Trailanga

Trailanga was born in Kumbilapuram (now known as Kumili of Puspatirega Tehisil) at Vizianagaram District in Andhra Pradesh, with the name of Shivarama. His biographers and his disciples differ on his birth date and the period of his longevity. According to one disciple biographer, Sivarama was born in 1529, while according to another biographer it was 1607.[4] His biography has been written by Biruduraju Ramaraju as one volume of his six volume project Āndhra yōgulu.

Sivarama's parents were Narashingha Rao and Vidyavati Devi, who were devotees of Shiva. After the death of his father in 1647, at the age of 40, he gave up wealth and family responsibilities to his half brother Sridhar. His mother then shared with him the fact that her father at the time of death expressed desire to be born to her and continue his Kali sadhana for the benefit of mankind. She told Sivarama that she believed that he was her father (his own grandfather) reincarnated and that he should take up Kali sadhana. Upon the initiation of a Kali mantra from his mother, Sivarama carried out Kali sadhana in the nearby Kali temple and Punya Kshetras, but was never far away from his mother. After his mother's death in 1669, he saved her ashes (chita bhasma). He would wear her ashes and continue his Kali sadhana day and night (teevra sadhana). During that time, Sivarama lived the life of a recluse in a cottage, built by his half-brother, near a cremation ground. After 20 years of spiritual practice (sadhana), he met his preceptor swami, Bhagirathananda Saraswati, in 1679 from the Punjab. Bhagirathananda initiated Shivaram into monastic vows (sannyasa) and named him Swami Ganapati Saraswati in 1685. Ganapati reportedly led a life of severe austerities and went on a pilgrimage, reaching Prayag in 1733, before finally settling in Varanasi in 1737.[4]

Varanasi in 1922, where the Swami spent a considerable part of his life

A member of the Dashanami order, Sivarama became known as Trailanga Swami after he settled in Varanasi, living the monastic life.

In Varanasi, till his death in 1887, he lived at different places including Assi Ghat, the Vedavyas Asharama at Hanuman Ghat, Dashashwamedh Ghat. He was often found roaming the streets or the ghats, stark naked and "carefree as a child".[7] He was reportedly seen swimming or floating on the river Ganges for hours. He talked very little and at times not at all. A number of people became attracted to him upon hearing of his yogic powers to ameliorate their sufferings.[7] During his stay in Varanasi, several prominent contemporary Bengalis known as saints met and described him, including Lokenath Brahmachari, Benimadhava Brahmachari, Bhagaban Ganguly, Ramakrishna,[8] Vivekananda,[9] Mahendranath Gupta,[10] Lahiri Mahasaya,[5] and Swami Abhedananda.,[11] Bhaskarananda, Vishuddhananda, and Vijaykrishna.[12] and Sadhak Bamakhepa .

After seeing Trailanga, Ramakrishna said, "I saw that the universal Lord Himself was using his body as a vehicle for manifestation. He was in an exalted state of knowledge. There was no body-consciousness in him. Sand there became so hot in the sun that no one could set foot on it. But he lay comfortably on it."[2][13] Ramakrishna also stated that Trailanga was a real paramahansa[10] (lit:"Supreme swan", used as an honorific for a spiritual teacher) and that "all Benares was illuminated by his stay there."[2]

Trailanga had taken the vow of non-seeking (ayachaka)—remaining satisfied with whatever he received.[7] In the later stage of his life, as his fame spread, crowds of pilgrims visited him. During his last days, he took up living like a python (ajagaravritti) in which he sat still without any movement, and devotees poured water (abhisheka) on him from early morning till noon, looking upon him as a living incarnation of Shiva.[7]

Trailanga died on Monday evening, 26 December 1887. His body was given salilasamadhi in the Ganges, according to the funeral customs of the monks of the Dashanami sect, in the presence of mourning devotees standing on the ghats.[7]

