Pavhari Baba

About five kilometers from Ghazipur in U.P. (its original name was Ghadipur, after an ancient rishi called 'Ghadi') there is a village called Kurtha. Here, in the latter half of the 19th century, lived a saint called Pavhari Baba (meaning 'air-eating swami'). Like Bengal's Giribala, who came later, Pavhari Baba was reputed to have lived without eating any food. Swami Vivekananda, in his autobiography, devotes a whole chapter to this 'Saint of Ghazipur'.

It is said that the Baba hailed from the South and had started on a Gangapradakshina. Many saints are supposed to be constantly on this river-circuit pilgrimage. One begins the trek at Gangotri, the source of the river in the Himalayas, follows the river to Calcutta, where the Ganga has her confluence with the sea, crosses over to the other bank, and then walks back to Gangotri, thus ending the circumambulation. However, some saints are said to settle down at some points along the banks of the Ganga, owing to the influence of overpowering spiritual forces. It fell to the happy lot of Kurtha that our Baba stayed put in that little village.

Pavhari Baba spent most of his time inside the cave, but he would stick his head out whenever his counsel was sought. He was said to have been endowed with tremendous siddhis which he used only frugally.

A stream of the Ganga flows in front of the Baba's ashram. Mother Ganga herself flows at a distance of about three kilometres from Kurtha. Legend has it that once there was a sudden necessity for a copious supply of water at the ashram. About ten thousand people had gathered in the little village to participate in the birthday celebrations of the Baba, but there was little water around. The Baba told the thirsting villagers to g o to the Ganga and invite her with due ceremony. The puzzled villagers took a boat to the middle of the Ganga, offered her clothes, jewels, food, and also dropped a written prayer begging her to come to their village. The next morning (it was the height of summer), the Ganga streamed into Kurtha!

Swami Vivekananda met Pavhari Baba in 1890, four years after the mahasamadhi of his master Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. It was to learn the yoga that would make it possible for him to remain serene in all circumstances and concentrate on Brahman that he went to Pavhari Baba.

An elderly friend of Swamiji was then working at Ghazipur, in India's only opium factory, started there in 1820 by the British. Aware that Narendra (Swami Vivekananda) was seeking special spiritual help, he wrote to him suggesting he come and see the Baba. He himself was not a disciple, but communicated to his young friend what he had heard about the spiritual prowess of the Baba.

When Narendra came to Ghazipur, his friend took him daily to Kurtha. The Baba, however, was Sphinx-like. Days rolled by and not a word was spoken. Nor did Swamiji find anything in the Baba which struck him as great. H e was disappointed and, after twenty-one days of fruitless visits, decided to return to Calcutta.

Finally, when Narendra went to the cave along with his friend to take leave of the Baba, the Baba stuck out his head and told the friend, "This boy is disappointed and wants to leave. Leave him with me this night." H e then took Narendra inside the cave, a big hole beneath the ground, provided with a dozen steps, dug out by the Baba himself.

The next morning young Narendra emerged beaming with joy. His search had, perhaps, ended at last. But the Baba told him, "I am not your Guru. Your Guru is Sri Ramakrishna. Cling to him and he will quench your spiritual thirst fully." The Baba blessed him profusely.

Swamiji's biographers add: "Babaji showed no disposition to pass on to Naren the knowledge he craved. To all Naren's importunities he was deaf. At last the Swami decided that if it were necessary in order to learn the Yoga he desired, he would be initiated by Pavhari Baba. To such lengths would he have gone in his determination to attain the thing he sought. No sooner had his decision been made than Sri Ramakrishna appeared before him and looked intensely into his eyes, without a word.

"Through a mist of tears Naren saw words of power, divinity, love and insight. He was abashed, overcome by self-reproach.

"And yet the struggle continued for days thereafter. Many times he resolved to become the disciple of Pavhari Baba in spite of his vision, but the vision of Sri Ramakrishna recurred, and other things happened, of which the Swami never spoke. So he gave up the idea. In the end it was Sri Ramakrishna who was triumphant." The upaguru had returned the disciple to the sadguru.

Swamiji said he owed a great debt of gratitude to Pavhari Baba, whom he considered a very great saint. In a letter to Swami Akhandananda, a gurubhai, Swamiji wrote: "My motto is to learn to recognise good, no matter where I may come across it. This leads my friends to think that I may lose my devotion to the Guru. All Gurus are one, fragments and radiations of God, the Universal Guru."

The Baba would address every male as "Baba", every female as "Mata", and he referred to himself as "Dasa", the servant. "Sarvam Vishnumayam"^[2] was a direct and constant experience for the Baba.

In his cave, rats and poisonous serpents kept him company. He was once bitten by a cobra and was unconscious for several hours. When he revived, he said: "The 'cobra baba' was a messenger from the Beloved. A 'rat baba' fell on my lap and was given shelter under a cloth. The 'cobra baba' who was chasing him got angry and bit me on my shoulder!"

On another occasion, thieves came, picked up all his idols and were bundling them up. Seeing the Baba coming, they dropped the bundle and ran. The Baba ran after them, overtook them and putting the bundle in front of them, said: "You Babas! If you need these things, they are yours. Why do you abandon them? What wrong has this dasa committed? Please take them with you. They are yours!"

The above-mentioned incidents remind us of Sri Ramana's kinship with all creatures, including cobras and panthers, and his mercy even towards thieves. When thieves broke into Sri Ramanasramam one night and found nothing, they beat Sri Ramana instead. When they were about to leave, he invited them to have food in the Ashram kitchen!

Swami Vivekananda asked the Baba why he did not go out into the world and preach to suffering mankind. The Baba replied: "Do you think that physical help is the only help possible? Is it not possible that one mind can help other minds, even without the activity of the body?"

Here again, one recalls Sri Ramana's reply to the question: "Why do not mahatmas help?" Bhagavan said: "How do you know that they do not help? Public speeches, physical activity and material help are all outweighed by the silence of the mahatmas. They accomplish more than others."

I felt enthralled and purified by my visit to this holy place, hallowed by Pavhari Baba. Truly, satsang means not only association with living holy men but also with those who have left their bodies. After all, they are not their bodies, but the deathless Self. Salutations to Pavhari Baba!

– Jayanti 1990, pp.139-141 The Mountain Path