Saint Toi-Longo Swami

Of all the Indian saints and sages Saint Toi-Longo Swami has carved out a place for himself which in many ways could not be attained by any human being in any part of the world so far.

The saint lived for two hundred and eighty four years, perhaps the longest life-span of any human being on earth to-date. Second, he was considered as a living God, Lord ishwanath !one of the names of Lord Shiva" of aranasi. The saint brought an end to his life with his self- will in a manner that is only possible by super human beings.

Saint Toi-Longo Swami was born in #$%& '.(. in a rich family of South India at a place )nown as *i+ona that was ad+acent to a city called ,olia. -rom childhood the boy showed divine .ualities. ,e would remember all his lessons in +ust one reading. ,e would not mi/ or play with other children but sit alone in seclusion, busy in his own thoughts.

0hen grown up his parents as)ed him to ta)e charge of the vast wealthy estate of the family and run it. The estate had large houses, well-furnished rooms, servants, vast agricultural land, money and what not. The grown up youngman declined the offer and said that his younger brother may rather be made the owner and administrator of the huge property. ,e would prefer to remain in seclusion to pursue his spiritual goal that being his only desire. Though the parents )new the youngman1s habits, yet they did not e/pect such a total refusal of the offer. The -#-

re+ection of this offer was a confirmation that the youngman was divinity personified and not meant for the pleasures of the worldly life. That the boy now a youngman was (ivinity incarnate to glow in dar)ness and to show man)ind the delicate path of spirituality were slowly revealed as he grew in age.

To write the biography of this saint would mean a very long narration of a life spanning about three centuries. It would rather be interesting to )now some of the main events surrounding this saint.

The saint was born in a family where Lord Shiva was the presiding family deity. The parents accordingly had given him the name Shiva 2am. This boy was deeply absorbed in prayer most of the time in the secluded corners of the big household. ,e rarely uttered any words.

3othing with Shiva 2am was normal in the way ordinary people live and pass their days. The boy was mostly silent, living in isolation with closed eyes, deeply in prayers. Since money and wealth were no problem for him, which he had )ept away from his living orbit, his parents ensured his seclusion and provided facilities for his prayers.

4ears passed that way and the parents of Shiva 2am on attainting old age passed away. Then the problem arose about the place where Shiva 2am would stay and do his prayers. ,is younger brother sought his advice about the place where Shiva 2am would li)e to stay. ,e was highly respectful to his elder brother.

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In the ,indu religion Lord Shiva had preferred a place near Sashan !the place where dead bodies of human beings are burnt with logs of wood" as his abode. Shiva 2am told his brother to ma)e a small room ad+acent to the Sashan of their town so that he could go and stay there alone for the rest of his life. ,e also stipulated that the simple hut should have no furniture or bed. That being done Shiva 2am shifted to his new abode alone and continued his prayer. 3obody ventured to go there.

4ears passed. Shiva 2am was lost in prayers in that cottage. In the Sashan only those people, abandoned by society-beggars, narcotic drug addicts, dogs and others-live day and night. 3o normal person would pass that way after evening. 't night the Sashan gives a fearful loo) with animals fighting to get pieces from dead bodies.

' brief description of an Indian Sashan may interest those who are not in the )nown of things. The Indian burning ghat or Sashan Bhoomi is generally located away from the colony where people of a town or a village live. In the Sashan Bhoomi dead bodies are brought and are put in flames. 3ormally around two hundred )ilograms of dry wood is needed to burn a dead body to reduce it to ashes. 3ow, poor people in many cases cannot afford to buy that much wood and they use less wood. 'fter lighting the pyre they leave the Sashan Bhoomi. Those who are not able to buy any wood )eep the dead body in the Sashan Bhoomi and leave . 's a result wild animals and vultures come down on the dead body, half burnet or not burnt, to feast. 't night Sashan Bhoomi, people say, is the place where ghosts of these unburnt dead bodies, as is the common belief, move around till they get salvation. -6-

Lord Shiva, according to ,indu mythology, feels at home in Sashan Bhoomi and lives there. It is this philosophy of ,indu religion that has been accepted by many saints who stay in Sashan Bhoomi and they do prayers in that area.

