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Someone with a special ability can reach Ashtapad. People who visit from far away appreciate the beauty and divinity of this place. The feeling of spirituality makes one feel happy and content and it is difficult to express that feeling in words. Meeting of the sky with the mountains and the clouds, this nature's beauty enhances the sanctity of the place and creates a spiritual atmosphere. Kailash is the abode of Lord Shiva and Maha Vad Teras is Shivratri, while Aadinath's Nirvana day is Pos Vad Teras, which is the same day. This difference is due to difference in the Hindu and Gujarati calendar. Regarding Ashtapad Tirth, we have received many articles and letters. Shri Pramesh Gandhi has written in his notes that according to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) human civilization first started in Tibet. This matches with Bhagwan Rushabhdev's 'Asi, Masi and Krishi'. It is possible that civilization started in Tibet after people were taught about agriculture and then they started migrating along the river banks. Shri Pramesh Gandhi talks about his special experience during his Kailash trip with 90 year old Shri Ram baba. This Ram Baba was the person who did the last rites for the Gandhi family and was a respectable saint. He told that a mountain peak next to Kailash is Ashtapad. Swami Pranavanandji visited Kailash about 35 times. He wrote in his book 'Kailash Mansarovar' that Kailash is Meru and it is also called Ashtapad. Editorial was written by Shri Jawaharlal Nehru. It is wider at the bottom and gets smaller at the top, which Pramesh Gandhi had thought after looking at Ashtapad pictures. While looking at this mountain peak from a distance, there is a trench all around, as per description in the scriptures. Today also, it is very difficult to reach on this mountain peak. We should give special thanks to Shri Bharat Hansraj Shah of Delhi, now residing in Mumbai, regarding the research work on Ashtapad. He made this his mission and visited Kailash over half a dozen times since 1993 and took many pictures of the area and the mountain. After a couple of years of studying all those pictures, he wrote that the description of Mount Nandi matches with the description given by Kalikal Sarvagnya Hemchandracharya in his book 'Trishasti Shalaka Purush Charitra'. After looking at these pictures it looks like there are large steps on this mountain which could be man-made and not natural and there are few carvings that appear like idols. From these pictures one can see ruins of the temple, niches and the sphinx. Other researchers looking for Ashtapad Tirth believe that Kailash is not Ashtapad as Kailash mountain is a place where one cannot climb or do penance. It has to be a different place. In reference to this, Shri Jaswant Rai Busa, did a lot of research. He has expressed his opinion along with his comments. First of all the main point is that Kailash Mountain is a type of mountain that nobody can climb or stay there. Travel to Kailash is very hard and difficult. People travelling to Kailash go upto a height of 19800 feet at Dolma La Pass and then do pooja, stuti and worship Lord Shiva from this place. Air at this altitude is very thin. The extreme cold and harsh weather condition does not allow anyone to stay there. There are certain plants which make people unconscious and others
XLVI
| SR No. | 009860 |
| Book Title | Ashtapad Maha Tirth 02 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Rajnikant Shah, Others |
| Publisher | USA Jain Center America NY |
| Publication Year | 2012 |
| Total Pages | 532 |
| Language | Hindi, Sanskrit, Gujarati |
| Classification | Book_Devnagari |
| File Size | 26 MB |