SUASA CHARANA.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2534, 6 October 1888, Page 1 (Supplement)

SUASA CHARANA.

Tueuk is, and I think always has been amongst the Hindus, a belief that it is in the power of certain individuals of their raco to suspend animation at will, and that they can to all appearauce dio and after an interval, sometimes long and at others short, return to life again. The more ignorant of the peoplo of this country affirm that the deed is accomplished by supernatural means, and by the repetition of certain munters (incantation or charm) known only to jogr.es (ascetic or devotees) who have given up their lives to the study of sacred books or occult sciences, but to men of higher education and wider knowledge of the world and of life in general, while asserting positively their belief in the possession of the power, they say it is a natural gift greatly increased by practice. The ability to suspend breathing and of simulatiug death is accomplished by an act called "Suasa Charana" —literally tho upward inhaling of air. The natives of this country believe that the breath inhaled through the nostrils is perfectly different from thit drawn into the lungs ; this latter, which sustains only the material life of mau, ho possesses in common with the beasts which perish, but the former is the life of the soul, which they maintain is seated in the upper part of the brain. That this idea has existed from the earliest ages aud amongst many races is certain, and our own Scriptures to a certain extent favour the idea. '' The Lord God formed man of the dust of the earth, and breathed iuto his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living soul." Without this breath of life he would be an animated corpse ; with it he bears iu his body the germ of immortality communicated to him by the diviue afflatus breathed into his nostrils, or, as Job expresses it, " the Spirit of God in my nostrils." There is a curious proof of how old and widely spread is the same idea, for on the shores of the lted Sea, which has on its rocks the indestructible records of untold years gone by, there is one which bears on its surf ice an inscription which has been deciphered. A line of this inscription runs thus : " I believe in the miracle mystery, and in the resurrection mystery, and in the nostril mystery and it doubtless points to the same idea which is remembered by the Hindus, that the life of the soul is in the man's nostrils. This inscription is supposed to belong to the period when Joseph ruled for Pharoah over all the land of Egypt, aud the words occurs 111 the ten lined poem cut on the surface of the Rock of Hisu Ghorab discovered by Mr Cruthendem in 1847. Everyone living has in all probability heard of people who have fallen into a trance, or had a cataleptic seizure, or have become insensible from disease, or from a blow on the head. Terrible, indeed, are some of these stories, especially those of whom it is related that tho person entranced had been buried alive, and the fact only discovered when on the coffin being opened for some purpose years after, its occupant has been found to have turned 011 his side. A narrow eicape from such an awful disora occurred some years ago to a lady, the wife of au officer. Married at fifteen years of age, a very serious attack of illness some time after

brought her to the very brink of the grave, and she became apparently insensible, being unable by any sign or motion to express to tho-e around her any wish or desire ; but though to all appearance her body was dead her mind was alive and active, aud she heard the low whispered consultations of those around her bed as to the disposal of her body. The terror of her soul may be imagined since no struggle of her mind, no effort of her will sufficed to break the spell which was upon her till her husband, almost mad with grief, threw himself with a wild cry on the bed beside her ; the shock broke the deadly lethargy which hid fallen on her, and enabled her to rally her dormant powers of speech aud limb, and she recovered. But such trances as these result, froin disease, and tho will of the sufferer has nothing to do with them.

