Aghor
Dark, Black and Dirty or
Just another Form of
Divine?
There was a knock at her door. Jaanbai had just gotten ready to go to the temple. It was 7am; no-one would knock at this time.
She opened her door and glanced around, but there was no one in sight. Then, just as she was about to close the door, a little voice called out, “Psst!”
She saw tiny Nandini peeking from behind the wall.
“Yes, Nandini? Come inside, baccha,” Jaanbai calmly cooed to the toddler.
“No didi. I’m going to my Nani’s house for some days. I just came to say bye,” chirped Nandini.
“Oh! How many days will I have to miss you, chhotu?” Jaanbai picked her up and settled the little one on her right side hip, locking the door effortlessly. She had experience with handling kids.
“I don’t know didi, I will come when mamma says,” Nandini replied.
“Well, I will not like it here without you, Nannu.”
“Do you know, all the other kids are going to their Nani’s houses too? They are all at Paadar.”
Jaanbai took Nandini to Paadar. Krishna was there as well.
“Jay Shree Krushn,” they greeted each other.
“Are you going as well, Krishna?” Jaanbai asked.
“No, no, I’ll go when my sister-in-law returns with my nephew. I don’t have to worry about school, so for me it’s really flexible,” Krishna replied.
“Great! I have an amazing topic for us to discuss. Come over to my house tonight, yeah?” Jaanbai suggested.
Krishna nodded.
“Can I join too, baccha?” Dadibaa interjected with a smile.
“Jay Shree Krushn Baa!” Jaanbai responded, a little taken aback.
“So?”
“Of course, Baa, but the subject is a little unusual compared to our usual talks, and a bit dark as
well,” Jaanbai replied hesitantly.
“That’s my favorite kind,” Dadibaa winked.
“Well then, Dadibaa, we’ll have our secret ladies-only gathering, just us, at my house at about 8pm.”
After bidding farewell to the ladies and kids who were going away for the holidays, they each went their separate ways.
Exactly at 8 pm, there was a knock at Jaanbai’s door. She opened it to find Dadibaa in her crisp yet simple saree. They smiled at each other and greeted with their usual ‘Jay Shree Krushn’. Just then, Krishna arrived with a bag.
“I told everyone at home that I’m having a sleepover at your home!” Krishna announced excitedly. As they entered, they noticed a young lady about Jaanbai’s age sitting there.
“Did you know there’s a girl sitting in your living room?” Krishna nudged Jaanbai and whispered from the side of her mouth.
Jaanbai chuckled softly. “Yes, of course. This is my childhood friend Anu; she’s the reason this secret gathering idea started.”
Anu bowed to Dadibaa and greeted her. She also nodded to Krishna, and everyone exchanged smiles.
“How are you, baccha? Did you have dinner?” Dadibaa asked Anu.
“Yes, baa, I’m quite well. I had dinner too. My friend fed me well,” Anu giggled, glancing at Jaanbai.
Once everyone was seated, the meeting began.
“So, I actually wanted to discuss a path of prayer that is practiced by very few people—the Aghor path,” Jaanbai didn’t waste time getting to the point.
Everyone sat up attentively. It promised to be an intriguing night.
Jaanbai, as usual, was seated on her pink aasan.
“I’ve read two books by a writer named Mohanlal
Agarwal. The books are called ‘Aghor Nagara
Vaage’,” she continued.
“Dikra, tomorrow morning I’m leaving with those
books, okay?” Dadibaa interjected excitedly.
“These books are written from the writer’s own
experiences over many years, following numerous
sadhaks, aghors, and tantrics. He was fortunate
and unfortunate at the same time—fortunate
because he met many accomplished men with
siddhis that blow our minds, and unfortunate
because these things are very hard to digest and
live with. Yes, he died young.
He has mostly written about places of Girnar, Abu,
Panchal Pradesh of Gujarat and a little about
Nepal and Himalay.
So how are we feeling about talking on this
tonight?” Jaanbai started.
Anu spoke for the very first time.
“This should be exciting. I mean, even in the west
there are societies like the Illuminati, Masonic
society and several secret societies that we know
very little of. They too have gruesome ritual, dark
methods and I feel aghor is much more evolved,
complex and closer to god than those. But maybe
I’m being partial as this path is hudred of
centuries older than the west societies.”
“True Anu. Normal people think this path is only
dark and not in a good way.
But it’s still prayer
done in a different manner no Jaanbai?” Krishna
added to the conversation.
“What I understand here is that these sects worship the same deities we worship and follow a strict set of rules and methods, so what?” Dadibaa
added.
“Exactly baa. The deities have made so many levels of layers of them and this world that we can explore if we wish to. I read somewhere these all paths are taught by Mahadev himself. And maa Parvati was his disciple!
