Trailanga Swami The Hathayogi Poem by Bijay Kant Dubey

O the ghats of Benares,
Say, say you,
Where Trailanga Swami,
Swami Trailnga!

Where the Swami
Floating on the river waters,
Where he in a samadhi,
Where he sitting speechless?

One from the Dashanami Sampradaya,
The Order of Swamijis,
He led the monistic life himself
Frequenting the streets.

A naked roaming sadhu
Around the Asi Ghat, the Hanuman Ghat
And the Dashashwamedha Ghat
But less spoken and childish by nature.

He was but a wandering Shiva of Benares,
A Shiva in himself,
People pouring water and milk over him
And sitting by the ghats silently.

A sadhu never to be born in
Ages after ages,
A hathayogi so stubborn and obdurate
Winning over the bhuta elements.

But when died, he was given a sailasamadhi
In the Ganges,
The monks and devotees bade him farewell
From standing on the ghats.

II

Telang Swami,
How would he have passed
The wintry nights
Sitting on the ghats of Benares?

How would have from Kumbilapuram
Of Viziangaram, Andhra Pradesh
Taking the route to,
The journey?

Son of Narasinha Rao and Vidyavati Devi,
He renounced his wealth and properties
When his father died
And chose the path of an ascetic.

He used to do Kali sadhna
In a Kali temple
And used to live in a cottage
Near the cremation ground.

After the death of his mother,
Sivarama kept the ashes of his mother
And used to wear the ashes
Before doing day and night sadhna.

But the meeting with
Bhagirathanand Saraswati
Imitated him into the monastic vows
And he turned into a sanyasi.