Saint Toi-Longo Swami, after his parents left the world, spent more than ten years in Sashan Bhoomi, near his home town, in deep prayers. The .uantum of dedication, resolve to be in communion with God and to be indifferent to worldly comforts by this saint cannot be measured by an ordinary human being or by any yardstic) conceived by man)ind to date.

'ccording to ,indu philosophy a mon) cannot get perfection and salvation unless he has been indoctrinated by an accomplished saint. This saint is called Guru. So one day Shiv 2am found a saint at the door of his hut. The saint said he was )nown as Swami *hagirathi Saraswati. ,e was ordained by the 78nseen power above9 to come and tell Shiva 2am that from now on he should move around the important holy cities, temples and religious places in India. ,e should tell his prayers in these places till he gets further orders from above. Shiva 2am on being so ordained by this holy saint, who also became his Guru, left the hut in the Sashan Bhoomi of his home town for good and went to religious places in India. The saint was about fifty two years old when he left his native place. The place where he was born in commonly )nown as Telengana, which is why he was later on called Saint Toi-Longo Swami, the saint from Telengana. The saint went to almost all the important religious places in India and stayed there alone in isolated corners telling his prayers. It would be a long narration to -:-

describe the large number of incidents that happened with the saint especially those relating to his help to people in distress. -ew may be of interest.

0hile passing near a locality in South India the saint found some people mourning. The women fol) were saying that the young person died prematurely and his family would now be in distress. Some mourners re.uested the saint for help. The saint was moved and told the mourners to go at a distance so that he could help. 0hen mourners moved away the saint through his prayers made the dead man alive. On seeing the dead young man alive the people around, and later on the entire village surrounded him. ;ach one had a problem and the saint was re.uested to help them. The saint somehow made a .uic) e/it.

Such instances were so many. One day the <ing of 3epal went hunting in the lower mountain ranges of the ,imalayas. ,e chased a big tiger, but the tiger ran away into the +ungle. The <ing with his associate hunters ran in the way the tiger disappeared. ,is associates through their hunting s)ill went deep inside the +ungle and to the surprise of the <ing and his men found that the huge tiger was rolling at the feet of a saint. The <ing aimed his gun to shoot the tiger, but the saint raised his hand. It was li)e a command. The <ing lowered his gun and was ama=ed to see the ferocious tiger rolling li)e a pet cat at the feet of the saint.

The <ing as)ed the saint, 7,ave you )ept the tiger as your pet> ,ow is it that this ferocious animal is rolling at your feet> 're you not afraid of this man-eating animal>9.

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The saint said, 7 the tiger came and fell at my feet. It prayed to me to save its life. I donot )eep any pets9 The <ing1s men could immediately realise that he was an e/traordinary Godblessed saint, otherwise such a big ferocious tiger could not fall at his feet to see) protection from these hunters with guns. The <ing and his men then withdrew from the place. The tiger lay at the feet of the saint as a tamed dog. 3e/t day the <ing with his wife and some nobles came with fruits and flowers to pay their respects to the saint. That day the tiger was not there. Saint Shiva 2am saw the huge crowd of well-dressed people. -or a few minutes he loo)ed at them, raised his hand as a sign of blessing and then went into trance. The news about the tiger ta)ing shelter at the feet of the saint had by that time spread far and wide. ' huge crowd then came to have an audience before the saint. *ut they found the area deserted. The saint had left the place. There were many astounding and unbelievable miracles performed by this saint to protect and rescue people in distress or danger or facing instant death. One was a case of a good number of passengers travelling in a boat in a river. It was a cloudy day and due to sudden storm the entire boat with passengers went down into the water. The saint was sitting on the ban) of the river with some disciples. The disciples found that the saint had also suddenly disappeared. 'fter some time the boat with passengers, which had gone inside the water, was found to be floating with all the passengers, though unwell due to drowning. The saint was also found sitting in the boat. This was a case where not one but a boatful of passengers was brought up on the surface by the saint.