The strict doctrine that these aghoris and tantrics follow and stick to is prescribed by the Adiyogi Shiv himself.
Do you know we still know far less as humans. There are aghor versions of each of the deities we worship including Krushn.
It is said that Shiv had given guru gyan about everything to Maa Parvati but that is some seriously heavy stuff that we as humans can’t even imagine to grasp.
What little we know and have literature of given to us by our saints is their versions of transcriptions and interpreting all this.
For veds it is said that Maharshi Ved Vyas, sent out his disciples on every piece of land of the bharat khand to record the shloks used by the Brahmins there.
These were then collected, categorized, corrected and put together by Cheeranjeevi Ved Vyas including his own knowledge.
It was still very little percentage of the actual doctrine Shivji provided to Maa Shakti.”
Everyone now had eased in the conversation. So, Jaanbai continued.
“The aghor path is believed to be more grim than tantra.
In Aghor Nagara Vaage, I read about the final ritual that sort of gets you admitted in their community.
But first you have to choose a guru.
This guru needs to be extremely powerful and competent.
They by default put you through a series of test, extremely challenging and testing and grim of course. They then impart the knowledge according to your aspirations and nature. That’s why they test you first to see what methods are you fit for.
Based on this they provide you with guru mantra and the method of sadhna.
After this when the guru finds your skill, faith, intelligence and discipline at par, one has to go through the final steps of rituals to become a member of the akhada of sorts.
One of the final rituals involves drinking something from a skull at exactly noon when the sun is directly above us. I don’t remember much of this, I’m sorry.”
“So, it is somewhat like the Masonic rituals. To become one of them, they lock you in a coffin, then they chant death hymns and then you have to drink red wine from a skull as well.
It’s like they want to have a metaphorical death, to get you an entirely new perspective of things. Ours saints do that quite literally. They give up their homes, families, names and identities, a rebirth in this lifetime, one dedicated to sanatan dharm and their specific deities of worship.” Anu added.
“I wonder two things,” Krishna started with her queries.
“One, why is it that in these paths of practices, actually even in sadhu path, it is mostly men and very fewer women?
And two, why such gruesome and extreme practices are needed, some to the extent of our disgust?”
There was a pause.
Jaanbai started to form an answer in her head when Dadibaa started to answer Krishna.
“Krishna, I think from my years of observations, is that, women care about things differently than men, they are way too attached way too quickly, while men have some kind of detachment with things as if it is innate. In this path detachment is a must and I’m guessing that men being more simpler creatures, detachment comes easily to them.”
“Even normal married men only concern themselves with only the few absolutely necessary stuff. Take husbands for instance” Krishna rolled her eyes and said it all mockingly.
They giggled at these statements. It’s just them women mocking the other sex.
Completely normal.
“Did you know,everyone at their inception in the embryo/fetus stage are by default female in sex.
Only later on they are changed to whatever their sex is designated as per God’s will.” Jaanbai started.
“Yes, it is like first God made the ultimate being, then pulled out a few plugs of features, sort of downgraded that being and made the other sex.”
Anu added with a tinge of giggle.
They all laughed again, wow so much for respect for the other sex.
“That’s why men also have nipples even though for them they’re of completely no use. Also, it is said that Krushn was purna purshottam.
It is said that he didn’t have nipples. He’s the only man on earth that was a complete man, the only male, from inception.
Lord Ram was maryada purshottam as he lacked 2 guns out of 16.
Krushn on the other hand was complete with 16 out of 16 guns of what a man ought to be.
It is also said that Krushn since before his birth was very much in all of his faculties present and in knowledge that he is an avatar of Narayan himself. That he was the Narayan himself.
Ramji on the other hand had a normal childhood and only later on probably in his early teens realized that he is an avatar of Vishnu Narayan.” Jaanbai stated, and seeing everyone engrossed, she continued.
“As for your other query Krishna, I think the messy and gruesome stuff is a part of the process. —
— Once you have gone through everything that we find dirty, dark and disgusting, you have less resistance towards, what nature has made with equal importance. You are less focused on you physical being and would be able to focus on the real stuff. That is very much beyond the entire physical and materialistic world of Maya. You become detached, and open to see the ways of the universe and if fortunate enough god himself.
Also I should mention, there are various sexual practices in these paths as well.
In the book, there was a practice some of these aghoris do. This is a technique for them to gain control over their ejaculations, and hence attain control over the most powerful thing in the world.
It intensifies their sadhnas. They level up.
And would you all like to listen to something even more unbelievable? Or perhaps, very much believable?”
Everyone nodded.
