Note: Please read the first two parts of Manikarnika for relevance!
Vishwanath’s still, fervent eyes stared into mine as he asked the question, ‘Do you know what an Aghori is?’
The question immediately tensed my shoulders, and an uneasiness set into my limbs. At the same time, I silently nodded, denying any knowledge of this unfamiliar path.
Vishwanath looked into the fire, turned to me and said ‘There is a fire that exists without being lit, nor can it be extinguished. We know not its origin, nor do we know its end. However, there was a once mad man who used that very fire within him to burn himself to ashes, he let it consume him totally. The man whom we aspire to be, we call him Shiva.’
It was 2 am and nature decided to take its rest; the boats by the ghat were gently swaying against each other. The moon reflected brightly by using the pristine Ganga. Amid this silence was a man who spoke to me about the relics of Tantra.
He says, “ ‘Tan’ means body, ‘Tra’ means to use. In normal language we think the body is only the physical body, however, there are subtle bodies that one can use to make this system extremely powerful.”
As an example, he put his left palm in the blazing fire. As stunned as I was, he told me to focus on his hand.
“Scientists know that the body is psychosomatic but Aghori’s are aware of how to use the psychosomatic nature of this being to generate powerful energies.”
My fear was slowly transforming into a raging pool of curiosity.
“We Aghori’s are Shiva Devotees who believe that that there are 8 qualities (ashtamahapasa) that disallow us from being him, such as anger, greed, obsession, fear etc.
Living in a cremation ground ensures that we look at fear directly in its eyes since we all fear our mortality, whilst being cloth-less is to make sure we do not feel shame.”
As we walked for the next two hours by the ghat, the manner in which he explained the human body and mind to me was scarcely credible. Every question I had in my mind was answered by him in one way or another
without physically voicing it. Vishwanath decided to leave me dejected, thirsting for more for he was going to the Himalayas the very next day.
Strangely enough, he noticed the dejection, his eyes were quick enough to observe it. While parting, all he said was,
“You will know, until then, keep the fire burning.”
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