The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Swamiji had strong physical appearance, reddish-brown skin tone, sharp eyes, shaven head, wide forehead, symbolic mark on the forehead, pot-sized belly,  and stark naked.  Once Swamiji finished his bathing in Lolark Kund and came out, he saw a crowd of people surrounded by a person who was unconscious, Swamiji sat near the person and slowly touched his body with affection,  soon the person regained his consciousness and started weeping saying that he came to Kashi to die, he is worn of troubles and sorrows, he was suffering from leprosy and pronounced his name Bhramasingh, he came from Ajmer to attain Mukthi in Kashi, he asked Bhramasingh to take bath in Lolark Kund and chew some bale leaves he had given, he told Bhramasingh to meet him on a daily basis and take  bale leaves from Swamiji, he asked him not to forget Lord after getting relief from his illness.  Later he became a sincere servant of Swamiji.  One Bengali person was severely ill with skin disease, he found his death is nearer, he came and resided near the shores of Ganga, one day Swamiji saw a group of people assembled near this Bengali person, Thrailanga Swamiji sat near him and affectionately touched his wounds advised him to eat some mud and apply it to his body as well.  He was instructed to follow the same for a few days until he gets completely relieved from the illness.  Later, Swamiji moved near Hanuman Ghat,  there was a lady used to take bath in Ganga and visit Vishwanatha shrine on regular basis, she was furious at the naked Swamiji, she abused him all her way, that night she had a nightmare, in that she saw enraged Lord Shiva ‘You have hurt my Gana, therefore your wishes are going to fulfill, insulting my Gana is equivalent to insult of mine. I cannot remove your sufferings, only he can do something for you. ’ She got up from the dream and remembered about Swamiji, the next day she had a bath in Ganga and approached Swamiji and prostrated before him.  She prayed before Swamiji ‘Bhagavan, I am unfortunate, I did not recognize you, I have abused you and committed sin, kindly forgive me, you are too compassionate, if you do not forgive me, I will not leave this place.” Swamiji replied “ Ma, you do not worry, you are my mother, mother scold her son for good only, I have already forgotten that incident, you too forget that. Your husband will be freed from illness very soon; we all are going through the sins of our previous births.” Sawmiji gave some sacred ashes and asked her to feed her husband and apply some of the ashes on his stomach.  Later, she worshiped Swamiji on regular basis like worship performed to a divine idol.

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

 Swamiji continued that there is a ferry coming from the opposite shore, and it is full of passengers, that ferry is going to sink very soon, he has to save the people from deep waters.  Immediately he disappeared from the sight of the ascetic.  In a few minutes, the ascetic saw the terrifying scene that ferry is sinking and people are screaming for help, after few minutes he witnessed the ferry is safe with the people on board and it embarked on the shore where Swamiji was seated.  The ascetic prostrated before Swamiji and asked how he did save the lives of people, he replied that every human has the immense mental strength and it is called supreme spirit.  The self-realization is the technique to realize the nature of the soul which is the representation of the supreme spirit, once we understand the nature of soul then there is no difference between soul and supreme spirit, people who do not realize the nature of soul will never understand the nature of supreme spirit.  In order to learn the nature of soul/knowledge of self, we should utilize mind, intellect, and soul which are the prime instrument in the human body.  Lord Surya spread its radiance and removes the darkness, in the same manner, the soul in our body emanates rays and sense organs start functioning, and the soul/Atman is not doing anything.  He lived four years in Prayag and moved to the sacred land of Kashi.  He was heard of Mughal invasion, looting of shrines and destruction of the famous shrines of Bindhumadhav and Vishwanath during his childhood days.   He resided outside of Kashi near Lolark Kund, he sits near the banks of river and engages in deep meditation, people who came to take bath in holy Ganga look at the saint and reverentially prostrate before him, some people come and sit close to him and talk about their places of origin, finally he became known as Thrailangaswamji in all over Kashi.  

