Gorakh Nath took some of his disciples along and began to roam around in search of Vaishnavi. One day, while he and his disciples were moving around near the river Devak which flows quite close to the present day city of Jammu in Jammu and Kashmir they learnt about the presence of a Sadhavi who had attained extra-ordinary spiritual power and who lived somewhere at the base of the Trikuta mountain.

Gorakh Nath with disciples

Gorakh Nath felt that this Sadhavi must be none other than the Vaishnavi he had been looking for. So, he sent his chief disciple Bhairo Nath to go to the Ashram of this Sadhavi to find out whether she was still pious and holy and return with a full report. Then Gorakh Nath departed for his own Ashram.

Bhairo Nath made his way through dense forests to the base of the Trikuta mountain and learnt about the location of the Ashram of Vaishnavi through the people living nearby. He set up his own Ashram quite close to Vaishnavi's Ashram and began to follow her movements. Bhairo Nath was quite intrigued to see that even though Vaishnavi was a Sadhavi, she always carried a bow with a quiver full of arrows and a Trishul and she was always surrounded by black faced monkeys known in the local language as Langoors. He also noticed that a wild and ferocious lion would often come to her Ashram. Once inside her Ashram, the lion would become very gentle, but the moment it slipped out of her Ashram it once again became its ferocious, wild self. Other things about Vaishnavi also intrigued him. Even though she was ineffably beautiful yet she seemed to be totally unaware of her beauty. She did not go out to the forest to collect berries and other fruit for food as the other sages did. And very often she would disappear for days together. What she did then or where she went no one seemed to know. Bhairo Nath, however, continued to study her movements so that he could learn more about the places she frequented and the people she met.

Once he knew the routine of Vaishnavi, he began to wait for her at various places which she frequented. He also tried to get friendly with Vaishnavi but received no encourgement from her. However, he continued to follow her and pester her until in exasperation Vaishnavi changed her routine to prevent Bhairo Nath from bothering her. Bhairo Nath, however, was not dismayed and decided that henceforth he would wait outside her Ashram and follow Vaishnavi wherever she went. By and by Bhairo Nath became bolder and bolder in his advances till finally he began to openly ask her to come and live with him as his wife. Vaishnavi was furious at Bhairo Nath's temerity and scolded him very severely. However, her anger left him unfazed. Soon, he began to even enter the Ashram of Vaishnavi with impunity and began to pass lewd comments and make suggestive actions whenever he saw her.

Offended by Bhairo Nath's persistently lecherous conduct, she decided to leave her Ashram and go up the Trikuta mountain to get away from him. One day, therefore, she quietly left. The langoors also went with her. While Vaishnavi was passing through a ravine on her way to the mountain the langoors accompanying her felt very thirsty. There was no water nearby. So, Vaishnavi took out an arrow from her quiver and shot it into the ground. The arrow pierced the ground and went deep in to the earth where it encountered an aquifer of crystal clear water. This water burst out of the earth in a great gush. The langoors quenched their thirst. Vaishnavi also drank some water and continued her trek up the mountain. This stream came to be known as Banganga.

Ban Ganaga

From Banganga, Vaishnavi proceeded ahead up the mountain and after some time stopped on a high rock to collect her breath and check whether Bhairo Nath had started pursuing her. This place is now known as Charan Paduka. Vaishnavi then proceeded to a place half way up the mountain. There she saw a narrow cave which was well camouflaged. Since she did not see Bhairo Nath pursuing her she decided to stay in the cave and carry on her Tapasaya there.

Meanwhile, on finding out that Vaishnavi had disappeared, Bhairo Nath began to look for her. His search took him up the mountain and after some time he reached near the cave where Vaishnavi was performing Tapasaya. While searching the area Bhairo Nath was able to locate the cave and decided to see what lay inside. He entered the cave and saw Vaishnavi there. Realising that Bhairo Nath had not only located the cave but also entered it, Vaishnavi took hold of her Trishul and smashed open another way out of the cave. The place where she performed Tapasya came to be called Adhkwari.

Vaishnavi then swiftly went up the mountain with Bhairo Nath pursuing her. Even though Vaishnavi's patience was coming to the end of its tether she still held on to her temper and finally reached the holy cave on the mountain and entered it. However, before going into the cave she ordered the langoors to chase Bhairo Nath away. But Bhairo Nath was very powerful and the langoors were no match for him. He killed a few of them and chased the others away. Then one of the langoors scampered into the cave and told Vaishnavi that since Bhairo Nath was too strong for them, either Vaishnavi should transfer her power to the langoors to enable them to vanquish him or she should deal with Bhairo Nath herself. By now Vaishnavi's anger knew no bounds. In fury, she transformed herself into her divine form. From an ordinary looking mortal she suddenly became a supernatural being who was not only incredibly beautiful but also had awesome powers.