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Adi Ashram Hariharpur
In 1953, at the request of devoted people from the villages of Hariharpur and Tajpur near Banaras, Baba established his first ashram there and called it ‘Adi Ashram Hariharpur’. But this ashram did not spring up in just one day; first, Baba lived there and practiced very hard sadhana (ascetic practices). Then the villagers requested Baba to perform a Vishnu yagya, a grand ceremony for the god Vishnu. That yagya, was performed with great ceremony joy by the villagers and, at its culmination, the owner of the land where the yagya had been performed donated the land to Baba. The ashram was built there. People who participated in this yagya had many spiritual experiences. Around 1956, Baba had an underground cave built within the ashram. To perform his meditation Baba once closed himself in the absolute darkness of that cave for seven days without food and water and remained there in a state of Samadhi, spiritual union with the divine. Such meditative practices were very common for him.
Although he kept the habit of constant wandering, the hariharpur ashram turned into a place where he would spend some time whenever he returned to the Banaras area, and it was here that some amazing incidents occurred. Stories of Baba’s severe ascetic penance had begun to circulate in Banaras and its environs. Those in his company used to experience miracles around Baba as if they were natural, everyday events. Although Baba never favoured performing miracles, there are some events where one can clearly see that Baba forcible changed the laws of nature to help someone.
One such story is that of Upendra Singh. By chance Baba was in hariharpur at the time that Upendra Singh’s family in hariharpur was celebrating the wedding of his sister. A girls wedding in an India village! It was a very important occasion for the whole family. But with only a little time before the groom’s party was to arrive at the bride’s Family house, Upendra Singh died. It seems very odd when said like that, but it was true. Upendra Singh had left his body.
Now the whole house was in an uproar. Everyone in the house was stricken with grief; on hearing the news, his mother fainted. How could the girl be wedded now? A pall of grief hung over the wedded house. Everyone knew how complicated it was to get a girl properly in India; on this occasion, with the marriage party’s arrival so imminent, it seemed impossible to save this wedding, for if they found out that a death had, occurred in the house, they would certainly turn back without going through with the ceremony. But the elders of the house had not given up yet: one of them thought of going to Baba.
They got together and brought him all the traditional sweets; Baba welcomed them and asked the purpose of their visit. They joined their palms and told him about the death of the bride’s brother. How could she be married now? The boy’s mother was already half dead with grief. Baba looked at them with guileless eyes and asked how he could be of help. They requested him to do whatever he could to save wedding. Baba acquiesced, and told them to return, and to keep the body of the death youth alone in a room and continue as before with all the duties associated with the wedding. “I will come in a short while”, he promised. They listened to Baba and went back. When they reached back they found that the groom’s party was already there, curious about the delay in the proceedings. The situation had become very delicate.
Just then, people saw Baba, stick in hand, parting the crowd of the groom’s party. Walking briskly and with purpose, Baba went straight to the room where the dead boy’s body’s lay, although he had never been to this house before. The boy had now already been dead for almost four hours. Baba did not say a word as he came to the corpse. Not word. He went straight to the dead body’s room and smack, smack, smack! Hit him hard three times with his stick, saying “Idiot! Your sister is getting married and you are sleeping here! Baba said this as he hit the boy’s body, and the boy who had been dead for four hours, set up immediately, Baba turned and left the house. By the time anyone could say anything Baba had sped away, already for out of the courtyard.
The daughter of the family was properly married; the honour of her family had been saved. Baba come back to his hut and became engrossed in his self. Upendra Singh is alive even today and lived happily with his wife and children. Incidents like this and there were many others established Baba as a truly realized saint in the consciousness of the people in this region. They knew that, for Baba, nothing was impossible. Baba himself never claimed to perform miracles. Whenever someone would approach him with a plea, he would simply say “I will pray to the mother”. In fact of all his life he spoke against the pitfalls of performing miracles, as they drew people away from making an honest effort to achieve their goals. But in life and death situations, he had to act for the benefit of his devotees. Sometimes his efforts to remain anonymous and yet help someone with his unorthodox methods produced humorous results. Chaman munim, a long time devotee of Baba from his itinerant days in the city of Banaras, tells a funny story about an event that took place at the Haji Suleman’s garden Maruadih.
A washerman who used to work right next to the Maruadih garden had a son who was mute from birth. Someone told him to seek the Baba who lived in the Suleiman sahib’s gander. The washerman did not know Baba and so he came to Chaman munim for help. Chaman Munim informed him, “Baba wears a read loincloth and sits in the chair. Every morning when he wishes his face I sit on the ground and pour out the water for him. So come and greet him and tell him whatever you want.”
The next day, Baba sat down on the ground not on the chair. He also put on a lungi, as Chaman Munim used to wear. When Munim Ji began to pour water for him Baba said, “The muddy water is splashing on to your feet. Sit in the chair.”