“The writer was at a religious gathering of all the tantrics and aghoris and sadhaks alike. Each of these sadhaks was doing their sadhnas, they had taken up, meticulously. The discipline in this path is mind blowing. He came across an aghor maharaj practicing the method mentioned above, he politely approached the aghor maharaj, wished him Namo Narayan and asked him what he was doing after which he aghor maharaj told him all about the method. It is said that of all the methods and practices, the practices that involve the sexual energies are the most difficult to accomplish yielding powerful results.
And! And, Yogeshwar Krushn very much worthy to the name was expertly skilled at all these practices too! The practice mentioned above helps the sadhak remain completely in control of their releases.
The aghor maharaj said that it was the mastery of Krushn over this practice that Krushn managed to be with all of his wives and still be above all this.
Only the worthy got his veerya. I hope I’m explaining it right.”
“It might be. I had heard that ancient pegans found
god through sex with their female counterparts, even some tantric practices involving these practices are used to invoke bhairav and bhairavi. This way might also be one that exists but very few people have true knowledge about it.” Anu chimed in.
“It is said that Krushn even had a guru and he mastered all the 64 skills, the maximum number there is.
In short Krushn was the master of all the aghor, tantric skills and sadhnas. I mean who is more of a sadhak than him?
He was, in his own words, always detached, all the while doing his earthly duties and activities.
That’s why he could preach:
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषुकदाचन ।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भुर्मा ते संगोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥
‘cause he practiced it to perfection.” Jaanbai assessed the atmosphere of the room.
It felt heavy and Jaanbai thought something ought to be done here to break the tension. Just then as if mind reader, DadiBaa got up saying,
“You girls want to eat or drink anything?”
“Baa, Anu has bought fruit beers for us girls and a vanilla ice cream for you. I’ll just go and get it.”
Krishna and Dadibaa smiled at Anu saying she shouldn’t have gone through the trouble. Anu just politely smiled.
Jaanbai came with the refreshments.
“Now you may continue baccha.”
Jaanbai nodded and asked them, “I was wondering, are you all comfortable with this kind of conversation and discussions?”
“Very much so!” they all said in unision.
“Okay, great! I’ll continue.
There was one instance when the author Mohanlal Agarwal was travelling in the forests of Girnar. He came across a tribal community.
They were very welcoming of him. In conversations with them a young guy came forward and said to him
that he had visited a temple where there was a
stream of milk falling straight on the shivling at
the temple there, as if it was an abhishek of
Mahadev. The writer asked him if he could visit
that temple with him. The guy informed it was a
specific time and tithi that that has happened and that too around a time frame past midnight. So, it was decided that they’d go when the young lad says. The day came and they both reached the place at around 12am. There was a shiv temple that looked like it was deserted and no one to take care of it.
Now, Jaanbai seemed like she was trying hard to
remember the exact thing still failed a bit.
“If I remember correctly, it was at early morning
when it was pitch black when there was a sound.
They heard drums, and zaalar of sorts like there was an aarti going on, there a milk stream started to fall directly on the shivling there and just when they thought it couldn’t be more magical, there was a hill against which the temple stood, a rock from the hill moved and from it came a group of sadhus from the inside. Among these was a very old looking sadhu, they all did pooja of the shivling and that oldest sadhu did the aarti of Mahadev. They took their time and then once their poojas were done with, they went just as they came and the rock shifted back in place, the milk stream was gone.
It was a big tithi and the writer and the guy were extremely lucky to have witnessed that.”
Jaanbai looked at the other three, they seemed
like they were stupefied. She thought, what would happen if they hear the next story. She continued.
“There was this one prasang mentioned as well.
While traveling around, Mohanlal’s sadhak friend
introduced him to another sadhak. He was a yog
sadhak, residing in Himalayan region.
He was here in girnar for a special reason, to
attain a divine medicinal herb, called Kaali Haldi.
This specific medicine is said to be blessed by
Kaali maa herself. The sadhak needed this
medicine as his Guru’s guru bhai, as in his Kaka
guru, while practicing advance yog, accidently
went into a state where he was neither dead, nor
in his senses. He was sort of mummified while still breathing. That’s all his system did, breathe. He was in such a situation that he couldn’t come out of it on his own, neither did he know he was in this state in the first place. So the sadhak, was in
search for a person who’d help him in this. He
found Mohanlal to be the perfect candidate. And
so he had to test if Mohanlal had it in him. So he
told Mohanlal that he’d travel through his sukshm
shareer to Mohanlal’s borther’s shop in his home
town. Then from there he’d call him to confirm.
He gave specific instructions to Mohanlal, to stay
with him till his breathing stopped, lock the door,
wait for 20 minutes and then wait for the call and
do the same after. Mohanlal followed the
instructions to the dot. And then a call was
received! Mohanlal’s brother was on the other end saying a sadhak is here and he wants to talk to you. It was him! To test him further, Mohanlal told his brother that he had forgotten his glasses there, so please give it to the sadhak.
