The Enlightened – Trailinga Swami – Part 3
Men of God like Trailing Swami come to earth and live with us to teach us to rise above human limitations through sadhana. We are sparks of the Light of Universe. We have clothed ourselves with endless desires and limitations of mind. We have cut ourselves from the Source of Love and Light and suffer. Through sadhana, we must peel over the multitudes of layers of ignorance, desires, lust, anger, jealousy, attachment, ego etc and let the inner light blaze through. We are ready to perform endless number of poojas or prayers to fulfill material wants. How much more so should we be focused and hardworking in order to achieve the Ultimate Power of the Universe?
Trailinga Swami stayed on in Benaras for over 150 years. His love and compassion for the suffering of mankind lead him to perform many miracles to help the people. He did not mix much with people and avoided crowds. He rarely spoke and was in mouna or silence. But he always helped – he blessed thousands of people and healed them of dreadful sicknesses, solved their problems, commanded the lame to walk, and even restored life to the dead many times. His very name was taken in awe by the common man of Benaras. His identification with the Brahman was so complete that he was called the Lord Shiva of Benaras.
Trailinga Swami always remained completely nude. Great masters do things for reasons known only to them. Perhaps it was to teach the people to rise above body and sex identification. Those who did not know about him found his nudity and huge body offensive. One day, Trailinga Swami was walking along a street when a Magistrate and his wife were present. The wife found the sight of Trailinga Swami’s nudity disgusting and asked her husband to call the guards and have him arrested. The guards obeyed the order of their Superior Authority and surrounded Trailinga Swami to arrest him. In the meantime, a large crowd gathered to watch the fun. Suddenly, Trailinga Swami disappeared. All were amazed that he managed to disappear though surrounded by such a large crowd. After a short time, he appeared again in the same spot with a smiling face. The Magistrate was furious. He shouted at Trailing Swami and insulted him: Why do you do such things? You have such a strange body. Why do you walk around nude? Do you have no sense? You are a nuisance to all of us.
Trailinga Swami did not reply to this onrush of insults. He just went away and the Magistrate did not arrest him. That night, the Magistrate had a dream. In that dream, he saw a sanyasin wearing a tiger skin and carrying a trident. This sanyasin was rushing towards him in a rage to kill him. He said to the Magistrate: How dare you insult Trailinga Swami? He is a great Spiritual Master. I will not let you remain in this holy city of Benares. The Magistrate was terrified and was screaming in his sleep. His attendants hearing his cries, rushed in and woke him up. The following day, the Magistrate went to Trailinga Swami and fell at his feet and sought forgiveness. The great Master forgave him at once.
We should never insult a God realized Master or Guru. By doing so we are subject to immediate kickback from the law of Karma. The Master or Guru does not punish us. The punishment comes from God, who loves the Master or Guru more than He loves Himself. The Master or Guru forgive us quickly for they know only compassion. Despite the Infinite Compassion, God does not forgive as He does not like his chosen instruments to be insulted or mocked at. Many such incidents have happened in the life of Trailinga Swami due to his nudity. Rules and regulations are made for governance of society and keeping law and order. Masters like Trailinga Swami are above rules and regulations of the government and of Nature.
We expect results of our efforts in any field to give quick results and are disheartened when we do not get instant results in the way we want. This path is not for those who want things instantly as it is a path of inner transformation. We must take inspiration from the long years of spiritual practices of Trailinga Swami and work steadily and regularly with our japa of SitaRam mantra, meditation and following the teachings of the Guru and rise above human limitations.