Munimji sat down on the chair and begin to pour water. By then the washerman had arrived. Now, he could not make out who was Baba, because Baba had reversed the roles. He asked Munimji, “where is Baba?”
Baba gave Munimji stared a stern look and so, instead of replying to the washerman, Munimji stared at the washer man, dumb founded. Baba sent out Munimji on the pretext of fetching two eggs and then asked the washer man, “Who are you looking for? What is the matter?”
The washerman narrated that Munimji had asked him to come and meet with Baba to find a cure for his son’s inability to speak. Baba told him not to trust the Munim, who would (he said) work as an agent for a fee, but also told him an unconventional cure, “I have heard that a mute person was cured by this method once. Go outside and if you find a donkey, puts its mouth to your child’s and rubs them together. Your son will spoke. And don’t come here again. If the Baba finds out about this, he will ask you for a lot of money”. The washer man went out and right then rubbed his son’s face to that of a donkey, and his son, of course, began to speak. But from that day washerman stayed angry with Munimji for trying to trick him.
People soon realized that Baba was a true aghora saint. He did not discriminate on the basis of caste, colour or class. He gave no distinction to gender or age in his behaviour. Contrary to the customs of a caste based society he observed no restrictions of what he could eat or drink and what he could not. To him, there was no difference between a comfortable house and the open skies of a cremation ground. He had transcended all human limitations; he had become an Aghoreshwar, the highest of all spiritually realized saints in the Aghora tradition all spiritually realized saints in the Aghora tradition a walking, talking deity, Shiva incarnate. The state of being an Aghoreshwar is the same as being a paramhans in the Vaishnava tradition, or kaivalya in the Shakta tradition the state of being a free liberated, unfettered soul. Most importantly, people felt that Baba truly loved everyone who went to him. He was always there for him. He could be approached at every hour of the day and night. His life was no longer for his own self; he lived for those who came to him. It was this feeling that led Baba to be regarded as the Shiva incarnated within the Banaras hinterland. Hundreds of thousands of devotees from far flung villages would come for a glimpse of him on the occasion of Guru Purnima, a festival where Hindus express their respect for their guru. Over the course of one day he could be seen conversing with poor farmers from poor farmers from some inaccessible village or with visiting spiritual seekers of various other traditions from different parts on India, or meeting with government officials, politicians, and foreign dignitaries.
In 1953, at the request of devoted people from the villages of Hariharpur and Tajpur near Banaras, Baba established his first ashram there and called it ‘Adi Ashram Hariharpur’. But this ashram did not spring up in just one day; first, Baba lived there and practiced very hard sadhana (ascetic practices). Then the villagers requested Baba to perform a Vishnu yagya, a grand ceremony for the god Vishnu. That yagya, was performed with great ceremony joy by the villagers and, at its culmination, the owner of the land where the yagya had been performed donated the land to Baba. The ashram was built there. People who participated in this yagya had many spiritual experiences. Around 1956, Baba had an underground cave built within the ashram. To perform his meditation Baba once closed himself in the absolute darkness of that cave for seven days without food and water and remained there in a state of Samadhi, spiritual union with the divine. Such meditative practices were very common for him.
Although he kept the habit of constant wandering, the hariharpur ashram turned into a place where he would spend some time whenever he returned to the Banaras area, and it was here that some amazing incidents occurred. Stories of Baba’s severe ascetic penance had begun to circulate in Banaras and its environs. Those in his company used to experience miracles around Baba as if they were natural, everyday events. Although Baba never favoured performing miracles, there are some events where one can clearly see that Baba forcible changed the laws of nature to help someone.
One such story is that of Upendra Singh. By chance Baba was in hariharpur at the time that Upendra Singh’s family in hariharpur was celebrating the wedding of his sister. A girls wedding in an India village! It was a very important occasion for the whole family. But with only a little time before the groom’s party was to arrive at the bride’s Family house, Upendra Singh died. It seems very odd when said like that, but it was true. Upendra Singh had left his body.
Now the whole house was in an uproar. Everyone in the house was stricken with grief; on hearing the news, his mother fainted. How could the girl be wedded now? A pall of grief hung over the wedded house. Everyone knew how complicated it was to get a girl properly in India; on this occasion, with the marriage party’s arrival so imminent, it seemed impossible to save this wedding, for if they found out that a death had, occurred in the house, they would certainly turn back without going through with the ceremony. But the elders of the house had not given up yet: one of them thought of going to Baba.
