TRAILANGA SWAMI - I

Leaving for Puri Dham yatra in December 2019, I asked my revered Guruji Shri K. N. Rao Sir to suggest what he thought I should read in those five days. He knows I am an avid reader and it is difficult for me to stay without books. I was expecting that he would give me some astrological axiom to ponder over, some astrological classic to read, instead he simply handed over the book ‘The Walking Shiva of Varanasi’ by Dr. V.V.B. Rama Rao to me and suggested that I read it. During the pilgrimage, with so much to see and experience, I hardly got time and could barely skip through a few pages. Now, with the lockdown due to corona virus, all packed in the confines of our homes, doing all chores at home, I started reading the book and was so captivated that I could not keep it down till I reached the end. I shared my experience with Sir who advised that I should write articles based on this book, so people sitting at home because of corona pandemic can read about the great heritage of our country which is ever inspiring.

India has a marvelous heritage of saints which is unsurpassable. They are the ones who have raised themselves above the cycles of life and death. They are the ones who guide the householders in time of need and extend a helping hand to the  spiritual aspirants, wherever they are, to show them hope and light.

Running in the mad race of crass worldliness, the anecdotes of yogis and saints give a breather to the parched souls.  I feel the samskaras of faith are deep within the souls of our country; this I have experienced in the classes of Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan where students are so full of curiosity and are ever keen to know about our spiritual heritage.

It is difficult to write about saints. They are the ones who have so much of parmatma-ansha in them. They can not and should not be judged as we would judge another human being. Yogis have to be looked upon with reverence. Yogis are the ideals to be followed, they are the ones rising above the physical levels, seeking the super natural, as per their different levels. They are called the ‘Salt of the earth’ by Christ. They are beyond the realms of logic, intellect and questioning. They can be seen through our faith only. They are rightly called mahatmas meaning mahaan+atma i.e. realised souls.

Writing about these elevated souls is an impossible task. Still, an effort to write about them is being done with the blessings of esteemed Guruji Shri K. N. Rao Sir.

TRAILANGA SWAMI
Sri Trailangaswami  was a great yogi and mystic known for his innumerable miracles. The great one was born in Holiya village in Vijina Taluq (near Vishakhapatnam) somewhere in the middle of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa of today. He was born in Rohini nakshatra on Shukla Ekadashi of Paush maas in 1607 and there is ample proof that the saint lived for a total of 280 years till 1887.

It is all the more difficult to write about him, as he lived through generations, but we can have an insight through authentic accounts given at various places. For the later one and a half century he lived in Varanasi alone. The previous one hundred thirty years may be studied by various accounts and essays.

He is known as the incarnation of Lord Shiva. Sri Ramkrishna Paramhamsa met him in Varanasi and named him ‘Sachala Vishwanadh’ which means ‘The Walking Shiva of Varanasi’. Swami was born to a well off brahmin Narsimha Dhar and Vidyawati. After ten years of marriage, when Vidyawati could not have a baby, with all hopes lost, she coaxed her husband to marry a second time, but as the divine would have it, she conceived after the second marriage of her husband. She gave birth to Sivaram, named so as she was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva; the second wife gave birth to a son ‘Sridhar’ soon after.

Sivaram was  also called Trailingadhar or Trailanga after the area he was born in i.e. Trilinga Desa. (Trilinga Desa is the region between the three great shrines of Shiva - Srisailam, Dakshaataamam and Kaleswaram.) Sums of money and gifts were donated at his birth. The astrologer who cast the infant’s horoscope declared that he would grow to be a great person, revered by many.

Since childhood, he was an extraordinary quiet and undemanding child. Some accounts say that his mother saw an effulgent ray of divine light entering the body of the infant. He was more keen on worship than anything else. When the mother would sit and pray, the boy would sit next to her and close his eyes. Initially the mother thought that perhaps the boy just imitated her but soon she understood that she had given birth to a divine soul.

The father wanted Sivaram to learn the nuances of his work, but the boy happened to be such a loner. His queer habits, non-interest in worldly affairs and liking for solitude were a cause of concern for his father. When he was approaching youth, in those days of early marriage, his father asked him to marry, which he firmly refused to do.

Mother Vidyawati supported her son as she had seen the young boy pray with devotion. One time she also saw him pray in the garden with a snake coming to hover over his head while he was concentrating. When she asked Sivaram, he said nothing. She understood that a saint had come in their house. After Sivaram’s refusal, the younger brother Sridhar was married off for continuance of family.

When he was 40 years of age, his father passed away, after which mother and son got completely engrossed in meditation. Twelve years hence, his mother Vidyawati also passed away. He went to the cremation ground never to come back home. Younger brother Sridhar tried to persuade him to come home but to no avail. Eventually, Sridhar insisted and arranged for his food and little shelter there itself. This was the time of intense yog sadhana.

