated the king and he imprisoned Guru Padmsambhava. As he remained in prison for some time, it is said that despite being in prison he woul meet her in his Guru’s cave everyday using his powers.

Once a cowherd spotted her with Guru in Rewalsar, they were doing Vamachar sadhana, which the cowherd misunderstood ad complained to king. He said to king that he’s not a guru, he is a imposter. There was a deep, dry well, Princess was thrown in to it so that she lives, eats, excretes and dies there, so that her entire life is wasted there. Not just his daughter but king sentenced Guru Padmsambhava to death by burning. The smoke kept rising for six days and on seventh day, a lake had formed and in the middle of the lake on one island in Lotus flower Guru Padmsambhava took form of 8 year old child. When king saw Guru Padmsambhava seated on a lotus and that he possesed such a power then it is possible that Princess too might have such powers. Guru seated on Lotus gave him he name of Guru Padmsambhava. When the checked on Princess’s condition in that well, they discovered that Princess was unharmed. The power which Guru Padmsambhava had was also present in her body. She attained the staus of Goddess and temple is there in Mandi town in her honour by the name of Khua Rani(Khua: Kuan(Well) in local language), the Queen of Well.

That’s the story of Rewalsar in Buddhism.

The third side of this trio, Sikkhism.

It is believed that 10th Guru of Sikkhism Guru Gobind Singh Ji came here.

Rewalsar Sahib is a small Gurudwara built in the honor of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of Sikhism. The terrains surrounding the Gurudwara create a magic which invites the pilgrims from across the globe. Legends say that the Guru Gobind Singh stayed at this place where Gurudwara is currently located. When Guruji was fighting against the Mughal king, Aurangzeb, he chose Rewalsar to meet with the kings of the different hill states in order to gather support for his battle. In order to commemorate the Sikh Guru’s visit, a Gurudwara was made by Raja Joginder Sen of Mandi in 1930.