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Aghoreshwar Baba’s destiny
After leaving the Aswan Baba remained in Banaras for some time at Ishwargangi at the place chhedi Baba who was regarded as a good saint in Banaras Baba began to live in the gymnasium near Ishwargangi and began his ascetic practice. From Ishwargangi he used to go to the Dhumavati temple everyday for a vision of deity. However Baba was like the flowing wind; he never stayed at one place. Three more place within the city of Banaras becomes his regular ‘camping sites’ the garden of Poona Estate near Nati, Imli, the garden of Rai panarudas, and Dhelwariya, which is a beautiful monastery north of the railway is station at chaukaghat. From Rai Panarudas’ garden, devotee both faithful and curious began to come to Baba. They would play music and sing folk songs called chaita for him, but never anything that would be considered inappropriate. Hidden within that song and dance would be both bhajankirtan and devotion.
However, to continue on his path in solitude, Baba began to wander alongside the sacred river Ganga, begging for food in the many villages and hamlets that lined its banks. As a part of his Aghora practice he would never stay in a single place for too long, but would go out into village to ask for food only once a day at noon, and would never beg for food from the same house twice. At about ten or eleven in the morning Baba would go into the village and cry out, “Ma give me roti (bread)”. If anyone put dal (lentils), roti or jiggery in his bowl, he would eat it while he walked, also feeding the group of eight or ten dogs that would follow him through the village. He would often repose during the day in the hot, dry bed of a village pond under the direct hot sun, covered only with a thin cotton sheet, and would perform his rituals in the evening. He would live in cremation grounds, writing his mantra over the ashes of the dead, over and over again. He did not own anything nor did he owe anything. His practice led him to harsh seclusion where he avoided human company for years, living in the forests and caves around the river, with only the light of the sun and the starts to illuminate his world. He was positively emaciated; all the bones of his skeleton could easily be counted.
This was the period of Baba’s most ascetic practices. Wandering and meditating in this way in 1954 Baba’s walked along the banks of the river Ganga from Banaras to the Kumbh Mela at prayag (Allahabad), a distance of about 90 miles. The Kumbh Mela is an ideal place to meet with saints and seekers of other variegated spiritual traditions in India. On this journey he would eat only if someone give him food; otherwise he would just drink Ganga water. When he reached prayag sometime later, he hadn’t eaten food for many days. He thought of asking for alms and almost immediately an old woman appeared before him, took him affectionately to her hut, fed him and gave him clothes.
He used to spend nights at the Mela sitting around a dhuni (sacred fire of the Yogis). A famous naked awadhutin a female seeker of the Shakti tradition) who used to wear a hibiscus flower in her yoni (vagina) began to come and sit around his dhuni. Although it was not a distraction to him, it certainly was not a part of his practice. One day she stopped coming to his dhuni. Baba felt at that point that he did not have any other emotion in his heart for her but the one that a child has for his mother. As Baba said later, “A child always gains strength from the mother. Those who keep other sentiment, lose their strength from the mother.” After spending a month at the Mela meeting with sadhus from all over India, he returned to kashi, where his worldly guru was going to have surgery. He spent a few days looking after him. Then, the desire to be alone became very strong in him again.
Baba spent another long period of time just wandering along the banks of Ganga. He would eat the food that shepherds would give him and wore the delicate muslin cloth left in the cremation ground from the shrouds of the corpses. For some time he lived in a cave on the banks of the Ganga near sharper village. Then he walked up to the town of Buxar, a distance of 62 miles. Wandering this way he reached his own village Gundi in his full Aughar regalia on the festival day of colours and gaiety. Baba had decided to free himself from the ties of human bonds, and so entered the village in his true Aghora form. On his body was only a meter long shroud cloth. He had the corpse of a dog in one hand and a bottle of liquor in the other. He looked terrifying. He was successful in his attempt; most of his family decided he was no longer fit to be included back into village society. Baba spent the festival day of holi at Ganga again in the Middle of the night. From there Baba travelled by foot to the mahraura cremation ground near Banaras.
One day as he was wandering on the back of the river Ganges at the Mahraura cremation ground, he attained enlightenment. This is how he described that experience.
