Sitapur - Mishrik - Dadhichi Heritage - Salutations to the Arch-Organ Donor in Indian Mythology

My impression of Sitapur is changing. 

It is not just a bucolic sleepy place - within its sleepy appearance, there are very dynamic action centres and Mishrik, just about 30 kilometres away from Sitapur district headquarters, is a prime example. 

तीरथ बर नैमिष बिख्याता।अति पुनीत साधक सिधि दाता। This place is referred to by Goswami Tulsidas, as a tirth of top order, providing 'siddhi' to the devotee.  

Mishrik reaches the height of its active pace around Holi, with the pilgrimage involving the circumambulation of the town as said to have been first initiated by Maharshi Dadhichi. Dadhichi is reputed for his selfless service and hospitality to guests. His goodness was all-embracing; by listening to his prayerful recitations even demonic characters were transformed into divine characters. 

In those days, the godly (devas and rishis) were persecuted by the asura King Vrtasur, and they sought a way out. Brahma guided them to go to Dadhichi who was in possession of the divine weapons meant for the godly.  When they did that, he said that he had consumed those weapons by dissolving them in water and bhang and now they had become part of his bones. They requested his bones for the well-being of the world, and the Rshi agreed to that gladly. 

However, realising the uniqueness of human birth, he was determined to ensure that it accomplishes its purpose. For this, he proposed a 'snan' (bath) in all the 'tirth' (holy waters) and a circumambulation of all the saints and gods.  This was made possible by Indra.  Being the King of gods, he made all the gods to be present in Naimish, which they did in the 84 kos region. This is the present day Naimisharanya, the forest that has the presence of all the gods. And being the god of all waters, he made the waters of all 33 hundred crores of the teerth and rivers of the universe in the waters of the Naimish region, perhaps, in Dadhichi Kund, so that Dadhichi could go ahead with the bone-donation without any hitch.  Since all the waters of the universe were mixed (mishrit) in one kund, it came to be called Mishrit and later on, Mishrikavan, which is now called Mishrik. 

This having accomplished, Dadhichi smeared curd and salt over his body, which was licked over by divine cows, leading to the loss of his flesh (and life) and leaving the bones at the disposal of the gods. From his spine was created Vajra, the weapon of Indra, with which Vrtrasur was destroyed. The rest of the bones were used to create legendary weapons Pinaka (used by Shiva, and which was used by Ram in Sita swayamvar), Gandiva (considered as the weapon gifted to Arjuna by God Varuna on request by God Agni, who sought Arjuna's help to consume Khandava forest to regain his power) and Saranga or Sharanga (the weapon associated with Lord Krishna). 

However, the family was not happy.  His wife, Suvarcas, decided to be a sati, and as she was about to take her life after her husband, it was made known that she was pregnant. She resolutely removed the child in the womb with a stone and kept it safe in a Pipal tree, and accomplished sati. The child grew up as a child of Pipal tree, and was called Pippalada, a famous rishi, initiated by Sage Narada and associated with Pippalada school of philosophy, described in Praśna Upanishad. 

Thus, Naimish-Mishrik becomes a great place of pilgrimage for those who follow Hindu tradition. Remembering the great sage and his self-sacrifice for lok kalyan (common good), millions throng the region during the time of the year when he accomplished his great sacrifice - on ekadasi (11th) of the waxing phase (shukla paksh) of the month of Phalgun, i.e., just before Holi. Mishrik becomes a great crowd with people from all over UP and even other states thronging here, camping in the open, covering the 84 kosi parikrama with great devotion and also enjoying the religious fellowship, the culture and the essential market of traditional and modern goods, coupled with provisions for family entertainment by means of various rides and other attractions of a typical amusement park.  Food is cooked by the families who arrive in small vans, tempos, or tractors or by public transport. 

The Dadhichi temple is visited with great devotion, and I was surprised to see the devotion getting converted into money, seeing the amount of money being received in offerings by the devotees, on public display. It is said that around 500 bigahs of the land of the Mishrik town is owned by the trust of Dadhichi temple. It houses schools, college, hospital, temples and farms. The temple adjoining the famous Dadhichi kund is simple, frugally furnished, befitting the frugal and detached hermit.  The structure encompassess shrines for the entire family - Dadhichi's parents, wife, son and so on. The raised structure has a very beautiful and ancient-looking tree on top, which I could not identify. It has, as usual, several tokens of faith and gratitude attached on it by the devotees. 

Another, centre of attraction is the Sitakund, a smaller fresh water tank, which is famous for having had Ma Sita to have used for bathing during her vanvaas with Lord Ram. Both these tanks have water all through the year, and apparently are said to be replinshed from ground water source or rain - neither does water drain in nor drain out. 

There are several individuals, families and organisations offering free food to the pilgrims and the sannyasis who arrive from Prayagraj after the kumbh mela. The whole township converges on the single point of 84 parikrama. The school, colleges, etc, are converted into camping areas. The porch and veranda of homes and even hospitals are made into camping areas.  The lifeline of Mishrik, the Sitapur-Hardoi road - NH 330D (SH 21) is blocked 3 kilometres from the town on both sides, so that the pilgrims can do their parikrama without any trouble. This blockade will remain in force for the five days of the parikrama, perhaps, practically for a whole week. 

So the residents generally remain stay put here - attending the religious festivities, and playing hosts to their guests. But they appear resigned to it, or perhaps, they relish it or look forward to it.  I felt in all this, the party that suffers the most is the environment - with huge quantities of non-biodegradable waste generated, and dumped in the fields and ditches in a careless manner - besides creating an eyesore, also leading to the damage of the air, water and soil of the locality. The great teerth itself appeared to be littered with organic and inorganic materials by the devotees, though devotees seemed least bothered about all that while taking a dip.  That aspect of caring for the fellow beings (even, gods) of water and earth has not caught up with the religious spirituality of the teeming thousands. 

This could be one aspect the Dadhichi trust could take care of - managing the mega event without further polluting the aranya housing the thousan ds of gods, and the waters having the mix of all the holy waters of the universe! 

I also wonder if the altruism of the Sage Dadhichi ever gains the attention of the devotees - whether they are ever motivated to similarly enhance the common good by being a willing donor of blood or organs, when they are dead. Can modern Hinduism promote such forms of altruism after the great sage Dadhichi?  Or protection of tree cover, drawing inspiration from the Pippalada story - that trees are in a way protecting our lives, and in turn, they need to be protected as surrogate mothers for all other life-forms?

I feel Naimish-Mishrik 84 kosi parikrama could be an excellent case study for the students of Management or Tourism, or Economics from the angle of the economic impact of this annual event. I even assume that many eke out a living thanks to this mega annual event of Mishrik-Naimish. The festivities continue in the form of a mela that is said to last for a whole month.