With summer setting in from May onwards, it is the yatra season in the Himalayas — the Chardham Yatra, Panchakhedar, Kailash Mansarovar, all begin around this time.
Very often, when a group goes on a yatra, parents or spouses will approach the team leader and say: this is my son's first time, please take care of him; my wife is not very strong, please watch over her. These are common requests.
Those of us who are traditional will rarely say ‘yes’ directly. The response is generally, "Don't worry, the Lord is there — the Lord will take care." And even when someone adds, "Don't worry, I'm there for him," in their heart they are saying, O Lord, please take care of all of us. This is the essence of the yatra.
A yatra is not a trek. I have been on both — treks to the Himalayas and yatras to the Himalayas. For twenty years, I took groups of students on various Himalayan yatras. The difference is profound.
A yatra is total. It involves complete surrender to the Lord. It is not your fitness that carries you though fitness is important. I have seen fit people struggling on a yatra. It is not your endurance though endurance matters. It is not your trekking skills though those help too. I have seen seasoned trekkers sprain their ankle on a yatra. I have seen pranayama teachers gasping for breath.
What really carries you on a yatra is your bhakti — your sense of devotion and surrender to the Lord.
In olden times, yatras were arduous journeys. If you were going to Kedarnath or Kailash, you often said goodbye not knowing whether you would return. You survived only by the grace of the Lord. Today, with air-conditioned tents, heated beds, horses, and porters, a yatra is far easier. But the essential principle remains.
Without devotion, it will not be possible. Your bhakti is your shakti. It is only the grace of the Lord that takes you through — and it is precisely to cultivate this surrender that yatra forms part of one's religious tapas.
