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There is a lovely tale I would like to relate... One that has repeated itself in MANY lands since the dawn of time.. This particular time, it was in India, about 500 years ago. It is a tale of man's misuse of religious principles for political ends.
The Aghori and the Nag Babas were absolutely nothing LIKE they are today. They were a peaceful, unassuming Shaivite sect. Of course they had a few "questionable" practices like Tantra, Tapasya (penance) and walking around "sky clad" smoking weed on occasion...
However, the more "upright" members of the community hated them, feared them and wanted them gone or dead - notably, the Vaishnava Brahmin priests who held very high positions of political power and influence within the kingdom...
They couldn't really find anything bad to say about them, to stir hatred in the hearts of people and to rally them against the Sadhus, so they decided to make up lies in the name of DHARMA and vicious gossip and rumours began spreading about how they sacrificed cows, how they drank liquor, held midnight orgies on the full moon, invoked the most terrible demons and even killed people and ate them... How they were an abomination to Dharma and to Hinduism and needed to go!
The people bought this hook, line and sinker. What followed was civil uprising against these holy men who were just minding their own business... Temples were looted and burned down, huts and ashrams destroyed.. A few were even killed.
The Aghoris and Babas appealed to the king.. To the council refuting all of these false claims made against them, but nobody would believe them... Nobody would listen and this went on for many months with them being accused of every little thing... Like a witch hunt. If a baby died, the Sadhus cursed the parents... If an unmarried girl became pregnant, an Aghori raped her... If crops failed, the Sadhus poisoned them... It was a smear campaign of EPIC proportions with no end to the civil unrest it caused.
The unfounded reputation proceeded the holy men and nobody would believe them because they were the "bad dudes" so there was only ONE thing left for it... 0nly one thing they COULD do... Totally live up to the reputation... Actually LIVE the lie, but do it well... Even BETTER than any story that another who DIDN'T know, could EVER just "make up".
They started to do all those things they were accused of and much, much more besides... And who was to blame for this ADHARMA? Why, the Brahmin priests were, of course! The Sadhus cursed the empire and not long after, they were attacked and invaded by Mogul forces from the north and the sadhus moved on, but kept up their practices.
They figured that if they are going to be feared and hated anyway for NOTHING, it is better they give people a bloody good reason to, so their hatred and fear could at least be JUSTIFIED and not totally unfounded and without reason... And this is why they do what they do.
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