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Life and Vision of Baba Lokenath
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When the time was ripe, the three mendicants were once again on the road, this time towards that heavenly abode of peace and tranquillity, the peaceful abode of the spiritual seekers - the Great Himalayas. It was here that Baba Loknath attained his Enlightenment, that state of being one with the universe and its Creator. After spending fifty years among the snows of the Himalayas, Loknath, along with his Guru and his friend, proceeded towards Mecca and Medina, wishing to study the Holy Koran under an able teacher. Walking all the way, they reached Kabul, where they stayed for some time with Mullahsadi, who was known for his poetry and his brilliant commentaries of the Koran. From Kabul, the three yogis went to Mecca and thence to Medina.
While walking through the desert to Medina, they met with
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While staying at Mecca, Guru Bhagwan decided it was time for him to leave his old and worn out mortal body behind and for that purpose, they came back to Varanasi, the holiest of all pilgrim sites, on the bank of the River Ganga. Here, Guru Bhagwan placed Ihe caring of Loknath and Benimadhav into the hands of Sri Hithlal Mishra, also known popularly as Trailangya Swami. Thus being free from his only worry in the world - that of placing his two beloved disciples under an able teacher and guide - Guru Bhagwan left his physical body while in deep meditation at Manikarnika Ghat.
After Guru Bhagwan passed away, the great yogis - Loknath, Benimadhav and Trailangya Swami, went on foot to visit the western world. According to Baba Loknath, their travels to the west were only limited by the sea. They went through various parts of Europe, Persia, Arabia, Afghanistan and other places, only to return to the loving lap of the Himalayas. Now Baba Loknath had this urge to follow the route that the Pancha Pandavas took during Maha-Prasthan. The three yogis walked through the Himalayas, visited the Manasarovar and went still northwards, crossing the borders of Siberia, until they reached the land of "no-sun". Here they stayed for a long time and then came down to the plains. It was at this time that first Trailangya Swami, in China, and then Benimadhav, in Assam, parted ways with Baba Loknath and went on their own separate ways.
Baba Loknath was all alone when he walked into the village of Daudkandi in Tripura, where, through his divine grace, he rescued a man called Dengu Karmakar from the clutches of death. Dengu instantly became an ardent devotee of Baba Loknath, and it was he who was responsible for bringing Baba to Baradi, which was Dengu's home. He gave Loknath a place to stay in his home, despite the admonitions of his family members.
Baradi was destined to become the seal of Baba1 s divine play, because it was here that Loknath revealed his divinity and infinite grace to the people of the world, everybody in and around Baradi used to consider him a naked madman and would not take him seriously. One day, a few Brahmins were busily preparing the sacred thread and in the process, the thread became knotted, they could not untangle the knots and started to quarrel among themselves. Baba Loknath appeared before them and asked them if they were real Brahmins, then why do they not know the technique of untying the sacred thread. The Brahmins reacted sharply to this remonstration from someone whom they thought was a madman and wanted to dismiss him. But still, they felt the authority and divine radiance that glowed through his words and felt compelled to do his bidding. Two of the Brahmins began to pull at the ends of the entangled thread while Baba Loknath chanted the Gayatri Mahamantra in the purest pronunciation, and to everybody's amazement the thread unravelled itself completely, without a single knot.
The news of this incident spread far and wide and the truth of Baba Loknath's great attainment and his spiritual power was at last revealed to the whole world. People in large numbers began to flock to Baradi to have a darshan of the great yogavatar.
Baba stayed with Dengu at his home until the end of Dengu's life. When he died, his family members started once more to object to his staying in their home. Baba, in his usual indifferent and compassionate nature told everybody that - "the world is my home and I am at home anywhere in the world'", and would have left Baradi for some place else, had it not been for the Nag family. They were the richest landlords of Baradi and very devoted to Baba. They came forward this time and wanted to build an ashram for Baba to stay permanently in Baradi, if only he would permit it. Baba gave his permission but on one condition - the ashram should be built on untaxed land. Such a place was found to the east of Baradi Market - it was untaxed because it used to the cremation ground at one time. The ashram was built there, modelled after the hermitage of ancient rishis. After Baba moved there, the Nags requested him to put on some clothing, and so it was that after almost a hundred and forty years of living as a naked sadhu, Baba put the sacred thread around his neck and attired himself with a saffron robe. He then took his seat in the ashram in his yogic posture of Gomukhasana and began to spread his divine grace and spiritual treasures to the people of the world.
"I am eternal. I am deathless." - Baba always said this to his devotees. He said, "After I leave this mortal body, I will live in the hearts of millions". So it was that in the year 1890, on the 2nd of June, (18th Jaisthya), Baba entered into Mahasamadhi, the final journey to the beyond.
Baba's body was carried outside and put upon the funeral pyre made of sandalwood. Hundreds of devotees gathered together to see the last rites of Baba and covered his body with their offerings. Then the pyre was lit and Baba's mortal body was consumed in the fire
"I am the very existence. I will be always available to you. Have trust in my presence and you will always receive my grace."