The first claimant for the power of vohwhtrili/ suspending animation whom I remember to have heard of was a jogee who travelled from the upper provinces on pilgrimago to the temple of Juggernath at Poorec. This man created extraordinary oxcitcment by announcing that on a certain date ho would go through the process called " Suasa Charana," hecoma to all appearance dead, and so remain for three days, when he would revive again. Early on the day mentioned a great throng of people assembled at the place appoiutcd, a building open on three sidos, aud oil the floor in the middle of it lay the body of the jogee stark, and to all appearances dead ; no quivering of the eye ids, no twitching of tho muscles of the lips or extremities gave the faintest sign that life still lingered in the body of the joger. His chnlm (disciples) sat silently beside him keeping watch and ward till the evening, when a canvas screen was drawn round the open sides of the building, which on its removal the next morning, showed the jogee in exactly the same state and position as on the previous day. No change took placo till the third day when, on the gathering of the crowd of sight-seers, the arousing of the entranced jogee commenced. A slow, solemn, dirge-looking song was sling. Certain Milliters were repeated, oil was applied to the crown of Ins head, warm water was poured over the body, and the limbs Were well rubbed. This treatment was continued for some time, when at length the eyes of the jogee opened, the lips quivered and the limbs moved. Thus, slowly, he rose and the ascetic was once more a living breathing being with a crowd of worshippers at his feet ready io swear ti the fact that he had been in a trance for three days, during which he had neither eaten nor drank. There were, however, many who believed nothing of the kind. It was quite possible, said the incredulous, for the jogee to have maintained his rigid position during the day, aud to have been fed at night, resuming this appearanee of insensibility the following morning before the crowd of sight-seers collected round the building.

Claimants for the possession of the power of suspending animation were, and probably still are, to be seen at Pooree. In front of the principal entrance of the great temple of Juggernath a square, tunned by the residences of the wealthy temple priests, is occupied at the festival season by groups of religious mendicants of all denominations, as strange as they are disgusting, amongst whom may be seen the jogees who have suspended their breathing, and lay stiff and stark, with the whole of their faces and heads down to the shoulders covered with a thick coating of clay, through which to all appearance no breath of vital air could penetrate. Still in this ease also it is quite possible there might be deception, aud the means of breathing supplied though not outwardly visible. This, however, con'd not have occurred in the ease I am about to relate, in which any deception would appear to have been impossible. It was related to me bv an officer of the British Government, a medical man, who was not likely to have been deceived. The story is au old one, but the impression made 011 my mind was so great as to prevent its ever being forgotten. This extraordinary example of " Suasa Charana" occurred at Lahore. Ranjit Singh was slill tbo ruler of the Punjab, but lie was fast hastening to his end, a victim not only to disease but also to the fiery spirit he periled in drinking iu defiance of all advloe or persuasion, and several of his officers were onlookers on the occasion when a jogee, whose power of suspending animation had been questioned, submitted himself to a test which had never been tried before. The hot sun of the Punjab never looked down 011 a stranger scene than that which it shone on one afternoon in May beneath the gloomy walls of the Fort of Lahore, whose lofty tower threw a shadow on an open grave and beside it a coffin, if a long narrow box provided with a lock aud key could be called sucb. Beside this grave stood two or three Englishmen and several Sikh officers belonging to one of the regiments of the Maharaja. Standing apart was the tall figure of a jogee whose giant body, scantily clothed, attested the self-imposed privations he had undergone. Grouped round hiin were his chula-i (disciples) who waited silently the commands of their master conveyed to them in low muttered words. A mat was laid on the bare earth on which the jogee stretched himself, his attendants seating themselves on either side. The mutters were repeated while the jogee began to inhale through his nostrils, his mouth being closed, his face became ashen, his breath came in feeble gasps till it ceased entirely, and the jogee lay to all appearauce a corps". The cludas then approached aud straightened the limbs, and plugged his nostrils and ears with cotton, and turned back the tongue so as to close the windpipe, and the ascetic was ready for the awful test he had courted. His body was placed iu -the coffin and locked, the ksy being made over to a Sikh officer who also placed a seal over the look, and the jogee was lowered into the grave. The earth was shovelled in, the surface levelled, and on it was scattered mustard seed which as it sprouts readily, would attest the fact should the grave be tampered with. A guard was thou placed over the spot and an arrangement agreed on that, the Sikh and English officers should meet again and exhumo the body of the ascetic on the fifteenth day after his burial. There to the time the party assembled and with them the chains, who immediately commenced operations by heatiug water on aa improvised fireplace; a throng of people from the town had assembled also, having heard of the extraordinary proceeding which was about to take place. The grave was examined, the mustard, a close grown crop of bright green, showed that the soil had not been disturbed. The earth was shovelled out aud soon the long narrow box was exposed to view, on which tho seal was intact. Deep silence prevailed as the box was raised and placed on one side of the grave. The spectators gathered round the calm expressionless faces of the jogee's disciples contrasting strangely with the eager glances of the English officers. The seal was brokeD, tho key turned in the lock, tho lid raised, and the body of the ascetic exposed to the wauing afternoon light. Silent it lay ! No figu of movement showed that the long slumber of fifteen days had been disturbed, no sign of coining decay dofaced the still features. The chahts came quietly forward, lifted the body and luid it on the