One time I remained absorbed in meditation for three days and three nights. I became achyut I became urdhvagmi. Sitting at the back of the Ganga at Mahraura cremation ground I became one with my mantra. All my senses dissolved unto themselves. A circle arose in front of my eyes. In that circle I saw green, red, yellow, white, purple, blue and orange colours. Those eight coloured concentric circle turned into an eightpetalled lotus. I saw my life force arisen within my consciousness. My voice, all my limbs, my deep vision, they all gained a lot within themselves. People of Mahraura, kanwar, Manihara began to look at me with respect from that time on; they began to give me all that I needed. I would think of something, and before the thought was finished it would materialize in front of me. I would think I should see a particular thing, and before the thought was finished that thing would become visible to me. I would think something should come out from under the ground. Soon as I would remove the dirt, that thing would emerge. I would think I should remain standing next to the village people but they should not be able to see me it used to happen. I would think I should do some good for someone and my spoken words would do so. I would think I should touch tree leaf vegetation and give it to someone for his benefit, and it would become beneficial for him. This is the effect of that circle. All this happened when I became urdhvareta. I had heard the stories of the Siddhas, Sudharma.At that time my age was fourteen fifteen years old. (Aghoreshwar Smriti Sarveshwari Samooh, 1981, p 57). [Author’s translation].
Even after achieving enlightenment, true to his aghora tradition, Baba kept wandering from place to place. Sometimes he would live in a cave in the Vindhyachal Mountains (in Uttar Pradesh state) near the temple of the Goddess ashtabhuja; sometimes he would travel to the state of Madhya Pradesh and live in the hamlets there. Sometimes he would take off, barefoot, for western state of Gujarat and the Girnar mountain complex there. His life was now as free as the sun and the wind; his actions were unorthodox and unconventional, there was no difference for him between a Jungle and a home, and the presence of the divine was always with him like a shadow. Little happenings revealed this presence to those who had the good fortune of spending time with him. There is one story that chhote Babu of Banaras, a devotee of Baba, tells of the time when took him to the vindhyachal Mountains for a darshan of the Devi the goddess.
Baba took the car towards the Durga cave in the vindhyachal range. At that time one had to leave the car at the foot of the hill and walk for some distance to get to the cave. On doing so, Baba asked chhote Babu to take the rear seat out of the car and carry it with them. He put the seat on his shoulder and they began to climb up the mountain. All around them was the dense, desolate jungle. Occasionally they would come across small ruins of old structures that were so dilapidated they looked haunted. They crossed an old, weed choked pond whose boundary walls had crumbled. The jungle spread for miles around them. Far away, on some hill, was a little ruined building. Half of its roof had caved in and the rest looked like it would collapse at any moment. Weeds and vines had taked over the structure completely. Dislodged bricks and stones were strewn all around. On the one side were a few broken stairs which Baba climbed to the rooftop. He asked chhote Babu to put the car seat down on the floor as a bed, and they went to sleep. In the morning, Baba took him for a darshan of the mother Goddess. Chhote Babu had slung Baba’s kurta over his shoulder; before doing so he had checked its pockets to make sure there was nothing in them would fall out. Since there was nothing in them he felt reassured and began to wander with Baba. They went around the temple complex of the mountain and had a darshan of the Mother. After all this walking when they came back to the car and sat down Baba asked him, “say, you came for a darshan of the Mother, did you not take any Prasad, sacred food offering, from her?”
Chhote Babu had, of course, been quite oblivious to the Prasad factor. He said, “Baba, you did not ask me before, so I did not take Prasad”. Baba said, “Look at him!
Anyway, “look in the pocket of my kurta”.
Chhote Babu knew there was nothing in Baba’s kurta pockets. But since Baba had asked him to, he put his hand inside one pocket. There was freshly made sweet wrapped in a leaf inside the pocked, as if someone had just made it and put it there! He took it out, opened the leaf package, and they had a little Prasad. Then they returned bank to Banaras.
As Baba travelled and continued his practice, more and more people came contact with him and realized that he was not an ordinary boy of fifteen, wandering like a bigger on the river bank. Slowly people of the villages around Varanasi became cognizant of Baba’s true nature and his spiritual powers. They began to gather around him in ever increasing numbers.
