_Aghori, Aghorpanthi._ [7]--The most disreputable class of Saiva
mendicants who feed on human corpses and excrement, and in past
times practised cannibalism. The sect is apparently an ancient one, a
supposed reference to it being contained in the Sanskrit drama _Malati
Madhava_, the hero of which rescues his mistress from being offered
as a sacrifice by one named Aghori Ghanta. [8] According to Lassen,
quoted by Sir H. Risley, the Aghoris of the present day are closely
connected with the Kapalika sect of the Middle Ages, who wore crowns
and necklaces of skulls and offered human sacrifices to Chamunda,
a form of Devi. The Aghoris now represent their filthy habits as
merely giving practical expression to the abstract doctrine that the
whole universe is full of Brahma, and consequently that one thing is
as pure as another. By eating the most horrible food they utterly
subdue their natural appetites, and hence acquire great power over
themselves and over the forces of nature. It is believed that an
Aghori can at will assume the shapes of a bird, an animal or a fish,
and that he can bring back to life a corpse of which he has eaten a
part. The principal resort of the Aghoris appears to be at Benares and
at Girnar near Mount Abu, and they wander about the country as solitary
mendicants. A few reside in Saugor, and they are occasionally met with
in other places. They are much feared and disliked by the people owing
to their practice of extorting alms by the threat to carry out their
horrible practices before the eyes of their victims, and by throwing
filth into their houses. Similarly they gash and cut their limbs so
that the crime of blood may rest on those who refuse to give. "For the
most part," Mr. Barrow states, [9] "the Aghorpanthis lead a wandering
life, are without homes, and prefer to dwell in holes, clefts of rocks
and burning-_ghats_. They do not cook, but eat the fragments given
them in charity as received, which they put as far as may be into the
cavity of the skull used as a begging-bowl. The bodies of _chelas_
(disciples) who die in Benares are thrown into the Ganges, but the
dead who die well off are placed in coffins. As a rule, Aghoris do not
care what becomes of their bodies, but when buried they are placed in
the grave sitting cross-legged. The Aghori _gurus_ keep dogs, which
may be of any colour, and are said to be maintained for purposes of
protection. The dogs are not all pariahs of the streets, although some
_gurus_ are followed by three or four when on pilgrimage. Occasionally
the dogs seem to be regarded with real affection by their strange
masters. The Aghori is believed to hold converse with all the evil
spirits frequenting the burning-_ghats_, and funeral parties must
be very badly off who refuse to pay him something. In former days he
claimed five pieces of wood at each funeral in Benares; but the Doms
interfere with his perquisites, and in some cases only let him carry
off the remains of the unburned wood from each pyre. When angered
and excited, Aghoris invoke Kali and threaten to spread devastation
around them. Even among the educated classes, who should know better,
they are dreaded, and as an instance of the terror which they create
among the ignorant, it may be mentioned that in the Lucknow District
it is believed that if alms are refused them the Aghoris will cause
those who refuse to be attacked with fever.
"On the other hand, their good offices may secure benefits, as in the
case of a zamindar of Muzaffarnagar, who at Allahabad refused to eat a
piece of human flesh offered to him by an Aghori; the latter thereupon
threw the flesh at the zamindar's head, on which it stuck. The zamindar
afterwards became so exceedingly wealthy that he had difficulty in
storing his wealth."