Mahayogi Baba Lokenath Brahmachari

Pranams at the lotus feet of Baba Lokenath Maharaj!

Chapter – 3

 Lokenath and Benimadhav followed preceptor Ganguly Mahashay to Mahatheerth Kalighat, Kolkata.   Benimadhav’s father worriedly asked about their next destination and exclaimed that it is a dense forest; Guruji said that’s the perfect place for the children to begin the life of asceticism.   Those days, the famous shrine of Goddess Parvathi of Kalighat was surrounded by dense woods of wild animals, these areas where many ascetics take their meditation and Yogic practices.   Ganguly Mahashay explained the four states of Ashrama dharma to Lokenath and Benimadhav.  “There are four Ashramadharmas known as Bhramacharya, Grihastha, Sanyasa, and Vanaprastha.  The strict disciplines during the Brahmacharya Ashram would provide purity of mind and body."  Mahashay continued "The rules of Bhramacharya such as meditation, Yogic practices, and disciplines, the vow of celibacy and fast.   A Sannyasin should not have a desire towards any material possessions; they do not take pleasure in basic necessities of life.”    They undertook four years of intense meditation and Yogic practices in the dense wood.  Lokenath and Benimadhav learned all the Yogic practices and Hatha Yoga, observance of fast, and celibacy during this period.   On the auspicious days of Navrathri, these young ascetics undertake fast on nine days, in this way they have passed twelve years of ascetic life.