When Chandraswami took on Mauni Baba

NK SINGH

Mauni Baba of Ujjain who died at a Pune hospital last week, was a colourful personality despite being the silent one.

His actual age was shrouded in mystery. After his death some newspapers described him as 110 years old and others put his age at 76.

MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted after his death: "Respectful condolences to Ujjain's Mauni Baba, eminent scholar who spent his entire life in peoples' welfare."o

His sprawling Ashram at Ujjain was a often visited by politicians like Arjun Singh, Amar Singh, Uma Bharati, SC Shukla and Bhagwat Dayal Sharma, providing steady supply of political gossip for newsmen based in Madhya Pradesh.

I was one of them.

My archives have yielded several stories and rare photographs, all very interesting, about Mauni Baba. I hope to share it with readers in future.

Mauni Baba's actual age was shrouded in mystery. After his death some newspapers described him as 110 years old and others put his age at 76.

MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted after his death: "Respectful condolences to Ujjain's Mauni Baba, eminent scholar who spent his entire life in peoples' welfare."

Many of his followers believed that the Baba had tantrik powers.

Indeed once, about a quarter century ago, another powerful tantrik, the redoubtable Chandraswami, had reached Ujjain for a celestial battle with Mauni Baba.

The report in India Today

I had reported it for India Today, for which I used to work then. The following report appeared in the magazine's issue dated 15 June 1992:

TANTRIK TANTRUMS

Swami takes on Arjun Singh’s godman

It is believed that the black magic practised at Ujjain during the Kumbh Mela is ruthlessly effective against its targets.

Last fortnight, Chandra Swami, the favoured high-flying tantrik of Indian politicians, including Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, set tongues wagging when he visited Ujjain and performed puja.

The town was plastered with Chandra Swami posters, and a 45-ft-high look-alike cut-out was erected in the heart of the city.

But what had the gossip mills really churning was the selection of the puja site by Chandra Swami.

The place is adjacent to the ashram of Mauni Baba, the godman of Arjun Singh. Rao's political rival.

And even as Chandra Swami was engaged in his mystical incantations, Arjun Singh along with his family paid a visit to his guru's ashram where they spent some five hours while the baba performed a special puja for them.

Meanwhile, next door, Chandra Swami was already performing a yagna. Want to hazard a guess about the identity of Chandra Swami's unknown client? Just one hint.

As the tantriks say: iron cuts iron.

Originally published in India Today, 15 June 1992.

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