Hinduism abounds with legends of miracles; of superhuman deeds of gods born as humans; and of mortals claiming to have been visited by a god. A Hindu sights a god in his dream or has a vision in real life because he reveres the god. His faith and connect to the religion is what leads to him being blessed with a sighting of a god or some other indirect incident that makes him feel the His presence. But when a Christian claims to seeing a Hindu god then it’s a totally different proposition. And not only just having seen but even been save by the God. This is quite unheard of. This article recounts the experience of a Lt Col Martin of the British Army.
Lord Shiva – The Saviour
It was 1879, and the British were ruling India. An officer in the British Army, Lt Col Martin of Agar Malva, was leading the army in a war against Afghanistan. Col Martin regularly sent messages of his well-being to his wife. As the war got prolonged, it became difficult for Martin to send messages to his wife, and eventually the messages stopped coming. This worried her.
One day, while riding her horse, she passed by the temple of Baijnath Mahadev. The mystic sound of the conch and mantras attracted her. She went inside the temple; at that time Brahmans were worshipping Lord Shiva. The Brahmans saw her and noticed that she was sad and tense. They asked what the matter was and she explained the situation about her husband. She was told that Lord Shiva listens to the prayers of devotees and helps them out of difficult situations.
On the advice of the Brahmans, she began chanting the ‘Laghu-rudri Anushtthan’ of the mantra – ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ – for 11 days. She prayed to Lord Shiva that if her husband reaches home safely then she would get the temple renovated.
On the last day of the ‘Laghu-rudri’, a messenger came and gave her a letter. It was from her husband. He’d written: “I was regularly sending messages to you from the battle grounds, but suddenly the Pathans surrounded us from all sides. We were entrapped in a situation where there was no scope of escaping death. Suddenly, I saw a Yogi of India with long hair, carrying a weapon with three pointers (Trishul). His personality was amazing and he was manoeuvring his weapon with a magnificent style. Seeing this great man, the Pathans started running back. With his grace, our bad times turned into moments of victory. This was possible only because of that man of India wearing a lion skin and carrying a three-pointer weapon (Trishul). That great Yogi told me that I should not worry and that he had come to rescue me because he was very pleased with my wife’s prayers.”
Tears of joy fell down Lady Martin’s face as she read the letter. She fell into the feet of Lord Shiva’s statue. After a few weeks Col Martin returned. He and his wife visited the Baijnath Mahadev temple to thank Lord Shiva for saving Martin’s life. It was then that he realised the striking resemblance of Lord Shiva to the yogi who’d appeared on the battle field to save his life!
Both became ardent devotees of Lord Shiva. They ensured that the temple was rebuilt; they even donated money for its maintenance. The British couple’s name is engraved on the slab inside the temple premises. The Baijnath Mahadev Temple is the only Hindu temple in the country that was built/renovated by the British!
This astonishing tale gives goosebumps. It reinforces the fact that if your emotions are genuine and your devotion pure then god helps.
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