Twenty years passed when he had a strong desire to see a seer to make more progress in the spiritual path, the desire fulfilled immediately. Saint Bhagirathaswami from Patiala was on a pilgrimage, he came to the cremation ground and called the name ‘Sivaram’; a name by which only Trailanga’s mother used to call him. Trailanga saw a very graceful and dignified sadhu (saint) standing there. Trailanga at once understood that he would be his Guru.

How will a seeker find a Guru, he wouldn’t even know how and where!! It is said that when the time is right, Guru comes looking for the disciple and so was the case with Trailanga. After some years the Guru and his disciple left for Pushkar and it was there that deeksha (initiation) was given to Trailanga at the age of 78 years and he became Ganapati (some accounts say ‘Gajanand Saraswati’). He did sadhana with his Guru for about 10 years. After the Guru came to fulfillment, Trailanga moved from kshetra to kshetra i.e. from pilgrimage to next pilgrimage, as was advised by his Guru.

During this period, there were a whole lot of miracles that were performed by Swami out of sheer compassion for humanity. It is very aptly said “Sant hridaya navneet samana”, a saint’s heart actually does melt like butter on seeing the problems of humanity. He kept moving from place to place, largely from pilgrimage to pilgrimage, lest he got entangled by moha ‘attachments’ and kept serving people, helping some and enlightening others.

There are so many stories about how he used his powers for the benefit of people. An old Brahmin on pilgrimage to Rameshwaram collapsed, perhaps due to temperature or the very difficult journey. He was surrounded by his relatives who were wondering how to tackle the situation when Swami emerged, he sprinkled some water on him from his kamandalu (reliquary), the man came to life.

In 1701 Swami moved to Nepal, he was doing sadhana (religious spiritual practices) in a secluded place in a forest when King of Nepal came to the forest for hunting a lion. The lion that the King’s men targeted got flustered, roared and ran to take refuge in Swami’s hut. When King followed and saw Swami soothe the mane of the tiger to comfort him, he was zabbed. Swami told him that when the King did not have the capacity to grant a life, how was he actually even thinking of killing an animal. The King and his men were already in a fix, the wild creature that they had come to kill was sitting like a tamed animal near Swami.

It is said that when all the violence leaves the one who is doing sadhna, even the wildest of the wild become tame in the presence of such a person. In Patanjali yog sutra, it is said “ahimsa pratisthayam tat sannidhau vaira tyagah” (II:35) meaning - For the one who is firmly established in non-violence all hostility ceases in the presence of that one.

The King understood the greatness of the saint and went back. Later he came back to the Swami with hoards of gifts which were refused by the saint. All those physical comforts were of no use for a yogi! When people got to know about the astonishing powers of the yogi, they started coming to him in big crowds.

When the name and fame of Swami spread, he would move, in search of peace and quiet. In 1720 he reached Mansarovar. On this destination, he was awakened from his meditation by the loud wailing of a woman, a widow who had lost her son and was carrying him for the last rites. Some innate urge made the woman come and place her son’s body at the feet of Swami. He looked at the bereaved mother and no sooner that the kind Swami touched the forehead of the boy, the boy got up. The woman bowed on Swami’s feet and in presence of all, Swami disappeared from there.

When one rises higher on the spiritual ladder, all kinds of psychic powers come to the yogi, which can pose as a hindrance also if the yogi is not very careful and may distract him from his actual aim. At the same time, when the yogi reaches the stage of oneness with the lord and there is no duality left, at that stage, for the Siddha (realised one), all siddhis (psychic powers) just become a child’s play. The eight noted siddhis are:
1) Anima - To be as small as an ‘anu’ (atom)
2) Laghima - To become almost weightless
3) Mahima - To enlarge one’s body to an infinitely large size
4) Garima - To make one’s body very heavy
5) Prapti - To attain anything one wants
6) Prakamya - To realize whatever one desires
7) Vashitva - To control the five elements
8) Ishitva - To be able to produce and control the physical beings and things

Hanuman ji is said to be the giver of these eight siddhis and there is a verse in Hanuman chalisa ‘Asht-siddhi Nav-nidhi ke Daata’ meaning he is the giver of eight siddhis and nine types of treasure.

In 1726,  in Markandeya ashram, while Swami was having water from river Narmada in the cup of his hands, another famous saint named Khaki Baba noticed that when Trailanga Swami took the water, it was milky, whereas when Khaki Baba took water in his hands, it was normal regular river water. Was it part of the super natural powers that he had or was it that Mother Goddess did not wish that her favourite child should drink anything but milk!

Then, there is a famous anecdote of Prayag, where Swami kept getting wet at the river bank and took no shelter even in extreme rain. On being persuaded to take shelter by Ramtaran Bhattacharya, he told that he was there to save the boat which would sink. Ramtaran then saw a boat with pilgrims coming towards the bank. No sooner had he said this that the boat went down the water. Swami disappeared and in a few minutes the boat came on the shore with all the pilgrims followed by Swami. No one but Ramtaran realised that the boat had been saved by the yogi. It is the Kripa of a saint when he chooses to reveal his powers to someone. A saint would do this only for a chosen few and that also for the purpose of spiritual inspiration.