(auspicious water jars) along the way and the floor was laid with satin cloth.” As he came face to face with him, Yamaraj roared, “What is this?” A voice answered, “He is at his end,” and Yamaraj said, “No, he isn’t!” Then Buddhi Kumar began to recite the Vedas (holy scriptures) and requested for a drink of water. He saw 21 water spouts in front of him, but as he went to drink all the spouts ran dry. “Again I heard a voice saying, ‘Your time has not come. If you had had a drink, you would have died’.”
After this, he returned the way he had come and in a suitable place sat down to meditate. “I wished to be alone, but then the Ban Devi appeared and showed me a Ban Jhankri. He was tiny as he came towards me beating his small hand held drum rhythmically. But as he drew nearer, he grew bigger and bigger. Much bigger than me,” remembers Buddhi Kumar. He followed the Ban jkhankri “who could go through anything, no matter how small, even if he was larger than me,” says Buddhi Kumar. “Ultimately I reached a place where a feeling of relaxation and peace fell upon me. Then we entered his house. I espied his wife and saw that she was a demon. I saw her sniff the air and say, ‘Here’s a smell of a human’. The Ban Jhankri took me in his hand and flipped me upwards where I got entangled on a giant cobweb.” The demon wife didn’t see him and brought food to the table. As soon as she had left, Buddhi Kumar came down and ate along with the Ban Jhankri. “Again, as the demon wife was entering the room, the Ban Jhankri flipped me on to the cobweb. After that, I went everywhere with the Ban Jhnkri. He taught me seven mantras (invocations). I also discovered that the old man in white garb was Lord Shiva. That is why I got the Shiva-dristi (power to gaze with