They got together and brought him all the traditional sweets; Baba welcomed them and asked the purpose of their visit. They joined their palms and told him about the death of the bride’s brother. How could she be married now? The boy’s mother was already half dead with grief. Baba looked at them with guileless eyes and asked how he could be of help. They requested him to do whatever he could to save wedding. Baba acquiesced, and told them to return, and to keep the body of the death youth alone in a room and continue as before with all the duties associated with the wedding. “I will come in a short while”, he promised. They listened to Baba and went back. When they reached back they found that the groom’s party was already there, curious about the delay in the proceedings. The situation had become very delicate.
Just then, people saw Baba, stick in hand, parting the crowd of the groom’s party. Walking briskly and with purpose, Baba went straight to the room where the dead boy’s body’s lay, although he had never been to this house before. The boy had now already been dead for almost four hours. Baba did not say a word as he came to the corpse. Not word. He went straight to the dead body’s room and smack, smack, smack! Hit him hard three times with his stick, saying “Idiot! Your sister is getting married and you are sleeping here! Baba said this as he hit the boy’s body, and the boy who had been dead for four hours, set up immediately, Baba turned and left the house. By the time anyone could say anything Baba had sped away, already for out of the courtyard.
The daughter of the family was properly married; the honour of her family had been saved. Baba come back to his hut and became engrossed in his self. Upendra Singh is alive even today and lived happily with his wife and children. Incidents like this and there were many others established Baba as a truly realized saint in the consciousness of the people in this region. They knew that, for Baba, nothing was impossible. Baba himself never claimed to perform miracles. Whenever someone would approach him with a plea, he would simply say “I will pray to the mother”. In fact of all his life he spoke against the pitfalls of performing miracles, as they drew people away from making an honest effort to achieve their goals. But in life and death situations, he had to act for the benefit of his devotees. Sometimes his efforts to remain anonymous and yet help someone with his unorthodox methods produced humorous results. Chaman munim, a long time devotee of Baba from his itinerant days in the city of Banaras, tells a funny story about an event that took place at the Haji Suleman’s garden Maruadih.
A washerman who used to work right next to the Maruadih garden had a son who was mute from birth. Someone told him to seek the Baba who lived in the Suleiman sahib’s gander. The washerman did not know Baba and so he came to Chaman munim for help. Chaman Munim informed him, “Baba wears a read loincloth and sits in the chair. Every morning when he wishes his face I sit on the ground and pour out the water for him. So come and greet him and tell him whatever you want.”
The next day, Baba sat down on the ground not on the chair. He also put on a lungi, as Chaman Munim used to wear. When Munim Ji began to pour water for him Baba said, “The muddy water is splashing on to your feet. Sit in the chair.”
Munimji sat down on the chair and begin to pour water. By then the washerman had arrived. Now, he could not make out who was Baba, because Baba had reversed the roles. He asked Munimji, “where is Baba?”
Baba gave Munimji stared a stern look and so, instead of replying to the washerman, Munimji stared at the washer man, dumb founded. Baba sent out Munimji on the pretext of fetching two eggs and then asked the washer man, “Who are you looking for? What is the matter?”
The washerman narrated that Munimji had asked him to come and meet with Baba to find a cure for his son’s inability to speak. Baba told him not to trust the Munim, who would (he said) work as an agent for a fee, but also told him an unconventional cure, “I have heard that a mute person was cured by this method once. Go outside and if you find a donkey, puts its mouth to your child’s and rubs them together. Your son will spoke. And don’t come here again. If the Baba finds out about this, he will ask you for a lot of money”. The washer man went out and right then rubbed his son’s face to that of a donkey, and his son, of course, began to speak. But from that day washerman stayed angry with Munimji for trying to trick him.
People soon realized that Baba was a true aghora saint. He did not discriminate on the basis of caste, colour or class. He gave no distinction to gender or age in his behaviour. Contrary to the customs of a caste based society he observed no restrictions of what he could eat or drink and what he could not. To him, there was no difference between a comfortable house and the open skies of a cremation ground. He had transcended all human limitations; he had become an Aghoreshwar, the highest of all spiritually realized saints in the Aghora tradition all spiritually realized saints in the Aghora tradition a walking, talking deity, Shiva incarnate. The state of being an Aghoreshwar is the same as being a paramhans in the Vaishnava tradition, or kaivalya in the Shakta tradition the state of being a free liberated, unfettered soul. Most importantly, people felt that Baba truly loved everyone who went to him. He was always there for him. He could be approached at every hour of the day and night. His life was no longer for his own self; he lived for those who came to him. It was this feeling that led Baba to be regarded as the Shiva incarnated within the Banaras hinterland. Hundreds of thousands of devotees from far flung villages would come for a glimpse of him on the occasion of Guru Purnima, a festival where Hindus express their respect for their guru. Over the course of one day he could be seen conversing with poor farmers from poor farmers from some inaccessible village or with visiting spiritual seekers of various other traditions from different parts on India, or meeting with government officials, politicians, and foreign dignitaries.
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