After leaving the Aswan Baba remained in Banaras for some time at Ishwargangi at the place chhedi Baba who was regarded as a good saint in Banaras Baba began to live in the gymnasium near Ishwargangi and began his ascetic practice. From Ishwargangi he used to go to the Dhumavati temple everyday for a vision of deity. However Baba was like the flowing wind; he never stayed at one place. Three more place within the city of Banaras becomes his regular ‘camping sites’ the garden of Poona Estate near Nati, Imli, the garden of Rai panarudas, and Dhelwariya, which is a beautiful monastery north of the railway is station at chaukaghat. From Rai Panarudas’ garden, devotee both faithful and curious began to come to Baba. They would play music and sing folk songs called chaita for him, but never anything that would be considered inappropriate. Hidden within that song and dance would be both bhajankirtan and devotion.
However, to continue on his path in solitude, Baba began to wander alongside the sacred river Ganga, begging for food in the many villages and hamlets that lined its banks. As a part of his Aghora practice he would never stay in a single place for too long, but would go out into village to ask for food only once a day at noon, and would never beg for food from the same house twice. At about ten or eleven in the morning Baba would go into the village and cry out, “Ma give me roti (bread)”. If anyone put dal (lentils), roti or jiggery in his bowl, he would eat it while he walked, also feeding the group of eight or ten dogs that would follow him through the village. He would often repose during the day in the hot, dry bed of a village pond under the direct hot sun, covered only with a thin cotton sheet, and would perform his rituals in the evening. He would live in cremation grounds, writing his mantra over the ashes of the dead, over and over again. He did not own anything nor did he owe anything. His practice led him to harsh seclusion where he avoided human company for years, living in the forests and caves around the river, with only the light of the sun and the starts to illuminate his world. He was positively emaciated; all the bones of his skeleton could easily be counted.
This was the period of Baba’s most ascetic practices. Wandering and meditating in this way in 1954 Baba’s walked along the banks of the river Ganga from Banaras to the Kumbh Mela at prayag (Allahabad), a distance of about 90 miles. The Kumbh Mela is an ideal place to meet with saints and seekers of other variegated spiritual traditions in India. On this journey he would eat only if someone give him food; otherwise he would just drink Ganga water. When he reached prayag sometime later, he hadn’t eaten food for many days. He thought of asking for alms and almost immediately an old woman appeared before him, took him affectionately to her hut, fed him and gave him clothes.
He used to spend nights at the Mela sitting around a dhuni (sacred fire of the Yogis). A famous naked awadhutin a female seeker of the Shakti tradition) who used to wear a hibiscus flower in her yoni (vagina) began to come and sit around his dhuni. Although it was not a distraction to him, it certainly was not a part of his practice. One day she stopped coming to his dhuni. Baba felt at that point that he did not have any other emotion in his heart for her but the one that a child has for his mother. As Baba said later, “A child always gains strength from the mother. Those who keep other sentiment, lose their strength from the mother.” After spending a month at the Mela meeting with sadhus from all over India, he returned to kashi, where his worldly guru was going to have surgery. He spent a few days looking after him. Then, the desire to be alone became very strong in him again.
Baba spent another long period of time just wandering along the banks of Ganga. He would eat the food that shepherds would give him and wore the delicate muslin cloth left in the cremation ground from the shrouds of the corpses. For some time he lived in a cave on the banks of the Ganga near sharper village. Then he walked up to the town of Buxar, a distance of 62 miles. Wandering this way he reached his own village Gundi in his full Aughar regalia on the festival day of colours and gaiety. Baba had decided to free himself from the ties of human bonds, and so entered the village in his true Aghora form. On his body was only a meter long shroud cloth. He had the corpse of a dog in one hand and a bottle of liquor in the other. He looked terrifying. He was successful in his attempt; most of his family decided he was no longer fit to be included back into village society. Baba spent the festival day of holi at Ganga again in the Middle of the night. From there Baba travelled by foot to the mahraura cremation ground near Banaras.
One day as he was wandering on the back of the river Ganges at the Mahraura cremation ground, he attained enlightenment. This is how he described that experience.
