Trutiya Nayan Bureau: According to the Vishnu Purana, Shambala will be the birthplace of Kalki – the final incarnation of Bhagwan Vishnu. Let us explore further.
The name Shambala has great significance in Hindu and Buddhist texts. Shambhala is originally a Sanskrit word that derives from शम्भुः (śambhu), meaning happiness. Shambala is said to mean a place of tranquility.
Significance for Hindus
According to the Vishnu Purana (4.24), Kalki will be born in the village of village Shambhala. As mentioned in Vishnu Purana, Shambhala is the land that is holding the destiny of mankind, a celestial kingdom, where only the God’s will reigns.
As per the legend, Shambhala is guarded by holy spirits. Only ones with pure hearts are destined to discover Shambala which is an ideal embodiment of life where there is no disease or materialism. Therein exists an exhilir of immortality derived from the fountain of life.
Bhagwan Kalki will endowed with the 8 superhuman abilities and through his sheer might, he will rid the world of all evil and re-establish righteousness on Earth. The minds of humans surviving the end of Kalyug would be awakened.
They would be the seed of the future human beings who will follow all virtues prevalent in Satya Yug. Eventually, humans would be enlightened again and another golden age of righteousness, truth, and spiritual learning would prosper.
Significance in Buddhism
The Shambhala narrative is found in the Kalachakra tantra, a text of the group of the Anuttarayoga Tantras. These are adaptations of the predated Vishnu Purana. Kalachakra Buddhism was presumably introduced to Tibet during the 11th century.
The ‘real’ Shambhala
There’s an utopian belief that Shambhala might be in the Himalayas.But nobody considers historical evidences exist about it.
Real Shambhala existed in Odisha. Present day name of Shambhala is Sambalpur. It existed in Gandhamardan hills.
Let’s see the facts.
Gandhamardan hills resembles to Ramayana where Sri Ram spent time during his forest stay. Sambhala or present day Sambalpur is situated beneath the hills. The pristine beauty of forests and existence of two Shiva mandirs- Harishankar and Nrusinghnath makes the land a holy place.
The king of Shambhala, Padmasambhav is regarded as the Guru of Tibetan Buddhism. Padmambhav and his sister Laxminkara were founders of Vajrayana and Hinayana Buddhism.
Based on Tantra practices, these sects were taught in Puspagiri mahavihara in Kalinga now Odisha.
Kalachakra Tantra was evolved in Shambhala and brought to Ratnagiri mahavihara by Padmasambhav himself.After much research and development he toured Tibet where he taught Kalachakra Tantra to Tibetan Buddhists.
Plaintiffs and Sthupas discovered in Ratnagiri in Odisha narrated it.
Padmasambhav was the son of King of Uddiyana or Oddiyana, present day Odisha. The Tibetan Buddhists named him as Guru Rinpoche as per their tradition.
Shambhala or Sambalpur was a great Buddhist place. After a rift with the king, many wise men left the place and shifted to a distant place in Odisha. There they worshipped Sun God. Konark Sun temple in Odisha is witness of sun worshipping. Later some of them came to Ratnagiri.
When so many historical evidences exist about Shambhala, instead of deep research people thrive to post concocted utopian stories which isn’t possible to exist.