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Lord Shiva, the God worshipped by the ,indus, is present in temples all over India. In these temples the God, Lord Shiva, is in the form of a oval stone, called Linga, as installed by the disciples. ,owever among all these temples there are only twelve temples where the God, Lord Shiva, had appeared himself from the surface of the earth. These stones are called @yotirlingas Subse.uently temples have been built around this stone by the devotees where the @yotirlingas are now worshipped by millions of devotees. The twelve @yotirlingas with their locations are AS.No. Name of the Jyotirlinga # Lord ishwanath !also )nown as Lord <ashi ishwanath" Lord Somnath Lord Calli)ar+un Lord Caha)aleshwar Lord Om)areshwar Lord <edarnath Lord *himashan)ar Lord Trimba)eshwar Lord aidyanath Lord 3ageshwara Lord 2amalingeshwar also called Lord 2ameshwaram Lord Grishneshwar Place where the temple of the Jyotirlinga is located aranasi in 8ttar Bradesh. The aranasi city in commonly )nown as <ashi or *enaras. Brabhas Gu+rat Batan in Saurashtra,

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<urnool, 'ndhra Bradesh Caha)al, 8++ain, Cadhya Bradesh Island in the 3armada river, Cadhya Bradesh In the ,imalaya mountain range at 8ttara)hand State. *himashan)ar in Caharashtra Trimba)eshwar near 3asi) Caharashtra (eoghar (istrict in @har)hand (aru)a ana, (war)a, Gu+rat 2ameshwaram, Tamil 3adu in

3ear ;llora, 'urangabad district, Caharashtra.

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The sages who have prayed in these temples over very long periods and were favoured with the bliss of Lord Shiva in the last few centuries would be an unending list.

'mong the saints who had worshipped Lord Shiva and who shines and shines in the hearts of millions of devotees is Saint Toi-Longo Swami. The saint in the last years of his life lived in ishwanath. aranasi. ,e was and is )nown as the living Lord

The human race has a normal life span of less than one hundred years. ,undred years would be on the higher side. Some @apanese have lived upto around one hundred and twenty years or so.

*ut Saint Toi-Long Swami lived upto about T0O ,83(2;( '3( ;IG,T4 -O82 4;'2S. ,e came to aranasi when his age was about O3; ,83(2;( aranasi for about one hundred and fifty four

'3( T,I2T4 4;'2S. ,e lived in

years. ,e also did not die a natural death as a normal man dies, but in a manner planned by him. Core of it in the appropriate place of this narration.

In aranasi city all people )new this great saint. The old persons used to tell their children and grand children that when they were young their great grand fathers had seen this saint on the ban)s of the Ganges river sitting li)e a statue, in prayer. To the entire population of aranasi the saint was ageless, being the Holy Lord

Vishwanath, the presiding deity of aranasi in human form.

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-or ages the devotees would come in the morning and put golden chains on the nec) of the saint and )eep offerings of fruits and flowers before him- the living Lord ishwanath, The saint would remain seated li)e a stone statue. 't night the

thieves would come and steal the same gold ornaments from the nec) of the saint and run away. The saint would continue to remain seated li)e a man made of marble. ,e would be motionless. This offering and stealing continued for more than a century on the ban)s of the holy Ganges river of aranasi. Such strange and

unusual happenings have not been seen or heard in any part of the world.

Of so many events Feach of oceanic dimension1 surrounding this saint some very unusual ones could be of immense interest to the readers. These are briefly narrated here Incident 3o. # The first and foremost would be to )now about the way this great saint spent one hundred and fifty years in the holy city of aranasi, also called *anaras or <asi. The saint did not have any cloth on his body. 3obody saw even a loin cloth on the waist of the saint. That was the main reason for ;nglish rulers !Cagistrates" to arrest the saint on a number of occasions.

The saint had a habit to plunge into the holy water of the Ganges river. ,e would dive into the water and vanish for ten to fifteen hours or more. ,e would then come up to the surface of the river and stay there in meditation. 3ow, a human being can stay inside water for a ma/imum period of four to five minutes. Thereafter he would die. *ut the saint1s ways were beyond these rules. ,is body and mind were dedicated to God and he was beyond and above all rules of medical sciences. -E-

The city of

aranasi is on the eastern side of the Ganges river. On the

western side there is a dry area with sands. In summer no person goes there as the sand gets heated. It was a common sight to see the saint sitting on the hot sand from morning till evening as he was oblivious to heat and cold conditions.

