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Encyclopedia of Religion entry forAghorisThe Aghoris or Aghorpanthis are a class of Saiva mendicants in India, found now chiefly at Benäres and at Girnar near Mount Abu. They used to practice cannibalism, and still feed on human corpses and excrement. " The Aghoris now represent their filthy habits as merely giving practical expression to the abstract doctrine that the whole universe is full of Brahma, and consequently that one thing is as pure as another. By eating the most horrible food they utterly subdue their natural appetites, and hence acquire great power over themselves and over the forces of nature. It is believed that an Agbori can at will assume the shapes of a bird, an animal or a fish, and that he can bring back to life a corpse of which he has eaten a part " (R. V. Russell). citations: Encyc. of Rel., Canney
article created 2006-04-12 , last updated 2006-04-12 |
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