One time I remained absorbed in meditation for three days and three nights. I became achyut I became urdhvagmi. Sitting at the back of the Ganga at Mahraura cremation ground I became one with my mantra. All my senses dissolved unto themselves. A circle arose in front of my eyes. In that circle I saw green, red, yellow, white, purple, blue and orange colours. Those eight coloured concentric circle turned into an eightpetalled lotus. I saw my life force arisen within my consciousness. My voice, all my limbs, my deep vision, they all gained a lot within themselves. People of Mahraura, kanwar, Manihara began to look at me with respect from that time on; they began to give me all that I needed. I would think of something, and before the thought was finished it would materialize in front of me. I would think I should see a particular thing, and before the thought was finished that thing would become visible to me. I would think something should come out from under the ground. Soon as I would remove the dirt, that thing would emerge. I would think I should remain standing next to the village people but they should not be able to see me it used to happen. I would think I should do some good for someone and my spoken words would do so. I would think I should touch tree leaf vegetation and give it to someone for his benefit, and it would become beneficial for him. This is the effect of that circle. All this happened when I became urdhvareta. I had heard the stories of the Siddhas, Sudharma.At that time my age was fourteen fifteen years old. (Aghoreshwar Smriti Sarveshwari Samooh, 1981, p 57). [Author’s translation].
Even after achieving enlightenment, true to his aghora tradition, Baba kept wandering from place to place. Sometimes he would live in a cave in the Vindhyachal Mountains (in Uttar Pradesh state) near the temple of the Goddess ashtabhuja; sometimes he would travel to the state of Madhya Pradesh and live in the hamlets there. Sometimes he would take off, barefoot, for western state of Gujarat and the Girnar mountain complex there. His life was now as free as the sun and the wind; his actions were unorthodox and unconventional, there was no difference for him between a Jungle and a home, and the presence of the divine was always with him like a shadow. Little happenings revealed this presence to those who had the good fortune of spending time with him. There is one story that chhote Babu of Banaras, a devotee of Baba, tells of the time when took him to the vindhyachal Mountains for a darshan of the Devi the goddess.
Baba took the car towards the Durga cave in the vindhyachal range. At that time one had to leave the car at the foot of the hill and walk for some distance to get to the cave. On doing so, Baba asked chhote Babu to take the rear seat out of the car and carry it with them. He put the seat on his shoulder and they began to climb up the mountain. All around them was the dense, desolate jungle. Occasionally they would come across small ruins of old structures that were so dilapidated they looked haunted. They crossed an old, weed choked pond whose boundary walls had crumbled. The jungle spread for miles around them. Far away, on some hill, was a little ruined building. Half of its roof had caved in and the rest looked like it would collapse at any moment. Weeds and vines had taked over the structure completely. Dislodged bricks and stones were strewn all around. On the one side were a few broken stairs which Baba climbed to the rooftop. He asked chhote Babu to put the car seat down on the floor as a bed, and they went to sleep. In the morning, Baba took him for a darshan of the mother Goddess. Chhote Babu had slung Baba’s kurta over his shoulder; before doing so he had checked its pockets to make sure there was nothing in them would fall out. Since there was nothing in them he felt reassured and began to wander with Baba. They went around the temple complex of the mountain and had a darshan of the Mother. After all this walking when they came back to the car and sat down Baba asked him, “say, you came for a darshan of the Mother, did you not take any Prasad, sacred food offering, from her?”
Chhote Babu had, of course, been quite oblivious to the Prasad factor. He said, “Baba, you did not ask me before, so I did not take Prasad”. Baba said, “Look at him!
Anyway, “look in the pocket of my kurta”.
Chhote Babu knew there was nothing in Baba’s kurta pockets. But since Baba had asked him to, he put his hand inside one pocket. There was freshly made sweet wrapped in a leaf inside the pocked, as if someone had just made it and put it there! He took it out, opened the leaf package, and they had a little Prasad. Then they returned bank to Banaras.
As Baba travelled and continued his practice, more and more people came contact with him and realized that he was not an ordinary boy of fifteen, wandering like a bigger on the river bank. Slowly people of the villages around Varanasi became cognizant of Baba’s true nature and his spiritual powers. They began to gather around him in ever increasing numbers.
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