ASHWATTHAMAN AND AGNEYASTRA

could You tell us that amazing story about Agneya astra?

Guruji: we found the village; there is a very big pond – now it’s a pond, full of water. And some very old people remember this – now only 2 or 3 remain. The new generation is too busy to know these things.

I was living on my farm in Gwalior, and two of my disciples – Dwaraka Prasad Shastri and Upendra Vyas – heard from someone that a very old man was living in that particular village. It was far away from Gwalior, and he knew the Agneya astra: the celestial weapon of fire, which is described in Mahabharat. And he was willing to teach some good brahmin. They were thinking they were good brahmins – so they went there. I said: you have my permission – go!

They came back after one week, because they had to walk a long distance to reach that village – it was a very remote place. They came back with a fantastic story.

The old man was more than 100 years old then. He was the priest of the village temple. And at those times, most of the villagers would bring some flour and some other things, because some sadhus – the wandering sadhus – took food only from brahmins; it was part of their discipline.

And there was a big landowner: he was a very-very bad person – he was in his late fifties. A very notorious womanizer, known as a heavy sinner.

The priest was a widower, and he had a daughter – 14–15 years old, very beautiful. That landowner heard about her beauty – he may have seen her somehow. He sent one man to him; because the priest also knew some astrology, he asked for a good muhurta, the time for the marriage to take place. So innocently he did it.

Then he told him: make your daughter ready as a bride, my boss is coming to marry her.

That was a big blow to the father; I mean, no father would like such a person. His daughter was only 14, and the man was in his fifties, such a debauched person. He was worried because the landowner was a very powerful man – no one had come to help him.

Then, on the sixth or seventh night, somebody knocked. He opened the door: a tall, very strong-looking, shapely man was standing there, with long hair. He said: I’m a sadhu, can you give me food? I eat only barley.

That was a normal crop there; he said – please! They cooked, and he was just sitting, looking at them. They served him food; he ate it.

Then he asked: you are looking very worried; if you tell me, I may be able to help. You have to tell me.

The man started to weep because he was powerless to do anything; and the whole story came out.

And the man told him: if you have faith in me, if you can give me food for seven days – because the muhurta was after seven days – I will protect your daughter. Your problem will disappear.

Looking at his confidence, the priest was convinced. He gave him a place in the temple, which was a little away from his home.

And as the priest told, he never saw him lying down: he was always sitting, covered with a sort of shawl from top to toe – but always sitting, never lying down.

So the day arrived – the promised day; and some men from the landowner came.

And that man told them: you tell those men that he is the cousin of my daughter, her elder brother – so he will do all the things.

They started; the camp of the landowner was there – the big landowner had a camp with 50–60 people with rifles and horses.

Then that man told him: I’m your ancestor (he was also belonging to Bharadwaj gotra) – and I’ve heard your heart cry. I was passing by, so I came.

Don’t tell anybody; when I say “run” – run, don’t look back. And I will go away from here: you will never see me again.

He became even more afraid hearing that.

So they went to the place, and he told the men sitting there: he is the elder brother of my daughter, her cousin; he will do all the things.

He saw the man just catch a pinch of grass from the ground and tell him – run!

Then he ran.

And there was a big blast behind him – as if some very big bomb had gone off. He kept running, without looking back.

When the villagers heard the big blast – they also came running. And they saw the priest running away, so they said: what happened?

He said – I don’t know, Ashwatthaman came there – but nobody believed him.

When they went there, there was a very big pit, and its sides had turned into glass – as if it had been an atomic blast. Not a single thing remained – everything was incinerated: even the rifles and everything else – no trace.

The villagers refused to believe that Ashwatthaman had come; they thought: oh, he knows Agneya astra and did that.

So his reputation became great, and everybody began to be afraid of him for the rest of his life.

Then that girl was married in some village near Kanpur.

So they came back with this story.

Recently, two years back, one of my disciples kept doing research. I told him, and he found the village. Now that pit which had formed is a big pond, full of water.

And only one very old man – more than 90 years old – remembered that. Otherwise, nobody remained.ASHWATTHAMAN AND AGNEYASTRA