Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis c8.71

c8.71

Ireland, vol. XXVI (1897), pp. 340 ff., has collected data on the Aghorī under the title, *Life History of an Aghorī Fakīr*, in which he supplies the information which follows. They trace their origin to the Gorakhpanth and Gorakhnāth. The movement was started by Motināth. There are three divisions of them: Oghar, Sarbhuṅgī and Ghure. The Oghar is the branch to which the faqīr (whose history is recorded) belonged. All persons are eligible for admission to the sect. Ogharnāth used a fresh skull, from which he had eaten the flesh, as a drinking bowl. The faqīr (Kallu Siṅgh) claimed that some members of the order ate human flesh and were then able to make it live again. He did not claim these and other magical powers himself. In general the Aghorī eat the flesh of all dead animals except the horse, and the food of any sect or caste. Any skull will do for a begging bowl. (But the ghoulish practices which this man describes were known long before the time of Gorakhnāth. See chapter ten).