And after 20 minutes, when Mohanlal entered the room sadhak was, he saw that the sadhak breathed to life here and had his glasses in his hands! The test was for both of them. After that Mohanlal was devoted to follow whatever the sadhak wanted from him and they were successful to bring the kaka guru back to normal. That’s another whole section with much more interesting details. For some other day perhaps. Yeah?”
Jaanbai was looking to conclude as this much
information in one night might be a little too
much. Though, she had finished all the 2 books in
12 days.
“What is the point of all this? As in, being a sadhak with this extreme regime?” Krishna asked.
“That is the only point of us dikra! To complete our karmas, clean out the slate with pain, endurance and good karams and attain moksh.
To attain the blessings of the deities and be free
from the mortal world.
Though, not all the sadhus and sadhaks are here
for just praying. Some want powers for themselves, some want powers for others. My Dadi told me that there are many forces surviving us, as in, this earth, and everthing and everyone in it. Imagine, how thinly but perfectly balanced everything is. My baa said that among these forces, keeping everything as it should, keeping us alive an protected, are the very great sadhak as well. The ones who are well hidden within the depths beyond are world. They work towards our well being, for us as a whole. Don’t you know that an army of 70,000 naga sadhus had defeated a mughal king with a much larger and powerful army? Imagine their power, imagine the gravity of their working behind the scenes for us to be safe, in religious turmoil’s, in natural calamities and what not.
Then of course there are really bad sadhaks too.”Dadibaa ended her monologue.
“Yes, Dadibaa exactly! Mohanlal Agarwal mentioned his run in with an evil aghor sadhak who wanted to offer bali of him and his guest for more devilish powers. However, his other sadhak friend and his guru used their powers to get Devi maa herself protect them and kill the evil aghor. Imagine, being rescued by Devi maa herself!”
“Isn’t she always protecting and rescuing us though baccha?” Dadibaa grinned. After all Jaanbai was just a 24 year old young lady.
“Yes baa. Somehow we’re ignorant that without
chit shakti’s doing we might now even breathe the next breath.”
“You know Jogaaniyo dungar in our neighbouring
Junagadh city, is said to be mystical in nature!
There is said to be a cave that has a skull and other tantric stuff. No one has seen anyone there but still every day there are flower etc as if someone does pooja there daily. Once my uncle was traveling in bhavnath at night, he saw a light source, as if a little ball of light, rose from that cave up in the sky and then came back down. Twice he saw that happen.” Krishna said.
“Jaanbai maybe they must be adrashya sadhu like
the one you mentioned in your ganga article.” Anu chimed in.
“Perhaps. Girnar is the place where Shivji and Maa Shakti have resided at one point in time. It is a powerful tapobhoomi for sure. It’s significance is closer to Himalay.
They were calm for a moment. Jaanbai was thinking that in the 400 pages of the 2 books she read, the author had heavily filtered what he could and couldn’t write.
Which meant this was the tip of the iceberg of just one person’s knowledge he even isn’t a sadhak himself. Imagine the secrets of the deities and the universe. Perhaps it wasn’t about just moksh, maybe a sadhak’s purpose is more than that. To maybe, discover the secrets of the gods above, to dig deeper beneath the surface to find the ways of the universe and each element in it.
Just then her chain of thought was broken as Anu asked a question for the first time.
“Is it true that saints can preserve their physical
being at 16 years of age?”
“Yes dikra. Take the example of Markandey. Lord Shiv is the lord of time, which means he can bless his worthy sadhaks with that boon. But, only till they remain hidden, from our world of mortals. Once they come out in society they start to age.”
Krishna then mumbled something as if thinking out loud, “We humans are so weird. We are smelly, inside out. We shit, wedirty out dharti maa, we sweat, stink of food we consume, we pollute nature left right and center with our wastes. And most of all, we fail to understand our path, our purpose and what is maya and what is sanatan. Humans’ USP is that we, only us can achieve moksha, achieve gods blessing and sanidhya. No other creature can do so, but still they help mother nature in one way of another, we on the other destroy everything we lay our eyes on.”
Jaanbai had to change the tone now. She narrated how a sadhu hit her and her family members with a heavy metal gada and showed them the little crater of sorts it made in her skull. They giggled.
They all chatted till 4am. Exchanging stories of narrations, folklores they had heard about this subject. Satisfied now, everyone snored away in their guest beds Jaanbai had arranged for them. After they were sound asleep, Jaanbai took her aasan up to the terrace. She had since a few months, yearned to know more about things, their purpose of existence, they way everything worked. Above all, what was the point of it all? Why was the world incepted from Vishnu’s navel through Bramhaji and why all his Karm, janm, mrutyu, sadhna, why?
She meditated. Surya Narayan blessed her in the form of the golden soft sunrise. She went downstairs.
Fin.