In the previous post, I spoke about its geography. Today let’s talk about the unbridled passion of two lovers that defined this place as one of the holiest in the world.
As I lurked around several funeral pyres confused regarding my own existence I was interested in the cultural input of this location. My mind had a million questions whilst the existential angst of being this close to death seemed to sweep me off my rationale.
This is when I met my 70-year-old friend, Vishwanath. I noticed an old man sitting by a particular pyre, still as a rock yet focused on the fire he watched upon. I was meek enough to sit beside him, silently as I watched him murmuring gibberish.
Back then I did not know that he was an Aghori, had I known, I wouldn’t dare to lurk near him. Yet, this very ignorance gave me the courage to ask him one simple question,
‘Kiski kaahani hai yeh?’ ‘Whose story is this?’
After a brief introduction, we began to talk. His piercing eyes refused to look away from mine; it was as if he was conveying something beyond speech. My interest encouraged him to begin. He then narrated the story of this ghat, Manikarnika.
“A young vagabond Shiva was in love with the granddaughter of the creator of this world, Brahma. The intensity of their affair was more than just of lovers; it was an outburst of devotion.
Sati, Brahma’s granddaughter, saw nothing but Shiva, said nothing but Shiva and believed nothing but Shiva.
Her father, a great king, Raja Daksh Prajapati, was not willing to give his daughter's hand to a mendicant like Shiva.
This insult was taken to her heart, and she jumped into her wedding fire, burning herself alive.
Shiva being who he is, decides to take her body to the Himalayas in great pain, and while he does that, 51 parts of her fall on different parts of the Earth.
The sorrow of her death and the frenzy of his austerities created a plethora of energy that touched all of these parts. It is said he who is sensitive enough can feel a vortex of energy in these places; they are unfulfilled voids of love, passion and divinity.
One of Sati’s earrings fell onto Manikarnika ghat; this very location is where she gave her life for him; this is where she chose Shiva over Death.”
As he ended the story, the silence he created between us made me even more uncomfortable. It was a silence that made me run yet failed to help me escape from the charisma of this man.
As his story ended, he asked me if I knew who an ‘Aghori’ was. Of course, I was clueless. Had I known beforehand, I wondered how I would react?
This question began a new story whilst he explained to me this strange yet fierce path to liberation. A path I wish to expand on for those who are willing to explore the most unheard-of ways of the world.
Aghora, the path of the fierce-one.
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