Trailanga Swami Humiliates the British Police in Kashi

This is the story of one of the most mysterious sadhus in Indian history, Trilanga Swami. Scores of people in Varanasi witnessed him do the impossible. Sitting on the surface of the Ganga for hours, vanishing underwater and not returning for days, drinking deadly poison like it was ordinary water. Yet one question baffles everyone. How did Trilanga Swami perform these supernatural feats? Had he awakened the secret powers hidden in ancient yogic texts, or was he truly a vessel of divine force? In this episode, you will witness what unfolded when the mighty British police attempted to arrest this great yogi on charges of public indecency. What followed were displays of miraculous power so profound that even the British Raj was forced to bow before this If you enjoy mysteries and investigating deeper meanings behind what we are told, please do subscribe and join us so that we can explore a new story each week. Before we reach the jail, we must briefly understand who this great saint was. Trilanga Swami is believed to have been born in the 17th century in what is now Andhra Pradesh in South India as Shivarama. From an early age, he showed a deep disinterest in worldly life and a powerful attraction towards spiritual practice and renunciation. After the passing of his beloved mother, Shivarama renounced his home, took to the path of sannyasa and wandered across India in search of the highest truth. Eventually, his journey brought him to Kashi, the eternal city of Lord Shiva, today known as Varanasi. There, on the sacred Ghat of the Ganga, he settled down. Spending long hours in meditation, often sitting almost or completely naked, smeared in ash, absorbed in states of deep samadhi. Over time, he became a living legend of Kashi. Devotees, ascetics, and curious onlookers would come just to have his darshan. Traditional accounts even say he lived for over 250 years. But more important than the dates are the deeds that people witnessed with their own eyes. Now imagine the scene. Varanasi during the time of British rule. On one side, we have the colonial administration, obsessed with law and order, regulations, and Victorian notions of morality. On the other side, we have a towering naked saint sitting on the Ghats, beyond any concept of shame, fear, or social rules. For the British officers, this was public indecency and a challenge to their authority. Paramahansa Yogananda mentions about this incident in his book, The Autobiography of a Yogi. Many complaints began to reach the colonial officials. How can this naked man be allowed to sit openly on the Ghats? Why is the administration not controlling him? Finally, the British authorities decided to act. They wanted to teach this sadhu a lesson, and show the locals that even a famous saint was not above British law. Historical accounts record multiple attempts by the British police to arrest Trilanga Swami. According to one widely cited version, officers approached him on the Ghat of Kashi and attempted to escort him away. However, despite repeated efforts, they were simply unable to detain him. Each time the police caught him, Trilanga Swami would just disappear and inexplicably be found back at his original spot on the Ghat, calm, composed, and unmoved. In other instances, officers reported suddenly seeing him appear much ahead of them, and then appear behind them, and then again disappear, and be found in the Ghat where he was first arrested from. These inexplicable events filled the British officers with profound dread, shattering all rational understanding. Eventually, after repeated efforts, it is said that taking pity of the policeman, Trilanga Swami himself escorted the police to one of the jails wherein he was locked in. According to Uma Charan and other traditional hagiographies, soon after they locked him up, the people outside the jail saw a shocking sight. Trilanga Swami, who was supposed to be behind bars, was calmly sitting on the roof of the jail building, in full public view. The jail staff were stunned and shocked. How did he get out? Who opened the lock? How did this old man climb up and sit on the roof? When questioned, Trilanga Swami is said to have answered in his own simple, enigmatic way, sometimes even quoting from scriptures or the writings of others, showing that physical walls meant nothing to him. The British, however, dragged him back into the cell. Yet again, after a while, he appeared outside, sometimes on the roof, sometimes back at his usual spot on the ghats. For the officials, this was no longer just a case of public indecency. It had become a direct challenge to their power. Now, let us pause the story for a moment and look at this from the perspective of yoga and tantra. As we know from Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and various tantric texts, a realized yogi can attain certain siddhis, extraordinary abilities that arise from deep mastery of mind, prana, and consciousness. These include the classical Ashta Siddhis, such as Prakamya, Anima, Laghima, and others. Prakamya is the irresistible will to realize any desire, enabling acts like appearing, disappearing, or escaping confinement through sheer intent. Anima grants the power to become extremely small, almost atomic in subtlety, allowing passage through solid matter like walls or locks. Laghima bestows extreme lightness, enabling effortless levitation to rooftops or outrunning pursuers with supernatural speed, often combined with prapti, instant attainment of distant places. When we hear that Trilanga Swami appeared outside locked cells, sat suddenly on roofs, or evaded police without clear paths, traditional teachers explain these as demonstrations of Prakamya, Anima, and Laghima. To the western trained mind of a British officer, it was impossible. To someone familiar with yogic law, it was simply a consciousness that had gone beyond ordinary physical laws. After repeated failures to keep Trilanga Swami locked up, the British authorities grew frustrated and confused. Finally, they decided to bring him before a magistrate so that a formal decision could be made about his case. Uma Charanmukhopadhyay, in his biography on Trilanga Swami, writes that the magistrate had heard shocking stories about sadhus' miracles and wanted to personally test whether he was a genuine saint or a clever fraud. During the hearing, the magistrate decided to conduct an unusual experiment. He believed that a true holy man would follow strict rules of purity and would never touch certain forbidden substances. So, in front of witnesses, the magistrate placed meat before Trilanga Swami, something traditionally shunned by most of the sadhus. He waited to see how this great saint would react. To everyone's surprise, Trilanga Swami simply took the meat and ate it calmly, as if it were no different from any other food. According to the legendary account, after eating, Trilanga Swami later passed excreta, but what came out, as witnessed by those present, was not foul waste. Instead, it is said that he excreted something fragrant like sandalwood paste. This shocking event is recorded in traditional sources as a direct demonstration of his absolute mastery over the physical elements. For the British magistrate, however, this was not an abstract philosophical lesson. It was a direct, shocking experience. He had tried to expose Trilanga Swami as a fraud. Instead, he witnessed something that defied all his understanding of biology and common sense. Realizing that he was in the presence of an extraordinary being, and perhaps fearing the karmic consequences of further harassment, the magistrate changed his stance completely. According to the accounts, he immediately ordered that Trilanga Swami be released from custody. More than that, he issued a clear instruction to the authorities. Trilanga Swami was not to be arrested again, under any circumstances. In that moment, the entire machinery of the British Raj in Varanasi, with its jails, its laws and its pride, bowed before a half-naked saint who owned nothing, claimed nothing, and sat silently on the ghats of the Ganga. This is just one chapter from the wonderful life of Trilanga Swami. In the next episode of this series, we will go deeper into even more astonishing eyewitness accounts. How Trilanga Swami drank deadly poison like water, revived the dead, and performed miracles that defy explanation. Thank you so much for being part of this journey. Please do subscribe and join us so that you never miss any of our upcoming videos on fantastic stories which you will absolutely love. There's so much more waiting for us to discover.