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

 The King of Nepal came with a lot of offerings and gifts for Swamiji, seeing King and his men with lots of gifts Swamiji smiled at him and told him that he is pleased with the disposition of King, he said ‘Rajan, I am a wanderer I do not need any of these items, I request you to distribute all these items to the suffering people who are in need of it.   It would do all the goodness to your country and to you as well.” This incident spread across the country, here too people suffering from miseries, sorrows, hunger, and illnesses crowded to meet Swamiji.  It made Swamiji move towards Tibet, he lived in Tibet for some time, continued to practice Yoga on the river bank of Manasarovar.   In 1726  Swamiji arrived near the shores of the Narmada where Sage Markandeya’s hermitage is situated, it was the shelter place of various ascetics from all over the country engaged in spiritual practices, discussion, lectures on scriptures etc…were carried out. Swamiji was so pleased to live in this atmosphere and lived in a hermitage.  He took a dip in Narmada and practiced Yoga and meditation on regular basis.  There was Khakhi Baba who was one among the ascetics lived on the shores of Narmada, and carried out Yoga practices, one day he noticed the waters of the Narmada which has the color of dark clouds turned in white like milk and Gajanan Swamiji taking handsful and drinking.  Khakhibaba was surprised to see this and kept looking at Swamiji, he was doubtfully moved towards the waters and took a handful of milk, instantly it changed to dark clouds, as usual, he looked for Gajananswamiji but he was moved far long and the river has changed its watercolor into normal.  Khakhibaba understood the skillful Yogic practices of Swamiji.   Gajananswamiji lived seven years in the hermitage on the shore of Narmada, again he took up his spiritual journey and visited many sacred shrines.   In 1733 he arrived in Prayag and immersed in spiritual practices. One day Swamiji watching the beautiful waves and suddenly heavy clouds were formed, big waves shattered each other, followed with deafening thunder, lightning, and shower.  People who were sitting on the shore ran off to nearby places in search of shelter, Gajananswamiji sat on the shore without any movement.  One of the ascetics approached Swamiji and asked him to move to the shelter place, but Swamiji refused to take his invitation to move away from the heavy downpour.  Swamiji replied to him that he is sitting near the shore to accomplish a specific task.

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Gajanan Saraswathi continued his journey and arrived in Shiva Kanchi/today’s Kanchipuram, where he met with one familiar person, he prostrated before Swamiji and recollected that miraculous event took place in Rameshvaram, he revealed his desire to serve Gajananswaraswthi.   He felt once again trapped in the worldly bondage of a devotee, he does not want to discourage the poor Brahmin, and so he decided to stay there for a while.  The Brahmin and his wife sincerely served Gajanansaraswathi, they believed that if Swamiji get pleased at their self-less service, it will remove all the afflictions and worries.  One day Gajananswaraswthi asked what is his purpose of serving an ascetic, poor Bhramin explained his miserable situation at home and their desire to have an offspring, eventually Brahmin blessed with a child and wealth, watching this miracle, rest of the villagers assembled before Gajanansaraswathi with their various requests. It made him leave the village of Shivakanchi, he decided to choose a place where he can contemplate upon Lord without any obstacles, and he extensively traveled through the woods of Nepal.   He settled in a dense wood and continued meditation.    King of Nepal was fond of hunting, once he chased a lion and arrived in the dense wood were Gajanansaraswathi was meditating, where he could see the lion resting close to the feet of Swamiji and he was affectionately patting the lion, seeing the King and his men the lion started roaring.   Swamiji told the King and his men that need not worry about the lion, it will not move an inch until it gets an order from him, he asked the King that he wants to kill this lion but he is scared of it now, Swamiji asked the King, he has no skill to instill life in any creature, therefore why he wants to take away the same, bloodshed is against the Dharma and requested King to return back.  After returning from the Jungle, King of Nepal could not forget the incident and conversation with the Swamiji.  He was surprised to see a noble soul, an ascetic in his Kingdom, he was astonished to see the ascetic whose feet is a shelter - place for an untamed lion.  The next day he returned in search of Swamiji in the woods.

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Sri Thrailanga Swamiji after receiving Sanyasa came to know as ‘Gajanan Saraswathi’, eventually he received eight types of Siddhis/supernatural powers, such as Anima/ reducing one’s body to the size of  an atom, Mahima/ expanding one’s body into infinitely large size, Garima/ becoming substantially heavy, Laghima/ becoming too light, Prapthi/ ability to be everywhere, Prakamaya / ability to obtain anything desired, Ishithva / the power of Lordship, Vashithva/ ability to have control over everything including essential elements.  Gajanan Saraswathi remained in the sincere service of his preceptor for another ten years, after Samadhi of his preceptor Gajanansaraswathi continued his spiritual journey at the age of eighty-eight years of old.  In 1695 he started journey from Pushkar by foot, he visited many sacred shrines and finally arrived in Rameshvaram where he could see the union of several saints and holy men from various places, there was an auspicious event in Rameshvarm, he met a few people from the village of Holiya, people were shocked to see Thrailanga in the form of an ascetic, they requested him to come back to his hermitage in the funeral ground, his stepmother was no more and Sridhar became too old.  Gajanan Saraswathi revealed his intention to conduct spiritual trip to various places at the order of his preceptor, therefore it is impossible for him to return to the motherland, saying so he disappeared in the crowd of the ascetic.  There was a huge crowd in Rameshvaram due to Mela, suddenly a crowd dragged the attention of Gajanansaraswathi, there he could see a woman weeping on the death of her husband whose dead body was kept tied in clothe.   Gajanansaraswathi asked the people why they are fastening a lively person into the casket, he took water from his vessel/Kamandalu and sprinkled on the body, immediately it started showing the sign of life.  He came out of the casket and the ropes were removed.  Swamiji instructed the crowd to feed him with the milk.  The miracle of dead man alive spread like the wind  in all over Rameshvarm, those entire crowd were eager to witness Gajanansaraswathi, that night he left the crowd silently.