(uring the *ritish rule the ;nglish Cagistrates were )nown for their rigid ways and arrogance to strictly enforce law and order. In the aranasi city the ban) of

Ganges river was a good place to stroll in the evening. The ;nglish Cagistrate with his wife would wal) around in the afternoon on the ban) of the Ganges. Once one such Cagistrate was strolling on the river ban) when his wife saw the na)ed saint seated on the main path way and many people paying their obeisance to the mon). The ;nglish wife on seeing the na)ed man provo)ed the arrogant husband and said what sort of a Cagistrate and law-enforcing officer he was. In his +urisdiction such na)ed people were sitting in public places. It was disgusting. The Cagistrate immediately ordered the police to arrest that na)ed mon) and put him in +ail. ,e also ordered that the na)ed mon) should be produced before him in the Gourt room ne/t day so that he could be imprisoned for a few months as per law. The policemen told the Cagistrate that the saint had immense spiritual strength and the result might not be good. The Cagistrate got more annoyed and said his order must be carried out at once.

It was night and the Cagistrate was then ta)ing dinner with his wife. The +ailer and some policemen came hurriedly and told him that the mon) was arrested as per his orders and put in a cell of the +ail. The cell was also properly loc)ed. *ut they found the mon) missing. ,e was later seen sitting in the ad+oining open ground. - #% -

'fter sometime they found the saint again inside the loc)ed cell. *ut thereafter he went out again. One policeman said he found the mon) moving straight and even if there were four or five walls he wal)ed as if there was no barrier. The saint also smiles on seeing them.

The Cagistrate said it was all rubbish. ,e would personally come to the +ail ne/t morning and see things for himself. ,e reprimanded the +ail staff for dereliction of duty.

;arly ne/t morning the Cagistrate came on horsebac) and as)ed the +ailor to ta)e him to the cell where the saint was loc)ed. The Cagistrate had hardly wal)ed a few steps when the +ailer and his men pointed out towards a tree underneath which the saint was seated in meditation. The Cagistrate started wal)ing towards the saint. *ut in the midway the saint vanished. *y that time the Cagistrate was mentally sha)en.

The team then went near the cell. The Cagistrate e/amined the loc). It was closed. The loc) was of proper dimension and was made of iron. The +ailor opened the loc) and then the door. The Cagistrate was astonished to see the saint sitting inside in deep meditation. They then loc)ed the cell and were returning to the office room. 's if he was seeing a ghost, the Cagistrate +umped up in the corridor. The saint was sitting in the same place where he saw him earlier.

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*y now the Cagistrate was completely beaten and was nervous. Seeing his predicament the +ailor said they would rather ta)e the saint to the place from where he was pic)ed up. The Cagistrate immediately agreed and a horse carriage was brought. The +ail staff re.uested the saint to come and sit in the carriage, which he did. The carriage started moving.

The Cagistrate came to the Gourt premises in time and commenced his wor). 'fter sometime a member of the +ail staff came running and said that the horse carriage was moving alright. *ut suddenly they all found that the saint was missing. The Cagistrate was once again completely beaten. Still later, after a few hours another employee came and reported that the saint was now sitting in the same place from where he was arrested last evening.

'fter some time the Cagistrate as)ed if the saint had said anything to anybody during the si/teen hours or so, when he was under police-cum-+ail custody. The employees said that no one had ever heard the saint spea)ing even one word to anybody. ,e was only smiling. The Cagistrate had not other point to as). ,e bowed his head as a mar) of respect to the saint.

Incident 3o. 5 This incident too) place more then one hundred and eighty years ago. In aranasi city on the eastern ban) of the Ganges river the rich people of that time had built palaces and mansions of marble and costly stones. The entire stretch of few miles on this ban) of the holy river have even now these large marble buildings.

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The genesis of these marble palaces, as they are called, was that during the days of the *ritish rule over India the big landowners called 2a+as and Cahar+as !the )ings" deemed it a pride and a status symbol to have a palace on the ban)s of the Ganges in aranasi city. These 2a+as and Cahara+as also possessed decorated big launches which moved on the river water in the afternoon with the owners with friends and families.

's a rule these 2a+as and Cahara+as and also by nature were arrogant and intolerant, especially to the poor and have-nots. 't the same time they were sycophants to the *ritish rulers.

