ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>AGHOR&#298</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="AGHOR*"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279AGHOR&#298 or AGHORPANTH&#298, one of the several K&#257p&#257lika sects, connected with the T&#257ntrik cult of &#346aivism, notorious for its cannibalism and other abominable practices. <i>Aghora</i> literally means "not terrible, " "not evil, " otherwise, "pleasant" or "handsome, " and is one of the euphemistic titles of the Hindu god, &#346iva. <i>Augha&#7771</i> or <i>Augha&#7693a</i> is another cognate word which stands for a follower of the Aghorpanth. Besides, there is also a Vai&#7779&#7751ava sect of Aghor&#299s of modern origin, said to have been founded by B&#257b&#257 Kin&#257r&#257ma (1684-1787) who himself was a disciple of B&#257b&#257 K&#257l&#257r&#257ma Aghor&#299 of V&#257r&#257&#7751as&#299.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With no independent canonical text or organized church of their own, the Aghor&#299s derive their ideas and beliefs from those of K&#257p&#257likas who are also known as V&#257mach&#257r&#299 &#346aivites. Their chosen deity is &#346iva or Aghora whose blessings they seek by following a degenerate and crude form of yoga. They practise a kind of divination by the examination of a child cut out of a pregnant woman at full time. They offer human sacrifices, generally, of volunteering victims who, immediately after they volunteer, become sacred and they are provided whatever they desire. On the appointed day and at a special ceremony, the volunteering victim is decapitated or slain by having a dagger struck in his throat. His blood and flesh are then consumed by the Aghor&#299s present.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Aghor&#299s worship Aghor&#299&#347vara as the one Supreme Reality. Ethically, they believe that everything is good for a good person. Distinction between the pure and the impure is irrelevant from their standpoint. Their way of life is absolutely unconventional and the people in general feel much impressed and scared by their occult powers, their practice of human sacrifices, austerities, disregard for fame and wealth, indifference to cleanliness of food and their fearful dress. Living almost naked, they besmear their bodies with the ashes taken from funeral pyres. They wear the rosary made up of Rudr&#257k&#7779a beads and a necklace made of the bones of a snake and the tusks of a wild boar. Some members of this sect wear necklaces made of human teeth. They invariably carry a skull in hand. They eat flesh from human corpses and animal carcasses except those of horses. They are even said to eat their own excretions. Sexual act with a woman is considered a symbolic way of union with the goddess. Their rituals are generally performed at cemeteries.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, strict measures were adopted by the government to curb the Aghor&#299s and their practices which led to the gradual decline in their number. Only a very small number of Aghor&#299s exist today and they are generally confined to concentrations in Bengal, Bih&#257r and Eastern U. P.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the <i>B&#257l&#257 Janam S&#257kh&#299</i>, the story is related of Gur&#363 N&#257nak's encounter with a demon called Kau&#7693&#257. From the story it appears that Kau&#7693&#257 was a K&#257p&#257lika Aghor&#299. Once travelling through Central India, Gur&#363 N&#257nak, accompanied by Mard&#257n&#257, passed through the tribal areas ministering to communities primitive in their ways. In this country, Mard&#257n&#257 once wandered out in search of food and was seized by a marauding giant. His name, as mentioned in<i>B&#257l&#257 Janam S&#257kh&#299, </i> was Kau&#7693&#257. He was the leader of a clan of cannibals and always kept an oil cauldron sizzling for man or beast that might fall into his hands. Mard&#257n&#257 would have met the fate of Kau&#7693a's many other luckless victims but for the Gur&#363's timely appearance. The Gur&#363 uttered the greeting, "Sat Kart&#257r--the Creator is the eternal truth. " The ring of his words startled Kau&#7693&#257. When he turned to look towards the Gur&#363, his heart was touched as never before. He had not known such benignity and tenderness, nor such calm and tranquillity. He released Mard&#257n&#257 and fell at the Gur&#363's feet. He was, says<i>B&#257l&#257 Janam S&#257kh&#299, </i> converted and charged with the rescuing of his companions. It is stated that Gur&#363 N&#257nak and Mard&#257n&#257 stayed with Kau&#7693&#257 for seven days.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;K&#257m&#257khy&#257 (Assam), - V&#257r&#257&#7751as&#299, Ujjain, Girn&#257r and Mount &#256b&#363 were some of the well known centres of Aghor&#299 ascetics.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;B&#257b&#257 Kin&#257r&#257ma, a latter-day leader of the sect, was a Vai&#7779&#7751ava devotee whose teachings, like those of the medieval sants, are a mixture of Vai&#7779&#7751ava <i>bhakt&#299</i> and Siddha culture. He wrote <i>R&#257mag&#299t&#257, R&#257macape&#7789&#257, R&#257maras&#257la, G&#299t&#257val&#299</i> and <i>Vivekas&#257ra</i>. A versified translation of the <i>Yogavasi&#7779&#7789ha</i> is also attributed to him. Most of these texts expound Vai&#7779&#7751avite piety of the sant variety. In the <i>G&#299t&#257val&#299</i>, he stresses the soteriological importance of <i>satya&#347abda</i> (the divine/true word) which incidentally is a point of convergence with Sikhism. <i>Vivekas&#257ra</i>, his most important work, discusses the theological and moral ideas of the sect, such as creation of the world, self-introspection, meditation, <i>sahaja-sam&#257dh&#299, satsang</i> and the ecstatic or mystical experience born of supreme devotion and <i>s&#257dh&#257n&#257. </i></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The term <i>aghor&#299</i> or <i>ghor&#299</i> has passed into popular Punjabi usage standing for one who is indolent of habit and indifferent in matters of personal hygiene and cleanliness.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Crooke, W. , "Aghoris", in <i>The Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, </i> vol. I. Ed. James Hastings. Edinburgh, 1964<BR> <li class="C1"> Eliade, Mircea, <i>Yoga, Immortality and Freedom. </i> Princeton, 1969<BR> <li class="C1"> Chaturved&#299, Par&#347&#363r&#257m, <i>Uttar&#299 Bh&#257rat k&#299 Sant Prampr&#257</i>. Allahabad, 1963<BR> <li class="C1"> Kohl&#299, Surindar Si&#7749gh, ed. , <i>Janam S&#257kh&#299 Bh&#257&#299 B&#257l&#257</i>. Chandigarh, 1975<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">L. M. Joshi<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>