50. Guha Ashram in a cave under the sacred mountain Narayana Parvata
While these ten disciples were still in Puttaparthi, Sathya Sai Baba told them that on the way to the Himalayas, one more person would join them, and in total this group would consist of eleven people. Just before leaving Puttaparthi, he presented them with Akshaya Patra.
This part of the story usually attracts especially great attention from readers. What is Akshaya Patra? This is a magical jug in which food materializes. Stories about «Akshaya Patra» have existed in the Vedic tradition since ancient times.
When the ascetics of antiquity went to the Himalayas, they, according to legend, had such wonderful jugs in which rice, vegetables, fruits, and honey sweets materialized. Stories about such wonderful jugs or tablecloths (self-assembled) exist, literally, among all peoples.
Guha Ashram is located in a cave under a sacred mountain called Narayana Parvata. The caves in the Himalayas in which ashrams are founded are usually very large, and sometimes represent labyrinths of halls and corridors for many kilometers.
The climate of the Himalayas is very contrasting; in summer there is a real Indian heat, and in winter there is a lot of snow and severe frosts lasting several months. Thus, a stable comfortable temperature inside the caves is the most important condition for the comfortable life of cave yogis.
The main entrance to the Guha Ashram cave is located on the northern slope of the mountain. This cave is very large and complex in its structure with several entrances located on different slopes of the mountain. Right at one of the entrances to the cave there is a source of pure water, which yogis could use for drinking, as well as for daily ablutions.
So, in 1983, eleven people, with the blessing of Sathya Sai Baba, went to the mountains in order to organize an amazing Guha Ashram in a Himalayan cave. In 1986, that is, three years later, Govinda returned to Sathya Sai Baba’s ashram and again met with Maheshwarananda.
At that time, Govinda, despite his young age, headed the Guha Ashram. He came to Sathya Sai Baba in secret, under the guise of an ordinary visitor. With the permission of Sathya Sai Baba, he shared information about the Guha Ashram with Maheshwarananda, for Maheshwarananda’s mission was to describe the history of the founding of the ashram and events in the life of the yogis in the Himalayan cave.
As Maheshwarananda told me, when he learned about the existence of such a unique cave ashram, he immediately wanted to join this group of yogis. He made a request to Sathya Sai Baba, but Sai Baba allowed him to visit the Guha Ashram only for a short time. Sathya Sai Baba explained to Maheshwarananda that his task was to describe this ashram in detail in his book, but to continue living permanently in Puttaparthi.