It was afternoon that day. ' Cahara+a came out of his marble palace on the ban)s of the Ganges and boarded his lu/ury boat to have some fresh air while floating on the river. The Cahara+a, as always, was surrounded by his yes-men and flatterers. 0hen in the middle of the river one pilot of the boat saw the saint, Saint Toi-Longo Swami, floating on the water. ,e thought it wise to tell the Cahara+a about the saint and his fame. If the saint came on the boat and gave even a soft smile that would result in much good to the Cahara+a. 0ithin minutes the news spread and the sycophants got a nod from the Cahara+a to invite the saint to come on the boat. Two good swimmers went into the water and prayed to the saint to come on board. The saint obliged and came on board and sat at a corner. ,is face was towards the water and as usual he was silent and uncommunicative.

The Cahara+a e/pected that the saint would come and fall at his feet. The saint continued loo)ing outside. 0hat e/actly happened thereafter was not clear. - #6 -

The Cahara+a, beaming with arrogance, suddenly went near the saint and used some harsh words. The saint continued to loo) outside, ignoring the Cahara+a. On being so insulted the Cahara+a pulled out his +ewel-studded sword and raised it to )ill the saint. The saint still did not loo) at him, but deftly too) the sword and threw it into the Ganges river. ,ell bro)e loose. The Cahara+a called his bodyguards to hit the saint. *ut none dared.

The sword was very costly. It had ivory grip. (iamonds, ruby and pearls were engraved in the metal. The sword was a pri=ed possession of the Cahara+a dynasty. The boat then loo)ed li)e a battle field, the Cahara+a preparing to attac) the saint with another weapon.

On seeing the war-li)e situation the pilots of the boat too) a turn towards the Cahara+a1s palace. 0hen the boat was near the shore the saint put his hand inside water. ,e raised his hand. The saint was now holding not one, but three swords. ;ach sword was e/actly the same as the Cahara+a had raised to )ill the saint.

The saint then loo)ed at the Cahara+a and called him. The Cahara+a now much subdued came li)e a timid person. ,e put the three swords on the plan) of the boat and by nod as)ed the Cahara+a to pic) up the one that was his. The Cahara+a and his men were speechless. The saint again silently ordered the Cahara+a to pic) up the sword that belonged to him. Huietly the Cahara+a pic)ed up one. The saint now gave a soft smile and threw the other two into the river bed. ,e then went inside the water and vanished.

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Incident 3o. 6 Saint Toi-Longo Swami was widely respected not only in the Indo-Gangetic basin with aranasi as the base but all over India. -urther, down in the

Ganges river, in *engal, another saint by the name of Shri 2ama)rishna Baramahansha was similarly adored in the whole of *engal A Saint 2ama)rishna Baramahansha was the preceptor !Indian e.uivalent of Guru" of the world famous saint, Swami ive)ananda. Saint 2ama)rishna for some time was an/ious to go to the holy city of aranasi. 's per the wish of the saint his disciples in that summer brought him to aranasi for a short vacation. 0hile moving on the ban)s of the Ganges river that day Saint 2ama)rishna saw Saint Toi-Longo Swami from a distance. They did not tal) nor did they e/change any greetings. *ut as per the convention of big saints they would have e/changed messages, though silently.

That day evening Saint 2ama)rishna called his chief attendant Cathura *abu and others and said that he would need a good .uantity of cow mil), at least one hundred litres or more as also some home made brown sugar to ma)e the mil)

thic) !the Indian name being <hir which is li)e condensed mil)". ,is assistants though curious about the sudden huge order did not dare to as) any .uestion but made all the arrangements. Throughout that night the coo)s boiled this huge .uantity of mil) with the sweetener and )ept the thic)ened mil) !<hir" in big vessels.

3e/t day, early in the morning Saint 2ama)rishna with his men and the big vessels containing the <hir went to the Ganges ban) where Saint Toi-Lingo Swami was seated in meditation. On reaching the place Saint 2ama)rishna started offering - #? -

the <hir to Saint Toi-Lingo Swami in cups. The saint smiled once and too) the cup. In one gulp he too) the <hir and then the ne/t and so on. It was a non-stop act where the saint dran) the entire .uantity of <hir and then gave another smile. There was no e/change of words between the two. Saint 2ama)rishna then returned to his guest house.

3ow, an analysis of the incident would show that no normal human being can drin) so much of <hir, about forty litres in one go. ;ven the best eater in the world would collapse it he ta)es half of this .uantity of <hir. *ut for Saint Toi-Lingo Swami nothing was impossible.

