The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

 It was in 1810 King of Ujjain arrived in Kashi and stayed as a guest of King of Kashi, while these two kings were traveling on a ferry, they could see a saint floating on the waters of Panchaganga Ghat.  King of Ujjain was surprised to see this Yogi, King of Kashi explained the miracles of Thrailangaswamiji, he also added that he is the Lord Vishwanatha of Kashi, he has various supernatural powers.   King of Ujjain was so impressed with the various miracles of Swamiji and requested if Swamiji could be seated with them on the ferry, he could have to get more acquaintance with the Swamiji, the ferry was moved near to Swamiji, before that Swamiji took a flight and landed on the ferry, people on the ferry were stunned, both the Kings reverentially greeted Swamiji and engaged in conversation.  Ujjain King spoke “ Swamiji, we all are here under the instruction of the supreme spirit to perform our duties and responsibilities, taking part in happiness as well as miseries, sorrows, and grief, after that we are going back to the supreme spirit, Is there any life after death?’ Swamiji replied, all those created by the supreme spirit merge with him at the end, therefore it is certain all the originated from the supreme spirit should merge with him only, Yogis realizes the truth that soul and the supreme soul is the same, King of Kashi could not understand anything of Swamiji’s speech, he was not at all interested in the speech of Swamiji.   Suddenly Swamiji took the sword from King of Kashi and threw it in the water, King was so infuriated, even the King of Ujjain felt  Swamiji is too rude,  Swamiji told the King of Kashi that he will get his sword as soon as they reach on the river bank, Swamiji got out of the ferry, King of Kashi told Swamiji to don’t move from the place while his men conduct search for his sword, King was thinking that if he did not get his sword, he will imprison this ascetic and put an end to his rudeness, Swamiji who was knower of all understood the state of mind of King of Kashi, Swamiji put his hand in the water and took two swords and handed to King and asked to search his own sword, but King failed to choose his own, Swamiji asked  why he is so upset about a thing which does not belong to him at all, if he was familiar with his sword he would have picked up the right one, Swamiji picked the right sword and handed to King of Kashi and threw the remaining one and left the ferry.  The two Kings were rushed behind Swamiji and prostrated before him, King of Kashi said “ Maharaj, kindly forgive me, I have committed mistake.  Kindly forgive me otherwise, I will not live in peace, you are a compassionate and noble soul, you have to forgive this sinner.”  Swamiji was an Ashuthoshi too pleased with the humbleness of the Kings, he advised him not to insult any noble saint in the future, because the rage of an ascetic could bring inauspiciousness and advised not to mistreat any ascetic, and all are different from each other.   After saying this he dived into the waters while watching he disappeared from the sight.  These two Kings waited for Swamiji’s return for long, but Swamiji did not come back. 

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Once many English officials and women were arrived in Panchaganga Ghat and noticed a naked saint wandering shamelessly, they were infuriated and filed a complaint against naked Swamiji, new officer arrested Swamiji, the news of Swamiji’s arrest spread across the city like a forest fire and people were worried and expected something terrible going to happen this time.   English officer decided to keep an eye on Swamiji, therefore he took the job of supervision of Swamiji, within a few minutes of his arrest, they could see Swamiji walking on the courtyard freely, English officer shouted at his assistants for their irresponsibility, assistants pleaded him that it was not their mistake  Swamiji  out of the cell, asked the officer to check the prison which was locked with two heavy locks, they explained their pathetic  situation whenever they get hold of Swamiji he disappears with magical powers, the officer checked the cell it was full of water with an absurd smell, he asked the assistants but Swamiji replied that he want to pass urine in the night, so he did it, that is too little, later came out of the cell and wanted to roam around in the open air, it was not the fault of his assistants, English officer was not willing to believe any of these, so ordered to arrest Swamiji again, after sometime Swamiji appeared before him stark naked, Swamiji spoke ‘ A Western nonbeliever know nothing about Indian ascetics? You cannot keep me locked, because you have no power to do that, in future never miss-behave like this to a holy saint, otherwise you cannot save yourself from his anger.” Before listening to the whole speech of Swamiji, English Officer fell unconscious, the whole court was in chaos, Swamiji has vanished long back.  Once again an order was passed no one should disturb Thrailanga Swamiji and his spiritual practices; he is free to walk unclothed all over the place.

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

 During those days Kashi was ruled by King of Kashi, while India was under the regime of British rule.  Swamiji was always moved around without clothes, it disturbed the locals so they compliant to police,   English men questioned him and informed him that Swamiji is not allowed to roam around without clothes, it is a crime to walk around naked, therefore they requested Swamiji to cover with clothes, but he did not pay any attention to their words, the judge got infuriated and ordered to arrest Swamiji, suddenly Swamiji disappeared from their sight.  The whole court was stunned at this, they continued search for Swamiji.  There was a pious Bengali officer in the court informed the officer that it is very normal among the ascetics to roam around undressed, and Thrailanga Swamiji is not an ordinary person to talk about, he is Yogeshvara, he has no difference of a home or prison, he is void of impurities like fear, hatred, pride, jealous, desire, anger, lust, etc… he said Swamiji has no difference of sandalwood paste or secretion, after this conversation they could see Thrailangaswamiji in the courtroom.  English officer did not believe the Bengali officer, Indians will always have a soft corner for their people, and moreover English man’s pride was not willing to accept the holiness of Swamiji, he asked Swamiji to eat his meal, it was the meat of a cow, English officer was very sure about the fact that ascetics will not consume meat, and that to cow meat is unthinkable for them.  Swamiji replied that he can consume his meal, before that the English personnel should eat Swamiji’s meal, English man thought it must be fruit or milk which is the usual meal of ascetic, but Swamiji collected a handful of his urine and told him it is his today’s meal, and asked him to consume it, English officer was shocked and remained pale, Swamiji without any hesitation consumed his urine.  Finally, he realized the divine powers of Swamiji and asked him to release and Swamiji is allowed to roam around Kashi as the way he wants, no one should put any ban or complaints on Swamiji. 

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Swamiji’s fame spread all over Kashi, people started crowding to visit Swamiji, there were several people who were suffering from various illnesses, and he blessed them all and kept giving sacred ashes.  Later, he moved to Dhashashwamedh Ghat due to the huge crowd of people, here to people crowded to get blessings of Swamiji, they offered numerous things, but Swamiji was really fed up of the crowd, decided to keep the vow of silence and immerses in deep meditation, all the contributions were offered to needy people.  But one person was not willing to back out, he used to visit Swamiji on a regular basis and find Swamiji observing the vow of silence, later he was frustrated to see this, he wants to take revenge on Swamiji, he brought one bucket of slaked lime mix water and kept before Swamiji, he told Swamiji that he brought milk from home and requested him to drink it.  Swamiji who is omniscient, drank the whole bucket liquid of slaked lime, the person who was watching before him with an evil pleasure, that night he started to roll on the ground with miserable pain, next morning he rushed to Swamiji and fallen at his feet, Swamiji put his hand on the forehead of the person, he slowly regained his normal state, he was ashamed of his deceitful act.  Swamiji moved Panchaganga Ghat and stayed near Bindhumadhav shrine, after that he did not leave Panchaganga Ghat in his whole life and many of his miracles were performed in Panchaganga Ghat. 

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.