Anirudh Nair

AN26439

Opening the Third Eye: Aghori, Hinduism and Their Incomparable Relationship

It would not be far-fetched to say many religions have their own so-called inverse: a

belief that stems from the opposite of what each religion stands for. This idea is illuminated with

Christianity and Satanism, where one is the sharp contrast of the other. Each religion and its

counterpart primarily stems from two different entities that are foils of each other to say the least,

and while many religions have this relationship, others have idols or deities that were once bad,

but found resolution due to some cosmic force (i.e. Karma, Qi). However, there is a specific sect

of Hinduism that worships the same god as Hinduism but just a different version. The Aghori on

the banks of the Ganges river in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh at face value appear to have occult

practices that go against Hindu belief; however, Aghoris and Hindus believe the same gods,

primarily Shiva. The difference is in the worship of the different forms of Shiva. While Hindus

worship the traditional form of Shiva, the meditative and peaceful deity on mount Kailash, the

Aghoris worship the same Shiva, but use his ‘death’ form as the source of worship. In this paper,

I argue that the incomparability of the Aghori to other religions stems from its relationship with

mainstream Hinduism since, contrary to other religions and their counterparts, both worship the

same entity - Shiva - but different aspects of the entity, resulting in the stark difference between

their respective practices. Moreover, this difference provides another mode of incomparability in

terms of what worship means in society.

In order to see that the relationship between Aghoris and orthodox Hinduism is

incomparable to the relationship between other religions and their counterparts, it helps to
understand how Aghoris fit under the Hindu umbrella. Under Hinduism’s polytheistic structure,

there is a sect that is specifically devoted to Shiva (Rudra worship). In fact there are many

sub-sects that focus on certain ideologies that correspond to specific aspects of Shiva’s life and

personalities. One such group is the Aghori, who worship Bhairava: the fearful form of Shiva

that is revealed when he opens his third-eye. In Hindu mythology, Shiva is meditating in the

Kailash mountain, but when he is disturbed or senses an evil that needs to be vanquished, he

opens his third eye and becomes a destroyer. Aghoris believe that Bhairava is the force behind

all cause and effect as opposed to the peaceful version of Shiva.

Thus, the Aghoris take this version of Shiva as the constant form of Shiva whereas

traditional Hindus acknowledge the existence of Bhairava, and even have popular myths and

stories around him such as the birth of Ganesha, but they do not accept this as the norm of Shiva.

It is important to note that Shiva and Bhairava are the same deity (in fact, Bhairava is merely

Shiva with his third-eye open, at which point he becomes destructive rather than peaceful). The

fact that they are the same deity is the source of incomparability. Other religions have opposite

entities that represent the opposites of each other. For instance, Satan is the entity that seduces

humans to sin whereas God keeps humans morally correct. In Hinduism, Shiva represents peace

and tranquility and the embodiment of creative and sustaining Shakti (the cosmic energy of

Hinduism). Bhairava represents the destructive Shakti. In essence the Aghoris and traditional

Hindus worship two different versions of Shiva. The difference in Bhairava from the traditional

Shiva is exemplified by the Aghoris’ seemingly odd practices. They engage in heavy use of

alcohol and marijuana, drink out of human skulls (kapalas), smearing themselves of human ash

from funeral pyers and cannibalism, all practices that contradict orthodox Hinduism. Some of
these are seen in traditional Hinduism: Kali is a revered goddess and the fearful version of

Parvati (Shiva’s wife) in orthodox Hinduism that is adorned with human skulls and arms and, in

some depictions, collects the blood of her enemies from the head. The difference in traditional

Hinduism and the Aghori belief is that the former believes that the fearful and destructive

version of Shiva is only brought out during particular circumstances while the latter believes that

the destructive version of Shiva is the deity that keeps the balance in the world. The fact that the

Aghoris believe the same deity as mainstream Hinduism but just a different form is a relationship

the other religions and their sects do not have. In other religions, the counterpart to the

mainstream deities is a whole separate entity (i.e. God and Satan, Mainyu and Angra Mainyu,

Michael and Azazel). This relationship between the Aghoris and orthodox Hinduism is

incomparable to other religions and their counterparts, and this leads to an incomparable

commentary on society.

Modern occult practices serve as a commentary on society and religious institutions.

Following the example of Satanism, modern day Satanists do not necessarily worship the idol of

Satan just for the sake of worship, but instead see Satanism as a means of demonstrating the

hypocrisy of Christianity and the so-called freedom of worship and speech. They do it to spite

institutionalized religions, specifically Christianity. The Aghoris do the same. Orthodox Hindus

worship Bhairava and Kali as a cultivated social requirement while Aghoris embody the deities

in reality with their occult practices. Aghoris reject the trappings of society and sectarian labels

and engage in unorthodox practices to rip the veil off of society and jump into the abyss with no

regard to laws that govern polite society. However, while other occult practices, like Satanism,

and Aghoris do have the similar goal of rejecting the social norms, there is a difference in their
arguments and methods. Since other religions and their counterparts believe in two different

entities, the conflict arises from one side representing the opposite of something the other side

stands for: belief in God stands for a belief in an institution of moral good while belief in Satan is

to reject such a notion and show its hypocrisy. Yet, the Aghoris and traditional Hindus believe in

essentially the same entity - Shiva. The Aghoris do not necessarily believe that traditional

Hindus are wrong and vice versa. They each acknowledge the other’s beliefs since in a way it

resembles parts of their own. The difference here is not that one side believes the other side is

wrong, but it is instead focused on what is deemed as proper worship. Since they share the same

entity, the Aghori belief is a shock to the perceptual framework so as to break the priestly

mediation of the world of the impure, mundane and divine via unorthodox practices. Since the

Aghori belief is under Hinduism, it calls into question whether certain deities in Hinduism, such

as Bhairava and Kali, are pleased since they are normally marginalized in traditional Hindu

practices. As stated before, Kali and Bhairava are only revered in specific moments, especially

moments of destruction. As a result, in the example of meditation, orthodox Hindus meditate on

the peaceful version of Shiva and Parvati, but the Aghoris meditate on Bhairava and Kali.

Aghoris believe that these forms of the deities are not as addressed in Hinduism as they should

be and they are the only ones that please these forms through their practices. Thus the difference

between Aghoris and mainstream Hindus is not comparable to the conflicts between other

mainstream religions and their counterparts.

Hinduism has many gods and thus many sects of belief. The religion is overall

polytheistic, but there do exist monotheistic sects within. The Aghori is one such example. But,

the Aghori deviates from traditional Hinduism in that it focuses on the worship of the fearful
version of Shiva, Bhairava. The relationship between Aghori and orthodox Hinduism is one that

at first glance seems contradictory since the Aghori practices of cannibalism, wearing human

bones, smearing themselves in human ash and others are strikingly different to normal Hindu

practices. However, their beliefs emanate from the same entity, which is not the case with other

religions and their occult counterparts, where the difference emanates from two different entities.

Moreover, this difference in relationships also shows itself in society. In the case of Christianity

and Satanism, the belief in one is to go with an institutional form of worship and belief in the

other is to go against it whereas the Aghoris and Hindus believe in the same foundation, but they

differ on forms of public worship. The Aghori beliefs, and in general the relationship between

them and normal Hindu beliefs, poses an incomparability to other religions. It’s not their

practices that make them incomparable since other religions do have such unorthodox practices.

What makes them incomparable is their relationship between their mainstream counterpart.