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Thrailangadhar continued meditation for hours and hours, even though he did not achieve the fruit of his penance, he was waiting for his Preceptor.   One day an ascetic appeared before the hermitage of Thrailangadhar, he called ‘Shivram’, he was astonished to hear him, his mother used to call him affectionately, none of the family members or people of the village used to address him like that, everyone calls him ’Thrailangdhar’.  He came out f the hermitage and found an ascetic standing before the doorsteps, he had divine effulgence and full of bliss.   Thrailangdhar immediately prostrated before him, he remembered the dream he had a few days back, instantly he made up his mind this is the ascetic should be sent by God as his preceptor, he repeatedly prostrated before the ascetic.  They engaged in long conversation for hours within that time meal arrived from Sridhar’s house and they had a meal together.  The ascetic was Sri Bhageerathswamiji who was residing in Patiala; he followed the divine order of Lord and arrived at the doorsteps of Thrailanga. He revealed his intentions to visit holy shrines and rivers of South, after spending a few days in south his plans to leave to sacred Pushkar in Gujarat.  Thrailanga said ‘Maharaj, if you do not mind, please take me with you. I want to spend the rest of my life in your service.’  Bhageerathswamiji took Thrailangar with him to various shrines and finally they have reached in Pushkar by foot.  During this period of time, Bhageerath Swamiji well understood the spiritual strength of Thrailanga who needs to be channelized; otherwise, he was well versed with the practice of spirituality.  Later, Thrailanga learned all the Yogic practices from Bhageerathswamiji. They took nearly six years by foot to arrive in Pushkar, by the time Thrailanga was 77 years of old.   Finally, that auspicious day arrived; Thrailanga received formal initiation to spirituality from his preceptor Bhageerathswamiji.  Thrailanga took a holy dip in Pushkar and seated in a sanctified place at the order of his preceptor, after proper initiation Swamiji pronounced sacred syllables in his ears, in this way he officially received Dheeksha from Bhageerathswamiji .  Swamiji advised Thrailanga ‘I have advised all those Yogic practices, giving you the sacred syllables of Beejakshara, keep meditating upon it, I have received from my preceptor, this is the process of initiation to Sanyasa, you will be known as ‘Gajanan Saraswathi’ from today onwards.’

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Vidhyavathi was terrified at the sight of the venomous serpent with sparkling hood behind Shivram who was meditating upon the Lord.  She screamed for help and one of the servants rushed to Shivram and soon he returned saying that he did not see any serpent, he said only Baba was sitting eyes closed.  Vidhyavathi enquired Thrailanga about this incident but he remained silent. She informed her husband that Shivram is not an ordinary human being; he is divine personified on Earth.  But Narasimhdhar was not willing to believe any of these, instead he decided to keep an eye on him, soon he also witnessed the same sight Vidhyavathi was foretold him, he was extremely frightened at the sight, after this incident he did not encourage any argument with Thrailanga, he firmly believed that Thrailanga is not an ordinary human, he is divine personified.  Years passed, Sridhar took great care of family business and prosperities, Thrailanga as usual engaged in the veneration of Lord with his mother and spend hours and hours in meditation.  During this time, Nrisimhdhar passed away leaving his two wives and family, Thrailanga had little change in his behavior, he spends most of the time in the service of his two mothers and worship of Lord. Vidhyavathi passed away after ten years of the death of Nrisimhdhar.  Thrailanga abandoned all the relationship with his stepbrother and mother after the death of his mother, all these years he was tirelessly serving his mother after the death of his father, after mother’s death he felt no next of kin and he has no desire to take hold of the properties left behind by his father.  He started living in the funeral ground where his mother’s funeral pyre was performed; he smeared sacred ashes all over the body from the funeral pyre and sit for meditation for hours and hours.  Sridhar felt very sad for his brother, his stepmother requested Thrailanga to come back home, but he was not willing.  He advised his brother to keep all the properties with him, he has no desire for wealth or money which has fleeting nature, Thrailanga revealed his intention to pursue self-realization and God-realization which could provide everything that is impossible for an ordinary human.  He asked his brother to forget about him and enjoy living with the comforts left behind by his father.  Sridhar was deeply disappointed at the secluded nature of his elder brother, finally, Thrailanga asked his brother to build a hermitage in the funeral ground, and arrange to serve meals for the needy, after this incident, Thrailanga adopted funeral ground as his abode like Lord Shankara.