Kumbh – The earth-filling event

In normal parlance, the word kumbh means a pot, or the upper part of the forehead of an elephant. Looking for the right meaning of the word kumbh in this context, one finds the Sanskrit lexicon, ‘sabda-kalpa-druma’, explaining that the word ku means earth and umbha means filling. It is conceived to be an earth-filling congregation of people. The old teachers of different schools of thought seem to have devised methods to bring people together for religious and spiritual discourses at some auspicious time and place. They observed the astronomical positions of the Sun and Jupiter and decided certain times and places for such gatherings. The present kumbh is said to be very holy, as it coincides with the month of Magh, and also with Jupiter completing its revolution around the Sun in the course of twelve years. It is here we find the sadhus of different akhadas, schools, belonging to Shaiva, Vaishnava, and Sikh traditions, attending the event. We may recall that Sikh metaphysics is almost identical with that of the non-dual philosophy of the Upanishads.

The Mahabharata and other texts talk of the holy bathing at Prayaga, the place of the present kumbh. There are stories about some drops of nectar falling in four rivers. One is about Garuda, the winged deity, who had a battle with Indra and got the pot of nectar. He was carrying it to his place to get his mother released from bondage.

It was then that the drops of nectar fell on earth, or rather in the rivers. A dip in these places is considered a means of atonement or penance for mistakes done in life. Some of our mistakes or misdeeds are handled by law, but the unenforceable aspects of morality, acts of omission of sacred duties, mandates on personal piety etc., are the bringers of sin and hence the need for atonement. Kumbh is a confluence where several holy men and women arrive to do tapas. After all, this is the place where thousands of our sages did tapas, and the vibrance can be felt by a devout mind.

Such a congregation is natural to attract worldwide attention for various reasons and motives. For an Indian, distanced from tradition, it is a great opportunity to see glimpses of the hoary traditions of the sadhus and of pious people who perform their age-old practices and rituals. They may look outlandish and exotic, but they portray the continuance of the holiest practices of the past, though they look anachronistic now. The lay and devout are the main beneficiaries of the event because their wealth is sincerity and devotion. It is called shraddhaa-vittam, in the Upanishads. They get the blessings of the sages because their minds are filled with such devotion.

It seems that in olden days the kumbh mela was managed by sadhus of various akhadas. They managed the arrangements for the pilgrims and there was some incidental economic activity.

But where there is money, there is government, and so the British took control of the event, and the system continues now. Religion and economy are an aggregable potion for innocent believers and for the crafty governments. However, we can welcome the control by the government because it has better resources to prevent calamities or unlawful activities.

The people who steal the show at the kumbh are the sadhus, some of them in loin cloth, astride horses or bulls, carrying trishuls (tridents) or in some other exotic attire. There is a lot of mystery about their arrival at the place. These sannyasins do not come for atonement of sins, but they come to the place as per the age-old practice of taking a dip in the confluence of the rivers and to give discourses at their camp sites. The carrying of trishuls is in imitation of Shiva or perhaps to instill morale and a sense of valour among the devotees to protect dharma. Some sects of these sadhus are said to have fought the invading armies in the past. That, however, is the last resort for sadhus. They are permitted to take up a weapon when the ruler fails to protect dharma from marauding invaders, but such a situation is inconceivable now.

There is a wrong story being told that the naga sadhu tradition was started by Sri Shankaracharya. We do not find this account anywhere in his biographies written by ancient saints like Vidyaranya. It could be a part of mythmaking.

(The writer is a former

DGP, Andhra Pradesh)

Aravinda Rao