Second point to note is that these two saints did not tal). It confirmed a tradition among these elevated saints that they donot tal) as we normal human beings do. The saints tal) silently, without uttering words, may be through the ethereal medium.

Incident 3o. :

The whole incident and its modalities were not clear to the residents of aranasi at that period and even now. *ut it did happen.

There was an e/ceptionally big and very heavy stone lying at the bed in the shallow water in that place inside the Ganges river. Suggestive words started moving around. The suggestion was that if that big stone could be lifted and brought to the shore by the followers a seat could be made for the saint. The new seat would - #$ -

help the followers to ma)e their daily offerings to the saint. The re.uest reached the ears of the saint. *ut the stone was so big and large and also so heavy that even fifty to si/ty strong men could not have lifted and moved it even an inch. This re.uest continued to be made to the saint.

One evening some people near the shore saw to their ama=ement that the saint was playfully carrying that big stone with his two hands and was moving on the river ban). The saint casually placed the big stone in the place where it was best suited.

The followers then prayed that the saint may )indly sit on that stone as that would help in ma)ing the offerings by his followers easier.

The feat of lifting such a big stone spea)s volumes about the super- natural power of the saint.

Incident 3o. ?- <nowledge of any language without even reading its alphabets.

Saint Toi-Longo Swami was born and brought up in a South Indian family at Telengana area of India, now in 'ndhra Bradesh. The mother tongue of the people there is Telegu. The spo)en and written language is also Telegu. Saint Toi-Longo Swami as a child had learnt his mother tongue, Telegu language only.

'fter the saint came to

aranasi, though maintaining much distance from

common people, he had some persons who were wholly devoted to him. They would - #& -

always be around to serve him. The saint used to tal) to them. 'mong these followers there was one person, 8macharan Cu)er+ee, a *engali. ,e used to ma)e fre.uent prayers to the saint that the saint may dictate to him the 2eligious Guidelines that man)ind should follow in the day-to-day life. The saint agreed to this prayer and told 8macharan to bring some papers and pen from the mar)et. The saint started dictating his 2eligious 'dvice in *engali. Surprisingly the saint dictated one comprehensive boo) in *;3G'LI language in a few days. 's per all available information about the saint he never learnt *engali language. This boo) is a wealth on religious matters. The name of the boo) and other details are A-

7 Cahatma Toi-Longo Swami and ,is 2eligious 'dvice *y 8macharan Cu)er+ee

Bublished by(eb Sangha Brotisthan *ompar Town, (eoghar, @han)hand, India BI3- D#:##:

The moot point to consider here is that how can any person, who has not read a language in his lifetime, can start dictating a boo) in that language. Coreover - #D -

the sub+ect of the boo) is at a high pedestal of thought in religious matters and .uite complicated. 4et the way the saint had dealt with the various aspects on Indian spiritualism in laudable.

Incident 3o. $- Saint1s plan to leave his body

The saint was then two hundred eighty four years old. One day he called his close disciples and said that they should get a wooden bo/ made so that he could get into it and meditate. The disciples called carpenters who too) measurements and made a good bo/, using sandalwood.

The saint then directed his disciples that on a particular day prospectively he would go and sit inside the wooden bo/. The disciples would then close the lid and seal the +oints. 'fter this operation and after a lapse of few days they should ta)e the wooden bo/ at a particular place at a specified time to the holy Ganges river. Then they should slowly put the bo/ in the river water at a specified time for it to settle at the bottom. That way he would merge his soul to the 'lmighty

On hearing these instructions news spread far and wide and the entire city of aranasi was mournful. The living Lord ishwanath was now leaving them. *ut the

words of the saint were li)e sermons on stone that could not be changed.

On the appointed day the entire population of aranasi with tearful eyes stood on the ban)s of the holy river Ganges. The faithful disciples carried the sandalwood bo/ as per instructions and floated it at a particular surface of the water. The - #E -

sandalwood bo/ with the saint inside floated for sometime and then slowly went into the river bed of the holy Ganges river.

The final departure of this great saint of India was on a holy day in the year #DD&.

'll the achievements of Saint Toi-Longo Swami are written in letters of gold in the annals of Indian religious history.

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