Day 40 – 21 February 2025
Vitahavya and Kak Bhuśanda were the two enlightened souls that Sri M spoke about on the sixth day of the Yoga Vasistha retreat. Their lives were indicative of two paths to enlightenment, both of which led to complete dispassion and their living and performing activities with perfection through aeons.
While Vitahavya sat in contemplation or dhyana dissolving the mind and the senses in pure consciousness, Kak Bhuśanda, a crow, the longest lived being on the planet, practiced pranayama to rise above the divisions of time. Settled on the top of the tree of life, this perfected yogi saw the earth created as a ball of fire through infinity and continues to live there without any attraction or aversion, he said. Sri M then discussed some methods of pranayama as well as dhyana in order to attain perfect peace and be established in the Brahman.
Sri M also presided over the Sadhu Seva, serving many people himself and bowing down and touching the feet of the sadhus who arrived to partake of the daily meal offered at the annadaanam counter. The crowds were even larger with more and more pilgrims and sadhus coming to the MahaKumbh from all corners of the country. For some the pilgrimage had created health issues for whom the resident doctors provided medication.
As the evening Dhuni Puja melded into the night, everyone proceeded to the ghat for a divine and splendorous Ganga Aarti performed by priests who came all the way from Varanasi. Yet another joyous day came to an end with a healthy sattvik dinner served at Yogadham.