An Interesting Story of BANJHAKRI and his REALITY

ABDUCTION OF JAGAT BAHADUR KHATRI                                  

It was around the 1930s. Jagat was just eight years old boy.  He was growing up in a hill village called Badaka in khotang district. He used to rear his cattle in the kharka(pasture). There are rocks with a den. Local people call these parts of the area as the safe haven of Banjhakri. Banjhakri is a mysterious human-like being who lives in the wild. Many people claim that they have encountered this. He has a bizarre appearance; short and stout hairy body, bare feet, bearded face, matted hair like Lord Shiva himself, drumming a musical instrument called dhyangro. Jagat Bahadur was rearing his cattle alone in the kharka at around 12 in the mid-day. koel and cuckoos were singing around and so were the barbets as if there had already been something wrong, Jagat was taken by Banjhakri into the den.

 

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BANJHAKRI OFFERS JAGAT SOME MILK

Banjhakri, carrying a Kamandlu, a vessel especially carried by a Hindu monk or a hermit, offered some raw milk and put some into his bowl-like both hands. He gave it three times and Jagat was fully satisfied, not was in hunger. His hunger was no more. It was the den where Banjhakri used to stay with his wife Lemlemey. Her appearance was very aggressive. She had very big hanging breasts. Banjhakri instructed Jagat not to go near Lemlemey. Lemlemey was ferocious. If she got the chance, she could eat a human being. She gestured for Jagat to approach her showing her breast to suck while Banjhakri was not there. It is said that Lemlemey would not cross the line the Banjhakri marked.

                                      

  After Those Seven Days  

 

Banjhakri taught Jagat, for seven days all the spells and eternal healing practices for the sick ones to eradicate evils and negative energy from them. After seven days. Banjhakri took him where he was abducted from. He left Jagat in the same place at the same time. Jagat did not talk. He was just speechless. Later on, Parajui and Yagya Khatri who were local shamans were called on and they treated Jagat.

  Jagat Left Home

 Jagat left home at an early age. He arrived at some part of the Terai region where the Danuwar community lived. He thought to survive applying his wisdom learnt from Banjhakri in the cave. So he started healing sick people by applying shamanism. These practices started spreading all over the Danuwar community.

Danuwar Danuwarni Tried to kill Jagat

As Jagat started healing sick people, the senior shaman Danuwar Danuwarni felt jealous of him because sick people stopped visiting them. Then what happened one day that they offered him to have a competition in shamanism. He reacted with a positive response saying that he did not know anything, fleeing from the hill and cheating his luck.

Then the shamanism competition started at midnight. But they could not kill him because his Guru was saving him. In the morning time, they silently accepted he was undefeatable. They realised his power of shamanism. Then they offered seven days and seven-night shamanism practices to exchange power with one another. Jagat replied to them that he had not anything to offer deity while in shamanism practices. They told him that he should not worry about it. They would manage everything he needed. Later they also purposed that they would be bounded in a special relationship with him called MIT. Jagat also nodded positively.

 

If Danuwar Damiwarni could have killed  Jagat, they would already have killed him. He was being saved by his Guru Banjhakri. Jagat could kill him but he would never do that sinful act. For seven days and seven nights, they had very competitive shamanism practices and they could not kill Jagat. Later they bounded into a special relationship called MIT.  It is the cultural practices in Mit relationship that are believed not to hurt each other. They have to respect each other Jagat replied to them that he could not offer them gifts because he was from far away beyond the hill. They told him that they would not expect from him except his shamanism wisdom. They exchanged their wisdom with each other.

Jagat had a superpower that he could present a hissing cobra on the ground with a shell on its head when he threw a shell with a mantra( spell) in the air.

 JAGAT BAHADUR CHANGES HIMSELF INTO A TIGER

Many years later after Jagat returned back home from Terai(Lowland Nepal)There is an interesting anecdote about Jhakri Jagat(Jhakri comes as the first name when a man is educated by banjhakri). He came across a goat farmer in Karkichhap of Khotang to buy a castrated He-goat called Khasi in the Nepali language. But the farmer asked for an expensive cost for the goat. He became furious with the answer from the goat farmer.

Then he cursed him with''May your Goat is eaten by a Tiger this evening.'' and returned back home.

It was evening time. Jhakri Jagat prepared two-coloured spelt Achheta (rice); sukilo; normal rice and yellow ones(rice mixed with turmeric colour) and taught his wife to throw normal rice at the first at him and he would be turned into a tiger. And later on, the yellow ones when the tiger comes with something and starts walking around home and stops at the door. He also told his wife not to get scared of the tiger. As soon as normal rice was thrown, he turned into a tiger. the tiger reached the goat pen at Karki Chhap and killed the same goat and brought it back home. His wife was ready to throw the yellow coloured rice at the tiger. The family had a great feast secretly. This was the knowledge he had obtained from Danuwar Danuwarni. If there was something wrong then he would be feral in the wild.

  Jhakri Jagat saves Life

There was a baby boy whose name was Brida. He was so sick from the beginning. When he was about 8 months, he became so sick and he was on his death bed. Birda was the only son of the first wife of his father. His grandmother wanted to kill him so that she could hand over all his father's property to the son of the second wife. So she made a shaman named Matha give a loop having spelt with death to the baby boy in the name of faith healing. The loop was spelt for the evil spirit and that might go till the death. Shaman Matha had written Death to Brida in the name of a ghost that lived around funeral and cemetery premises. Brida was going lean and thin day by day and going to die. Even he could not suck his mother's breast. His Maternal uncle was Jhakri JAGAT BAHADUR KHATRI. He used to offer his shamanism devotion to the Banjhakri every full moon night. His mother took him secretly to his maternal uncle Jhakri Jagat. It was full moon night. Many people were gathered like Ojha, Mukhya and so forth. At the period of that time, people were not used to being able to read and write except for some Bahuns, Rai, Mukhya, and Jagat was.Mama(maternal uncle) of Birda started performing shamanism practices in front of the altar.

While his body was shaking in the power of his deity, he saw some critical condition of his Bhanja (nephew). He checked and examined every detail as his Guru was instructing. He came across his bhanja and took him on his lap. There was a loop at the arm of the patient. He took off the loop and let the paper read.to the audience who could read. There was written about the death of the child, the ghost was engulfing the child gradually. Jhakri Jagat burnt the paper in the fire of the altar.

He said to his sister, "Go home and don't watch at the neighbouring house at midnight. At eleven in the daytime, if you looked there you would see the light of wick in the green cow dung on the steep hill wall. If you watched it at midnight, it would take your life. Just watch it secretly in the daytime. Then what happened she spotted the place where secret Ghost worship was performed. It was such a place where there were grasses everywhere but the place was among the grasses on a steep hill. There was made a hole pulling out the rocky soil.

She secretly kept the dog's poo there. After that, it stopped lightening the wick. Then the plan became failed. In this way, Brida was saved otherwise he would die. Jhakri Jagat said to his sister,'' Don't tell this anybody.''

Birda says that he had been saved in that way. His maternal uncle had saved his life. He was respected in society at that time. Later Jagat Bahadur migrated to Gauriganja.He breathed his last there.

THE END