Aghor Medicine: Pollution, Death, and Healing in Northern India

1. The Cosmic Sink

chapter 1 The Cosmic Sink The concentric mapping of microcosm to macrocosm is a dominant foundational schema in Indian religious traditions. The R.g Veda Sam . hitam (hereafter RV) tells how humanity and the cosmos are embodied in the anatomy of Purusha, the “Cosmic Man” (RV 10: 90). In the Caraka Sam . hitam (hereafter CS) the principal text of Ayurvedic medicine, the human body is a homunculus embodying greater cosmological principles (CS IV: 1). Similarly, Banaras is considered to be a microcosm of the divine world. As such, the city is thought to encapsulate all other centers of Hindu religious pilgrimage (Singh 1993). This concept is central in Diana Eck’s comprehensive survey of Banaras’s sacred geography: “The symbol that condenses the whole into the part is common in the Hindu world. The whole of the sacred Vedas, they say, may be packed into a single powerful mantra . . . or the whole of the universe may be depicted in the ‘sacred circle’ of a cosmic map called a mandala. [Banaras] is this kind of symbol, which condenses the whole of India into a great ‘sacred circle,’ a geographical mandala” (1983: 41). Just as Banaras is a prototype for sacred India, her sacred features are prototypes for the divine roles of the city as a whole. Foremost among these features are the Ganga and the two famous cremation grounds (shmashamns) along her banks. Pilgrims commonly say that Banaras is like the Mother Ganga, who accepts and purifies anyone and anything that comes to her and transforms them into herself. Indeed, more than a million pilgrims visit Banaras each year for the same reasons that they 29 bathe in the Ganga: to purify themselves of pollution and sin in hopes of better fortune in this life or the next, or spiritual liberation (moksha) from the perpetual cycle of rebirth. For those desiring the latter, the Kamshım Kan.d.a offers the promise of instant liberation for all who die within the sacred boundaries of the city (Skanda Puramn.a [SP] IV.1.30). Even people who die elsewhere can obtain an auspicious sendoff at the famous shmashamns at Manikarnika and Harischandra Ghats. Unlike most cremation grounds, which are typically located on the outskirts of Indian towns and cities, these shmashamns are centrally located in Banaras, along the bank of the river. Indeed, the shmashamn of Manikarnika lies next to the purported site of cosmogenesis , the place where Lord Vishnu carved out the world with his discus. Manikarnika is named for the earring that fell to earth when Shiva shook with ecstasy over this earthly creation. To this day, Shiva continues to dance the Nat.aramj among the burning pyres of Marikarnika (SP IV.1.26). Lord Shiva is the ultimate ascetic of the shmashamn. Banaras is the city of Shiva. So it is said that Banaras is the mahamshmashamn, the Great Cremation Ground (Eck 1983). Each of these features—the Ganga, the shmashamn, and the city as a whole—functions as a kind of cosmic sink, a sacred dumping ground for 30 The Cosmic Sink Figure 3. Banaras main bathing ghats along the Ganga River. Courtesy of the Sonoma Yoga Ashram. humanity’s physical and metaphysical refuse. Yet although people who work as sweepers and cremation attendants are socially denigrated for managing the excreta of humanity, the same stigma does not apply to these sacred geographic features. On the contrary, people believe that these places derive their divinity and ritual power from their ability to take on the pollution of any and all who come to them. Shakti takes the form of Ganga Ma. Lord Shiva takes the form of cremation ascetic. Both are as infinite as their capacity to absorb the sins of the universe. These dynamics hold true for Aghor as well. The Kina Ram tradition asserts that Aghor is like the Ganga, accepting the purest streams from the Himalayas as well as the sewage of the cities. The Aghori consider Baba Kina Ram to be the manifestation of Lord Shiva; his dhuni, a cremation pyre; and the Kina Ram Ashram, the mahamshmashamn. Like the city, the ashram and its namesake play the role of cosmic sink for the removal of pollution and sin from the many pilgrims and patients they receive. Significantly, this role is informed by the same models of purification that people use when bathing in the Ganga or offering the bodies of their...