Pashupatinath and the Lost Pilgrim

Every Hindu who can make the journey comes to Pashupatinath at least once before dying. The temple is on the bank of the Bagmati river, and the god Shiva himself — in his aspect as Pashupati, lord of all living things — is said to dwell there in a black stone lingam so old that no one can say who carved it.

One winter a very old pilgrim arrived from a village in the eastern hills. He had walked for thirty days. His sandals were gone by the second week; he had walked the last twenty days barefoot. When he arrived at the ghats he was so exhausted he could not climb the temple steps.

A young temple worker named Pradip found him sitting on the lowest step, eyes closed, lips still moving in prayer. Pradip helped him up to the inner sanctum. The old man stood before the lingam for a long time, then said only: "I came."

On the way out he slipped on the wet stone near the river and could not get up. Pradip sat with him while the other temple staff sent for a doctor. The old man held Pradip'