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Living by faith alone
A young sadhu, thin like a reed, describes the rigours of his Narmada parikrama, completed in a record
period of three years. This involves travelling barefoot in the dacoit-infested regions of the Narmada
valley, tracing the path of the sacred river from the source all the way her merging with Arabian Sea in the
west. There are thick forests and crocodile-infested swamps on the way, and many sadhus take care to travel
in jatthas or small groups of sadhus. For many, this is deep orientation to the sadhu subculture and its
rich lore. The young sadhu mentions travelling on an empty stomach, without any resources in the inhospitable
terrain for as many as eight days at a time! But the sadhus cultivate deep love for River Narmada,
unsurpassed in her sanctity even by the Ganga in the north according to cherished sadhu lore. He says that
Narmada Mai never allows a sadhu or anybody for that matter, to perish in her vicinity on account of
hunger. At some time or other, the River appears in the form of a rugged village woman to share nourishing
rotis from her basket with the starving folk on the holy trek.
The young and experienced sadhu, in his early twenties, has now taken up permanent station to run a tiny
hut ashram in the deep forested regions of the Sahyadri mountains in southern Maharashtra, under the adesh,
or command of his Sadguru. He describes his close encounters with denizens of the forest, including cobras,
pythons and even leopards. He is not afraid, with abiding trust in the Sadguru’s protective powers. Besides,
he says, “what logic can there be in a leopard or a tiger attacking a lone ascetic in the forest?” He lives
by his wits, often subsisting on forest fruit and roots, and at other times taking turns with his jholi or
cloth shoulder bag, around villages verging on the forest, asking for donation of foodgrains. This request
is rarely denied, for in the case of the genuine sadhu, there is a close relationship between himself and
the neighbouring communities. Often his hut is a safe house for nomadic wayfarers and those engaged in
grazing cattle or foraging in the forest for fuel wood and seasonal produce, especially in times of
inclement weather. The sadhu must follow his duty of feeding all comers to the ashram to the best of his
ability, as a gratitudinal return of the charity received from the villagers. This is one important way of
honouring his lineage and protecting the fair name of his Sadguru.
His Sadguru inculcates in him deep respect for the eternal sadhu way of life. There is no higher duty than
to serve the needs of a wandering sadhu who has given up everything in his pursuit of ultimate Knowledge
for the benefit of humanity. Very indulgently, the Sadguru instructs him to gather enormous bales of ganja,
from the local variety of Indian hemp, to supply to groups of sadhus on the event of the Kumbh melas. This
too is a transitory need of the advancing initiates, which helps them to access closed cerebral passageways
in the search for special insights in meditation under the guidance of the guru. Often the sadguru may not
be physically present from moment to moment, and no guru worth his salt can encourage dependency on the part
of a nomadic sadhu; but it is truly fascinating that there always exist strong telepathic channels between
the guru and disciple, and the former ensures that the latter will come to no harm so long as he is
unshakable in his faith and devotion to the guru.
Devotion and duty
Another old sadhu mentions how in his itinerant days as a youth in the company of his aging sadguru in the
sacred environs of the Pashupatinath temple in Nepal, he would take the jholi around the town every day, to
beg for food. He did this in spite of having an aristocratic background, with high status friends in the
city. Of the food that he brought back, half the portion would be first allotted to the Sadguru. Of the
remaining food, a portion each would be set out to feed a wandering cow, a dog and crow, before consuming
what was left of the bhiksha. There are many ways that the guru tests the disciple, and many ways in which
the cravings of the body and mind are tempered under close supervision, so as to fine tune the consciousness
towards a single-pointed focus on spiritual growth. A single Sadguru may help the sadhak to traverse through
the difficult methodologies and eclectic processes of sadhana, at times involving Vedanta, bhakti and pure
devotion, and at other times dreadful tantrik practices involving smashan sadhana (penances performed in the
crematoria, to fearlessly face the truth of life and death and accompanying energies shorn of all illusion)
and related aghori practices, depending on the aptitude and inclination of the disciple.
It is common nowadays to find many highly-trained professionals such as engineers and even Ph.D.s who have
given up all to follow the path of the solitary wandering ascetic. Many of the masters at the turn of the
century belonged to the royalty or aristocratic families, a fact known only to a close circle of disciples.
For the genuine renunciates, to seek publicity, or to display spiritual prowess in public, is to regress
into the world of material illusion that was discarded earlier. At one stage in their practice, initiation
marks rebirth, when the old identity, with its concomitant attachments and name are completely discarded.
Hence the popular proverbial injunction never to inquire into the roots or antecedents of sadhus and rishis.
It is the anonymous nomadic sadhus who have given up narrow and divisive caste and regional identities to
follow the Formless Guru, who keep the sacred traditions alive in their person. In turn, the Sadhu uses
siddhis gained in the course of extreme ascetic practices to bless humanity, to ease the suffering and pain
of those entangled in worldly attachments and want! This is how they earn the venerated appelation of ‘Swami’
from grateful devotees they meet on the path.
The Lotus Feet of the Master
All divinities, all sacred knowledge, everything of worth in the entire universe, is known to reside in the
feet of the Sadguru. ‘Great is this lore of the Sadguru’s feet, because those who embrace them with full
devotion are freed from all sins, their accumulated past life karmas are burnt away, so that they are able
to realise worldly desires and can even attain spiritual liberation.’ Sant Kabir says,
Those who become entranced by a single crescent of the Guru’s toenail
Are blessed to effortlessly attain full knowledge of the Vedas
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