Note 22 — A

4. A great resort of this class of ascetics is the Asthbhuja hill near Bindhâchal in the Mirzapur District. According to Lassen, quoted by Mr. Risley,22 the Aghoris of the present day are closely related to the Kapâlika or Kapâladhârin sect of the middle ages who wore crowns and necklaces of skulls and offered human sacrifices to Châmunda, a horrible form of Devi or Pârvati. In support of this view it is observed that in Bhavabhuti’s Drama of Mâlati Mâdhava, written in the eighth century, the Kapâlika sorcerer, from whom Mâlati is rescued, as she is about to be sacrificed to Châmunda, is euphemistically described as an Aghorakantha, from aghora, “not terrible.” The Aghoris of the present day represent their filthy habits as merely giving practical expression to the abstract doctrine of the Paramahansa sect of the Saivites that the whole universe is full of Brahma, and consequently that one thing is as pure as another. The mantra or mystic formula by which Aghoris are initiated is believed by other ascetics to be very powerful and to be capable of restoring to life the human victims offered to Devi and eaten by the officiating priest. Not long since a member of the sect was punished in Budaun for eating human flesh in public. Of the Panjab Mr. MacLagan23 writes:—“The only real sub-division of the Jogis which are at all commonly recognised are the well-known sects of Oghar and Kanphattas. The Kanphattas, as their name denotes, pierce their ears and wear in them large rings (mundra) generally of wood, stone or glass; the ears of the novice are pierced by the Guru, who gets a fee of Re. 1–4–0. Among themselves the word Kanphatta is not used; but they call themselves Darshani or ‘one who wears an ear-ring.’ The Oghar, on the contrary, do not split their ears, but wear a whistle (nâdha) of wood, which they blow at morning and evening and before meals. Kanphattas are called by names ending in Nâth, and the names of the Oghar end in Dâs. The Kanphattas are the more distinctive sect of the two, and the Oghars were apparently either their predecessors or seceders from their body. One account says that the Kanphattas are the followers of Gorakhnâth, the pupil of Jalandharanâth, who sometimes appears in the legends as an opponent of Gorakhnâth. Another account would go further back and connect the two sects with a sub-division of the philosophy of Patanjali.” The difference between the Aughar and Aghori does not seem to be very distinct; the Aghori adds to the disgusting license of the Aughar in matters of food the occasional eating of human flesh and filth.