mat. Warm water was poured over it, the removed from the ears and nostrils, aud the tonguo brought forward to the teeth, thus freeing the windpipe, but as yet no sign of returning consciousness was visible. "The man is dead," exclaimed a bystanding in a hushed whisper. " This is suicide if not murder !"' But the calm unimpassioned faces of the t'liah'a showed no sign of fear, though there was neither eight nor sound to encourage any hope of the jogee's revival. They knelt beside the body after having poured hot oil on the crown of the head, and rubbed every part of it steadily to restore circulation, muttering their spells the while, till the sun set and the daylight began to fade iulo night. The crowd beirnn to disperse and the European officers to despair, if indeed they had ever entertained any expectation of the jogee's revival, when a murmur of satisfaction escaped the lips of one of the chub's. The eyes of their master were open, though as yet there wu.s no sign of consciousness : the lips opened with a soundless word, the hands and feet moved, and soon the ascetic was himself

again. Quietly as they had ministered to the necessities of the assctic, the chains put together their mat and water vessel and prepared to depart. The money offered him the jogee refused with scorn: "I ha\ e shown the power of my gods and vindicated the power of my truths and honour. Should I touch silver or gold for doing so, the power I possess would be taken from ine." Proudly the ascetic turned away from the spot where his body had lain and his soul had brooded solor.g in the silence of the grave, and followed by his rlttrhix he vanished into the shadows of the fast gathering night, and was seen uo more.

There is one strange thing, however, which irilist be mentioned in connection with " Suasa Gharaua," and that is that those who claim to be possessed of the power of voluntarily suspending animation had none to restore it unless assisted by the ministration of friends. Whether the jogee who submitted himself to so supreme a test as that I have described would ever have returned to life had lie remained buried, or whether the imprisoned soul would at length have freed itself from its buried tabernacle without its recovering consciousness I cannot guess. I returned to England, and during a long stay there " Suasa Jharana ' was altogether forgotten. I came unexpectedly on something which bore on the subject which proved that the super-natural-power of voluntarily suspending animation was not altogether unknown in the West. In an old book which contained many curious narratives of strange trances and escapes of burial alive the power of voluntary suspension of animation was mentioned, and in proof of it an advertisement was copied from a newspaper announcing that on a certain date any purs in desiring -to do so could witness the extraordinary feat. The time and place where mentioned, and a fee was demanded, on payment of which the visitor might witness what was literally the " Suasa Clnrana" of the E ist.

After an absence of a good many years I returned to India aud found many changes had taken placc. Tradition was flying out, legends were disappearing, songs in which the memory of many a battle aud many a romantic incident was preserved were forgotten. The pretty, fanciful fairy tales told by the Mahomedans ronnd the evening fire had almost all vanished ; the weird and grinsome stories of gods and demons pertaining to the Hindus alone remained. Living instances of men who could suspend animation [ could not hear of, and the possibility that the soul should for a time be brooding in the silence of seeming death, or free itself from the chains of mortality, and rove at will, were seldom mentioned, or, if at all, mentioned as tilings of tho pnst, Yet only four years before ray arrival in Zillah Sarun there died a jogee who was said to have claimed the iny.-terious poiver. The Gunduck at Govindgunge glides by a little garden brilliant with marigolds, aud rich with the heavily-scented jasmine dear to the gods. The spot is shadowed by clay with splendid trees, and in the dark hours the slender foliage of the bamboos sigh and shiver as they whisper " airy syllables" to the night wind. In this quiet spot lies the man whose name is reverently whispered when strange tales are told of " Suasa Charana." M.