There are many stories told about Trailanga and his spiritual powers, such that he has become a near mythical figure in India. Robert Arnett writes that his miracles are "well documented" and "he displayed miraculous powers that cannot be dismissed as myth" and that there were living witnesses to his "amazing feats".[14] Trailanga was believed to have lived to be around 300 years, and was a larger-than-life figure, reportedly weighing over 300 pounds (140 kg), though he seldom ate.[14] One account said that he could "read people’s minds like books."[2]

On many occasions, Trailanga was seen to drink deadly poisons with no ill effect. In one instance, a skeptic wanted to expose him as a fraud. The monk was accustomed to breaking his long fasts with buckets of clabbered milk (buttermilk), so the skeptic brought him a bucket of calcium-lime mixture used for whitewashing walls instead. The monk drank the entire bucket with no ill effect—instead, the skeptic fell to the ground writhing in pain. The monk broke his usual silence to explain the law of karma, of cause and effect.[5][14]

According to another story, Trailanga often walked around without any clothes, much like the naga (or "sky-clad", naked) sadhus. The Varanasi police were scandalized by his behaviour, and had him locked in a jail cell. He was soon seen on the prison roof, in all his "sky-clad" glory. The police put him back into his locked cell, only to see him appear again on the jail roof. They soon gave up, and let him again walk the streets of Varanasi.[2][5]

Thousands of people reportedly saw him levitating in a sitting position on the surface of the river Ganges for days at a time. He would also apparently disappear under the waves for long periods, and reappear unharmed.[5][14] Sivananda Saraswati attributed some of his miracles to the siddhi or yogic power Bhutajaya – conquest over the five elements: "Fire will not burn such a Yogi. Water will not drown him."[15]

With respect to his reportedly yogic powers, miracles abound in Trailanga's biographies and exceptionally long life, Medhasananda writes that according to the "science of yoga", attainment of these is not "impossible".[16]

It is also said that Trailanga is same as Kuzhandaiananda Swamigal of south India who has Samadhis at Madurai, Tenkasi and Batalagundu.

Trailanga's teachings are still extant and available in a biography by Umacharan Mukhopadhyay, one of his disciples. Trailanga described bondage as "attachment to the world" and liberation as "renunciation of the world and absorption in God."[17] He further said that after attaining the state of desirelessness, "this world is transformed into heaven" and one can be liberated from samsara (the Hindu belief that life is a cycle of birth and death) through "spiritual knowledge". According to Trailanga, that attachment to the "evanescent" world is "our chronic disease" and the medicine is "detachment".[17]

Trailanga described man's senses as his enemy and his controlled senses as his friend. His description of a poor person as one who is "very greedy" and regarded one who always remains content as rich.[17] He said that the greatest place of pilgrimage is "Our own pure mind" and instructs people to follow the "Vedantic truth from the Guru." He described a sadhu as one who is free from attachment and delusion.[17] One who has transcended the egoself.

• Arnett, Robert (2006). "Introduction". India Unveiled. Atman Press. ISBN 978-0-9652900-4-3.
• Medhasananda (2003). Varanasi At the Crossroads. Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture. p. 1042. ISBN 81-87332-18-2.
• Rao, V.V.B. Rama (2004). The walking Shiva of Varanasi: life, legends & teachings of Trailingaswami. Richa Prakashan. p. 177. ISBN 81-901200-8-5.
• Varishthananda, Swami (November 2007). "Varanasi: The City of Saints, Sages, and Savants" (PDF). Prabuddha Bharata. 112 (11): 632–633. ISBN 9780965290043.
• Chattopadhyay, Apurba (2015). Trailanga Swami Samagra (in Bengali). Patra Bharati. ISBN 978-8183743600.
• Saraswati, Paramanand (3 June 2014). Trailanga Swami and Shankari Mataji. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. p. 176. ISBN 978-1-4991-6658-3.
• Tattwananda, Swami (28 July 2008). The Saints of India. Nirmalendu Bikash Sen Gupta. p. 288.

• "A Boatman's story" in Yoga Journal.
• Tattwananda The Saints of India
• The Life of Trailanga Swami (Bengali, full movie)