People who are interested to study the Atibāḍīs of Orissa will get light if they go through the following letter published in the “Progress” on the 18th August 1871. The word Atibāḍī indicates that they are a set of people who care very little for their preceptors with their following and who entertain an idea quite independent of the prevailing sanctity though they base their thought on antique principles. In Bengal the epithet Atibāḍī is given to the followers of one Rūpa Kavirāja who happened to have quarrelled with the following of Ācārya Śrīnivāsa on some religious practice which deviated him from the Śrauta method [the method of acquiring knowledge via submissive hearing]. The Atibāḍīs of Orissa in some places have identified themselves with their provincial cause of nationality but we entreat them to refrain from doing so for the sake of comparative significance of religious views which are common properties of all nations. The system of Bhakti has a special characteristic which should never be ignored in furthering a national sentiment of a particular province. The patient inquisitive readers will find substantial material when they go over this article for their future guidance; so we cannot resist culling it here in toto.
—Editor, Harmonist
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TO THE EDITOR, PROGRESS
Dear Sir,
There is a class of men in Orissa who pass by the name of Atibāḍīs . They say that they are Vaiṣṇavas but in fact they are quite opposed to the principles of Vaiṣṇavism. This sect originated with one Jagannātha Dāsa who flourished at the time when Mahāprabhu Caitanya Deva of Nadiyā entered Purī with a view to propagate the genuine principles of the Vaiṣṇava creed. Jagannātha Dāsa was indeed a man of great acquirements in the Sanskrit language. He translated the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam into Oriya poetry as also the Bhagavad Gīta, the most instructive book in the Hindu literature. The translations are, however, free and contain more things than the original works themselves. The Oriyas, especially those who are below the Brāhmaṇas, are very fond of reading these translations. As a citizen of Calcutta you might have several times heard the Oriya bearers reading these translations in their Pālakī Aḍḍās in the City of Palaces.
Though the translation of the Bhāgavata by Jagannātha Dāsa is generally liked by all classes of the Oriyas, yet there is a special class of men who considered themselves as spiritually led by him. These men are the Atibāḍīs. Most of them belong to the lower classes.
The Atibāḍī is both a religionist and a politician like the Mohammedan fanatics that go by the name of Wahabees. In religion they occupy a very curious position. They say that they worship One Great God who is without any form whatsoever. They appear and have no conception about the Spiritual Personality of the Deity, nor do they believe that the human soul lasts in distinction from God after salvation. In fact, they hold a similar idea with the great commentator of the Vedānta Darśana, I mean Śaṅkarācārya, the leader of the Advaitavādīs. But they at the same time believe that the Jagannātha in the Temple at Purī is the highest ideal of God. In fact they worship the idol as if it were the unconditioned Deity himself. They do not believe all the Śāstras but they attempt to choose out principles out of them. They believe, however, that they are the highest class of religionists in the world and the Absolute Truth is alone with them. They several times profess that they are true Brahma-jñānīs and that the present Brahmas [followers of Brahmo Samaj] are but Christians, the name Brahma being a misnomer with them. The Atibāḍīs like the old Roman Catholics in the Middle Ages still receive revelations from the Deity and speak sometimes face to face with him. For this reason every learned Atibāḍī is a prophet, and has his ‘Māllikā’ or a series of revelations. Go to one of them and he will tell you in which year and under which circumstances the world will end! They sometimes perform some ceremonies of the Yoga philosophy, and attempt to work physical wonders. They are addicted to the smoking of Gāñjā [marijuana] and taking of opium, and it is when they are under the influence of these intoxicating articles, that they are in the habit of receiving revelations! Most of them are married men living in their own houses and dislike the life of ascetics. They are often very bold and address other people in mysteriously awkward terms. In fact, those of the Oriyas who are intelligent enough to understand matters but have received no good education, turn out Atibāḍīs . In whole of Orissa, I believe, there are about 15,000 men of this class! We understand it on very good authority that they have a sort of brotherhood like the Free Masons, amongst themselves which unite them in a strong affection towards each other. They often keep communication amongst themselves in mysterious expressions and signs, and thus the Atibāḍīs at Bāleśvara (Balasore) are often kept informed of what is going on with the Atibāḍīs at Purī which is about 8 days journey from the former station.
We would have been led to compare this class of fanatics with Bāulas of Bengal, had there not been another characteristic to distinguish them from the latter, I mean the political character of the Atibāḍīs. The main object of the class is to bring about some political revolution in the province by means of circulating false rumours in the shape of revelations. Their Māllikās (as the revelations are called by them) generally declare the period when there will be an incarnation of the Deity to destroy the present ruling authority. By mysterious words they advise their fellow brethren to be ready for the time and eagerly to wait for the Avatāra! These circulations are not solely to be attributed to the Gāñjā to which they are addicted, but to a desire which they foster in them to enjoy money and women belonging to the credulous fools, that live far from the light of education. An Atibāḍī is looked upon in the interior as one saint of Heaven to deliver the souls of sinners and to give them worldly aggrandisement when necessary. People sometimes visit them with a view to get rid of chronic diseases and women generally solicit the favour of their giving them children and domestic comfort. The trials of a couple of cases in criminal courts at Purī and Khordhā have brought to light a great deal about the doings of the Atibāḍī impostors in the moffusil [the rural or provincial districts of India]. The Khordā case has disclosed that one of them turned out to be an incarnation of Balarāma and prophesied to the people that he had come to make a political revolution in Orissa, the chosen place of the Deity. By this false rumour he acquired a great reputation and corrupted a number of females belonging to the higher classes of the inhabitants. He was worshipped as a God and was surrounded by thousands as a Rājā (King) ruling his own realm. He continued to send out his Māllikās and to increase the number of fanatics till the Deputy Magistrate, Mr. Tailor tried him and sent him to imprisonment! The other impostor was working his way near the Temple of Bhuvaneśvara in a small village not even a mile from the Jagannātha Road. He was also being worshipped as an incarnation of Mahā-viṣṇu. Females from surrounding villages came to worship him in the dead of night and he declared his Mahāprasāda as sacred as that of Jagannātha. He continued in this way, till some of the aggrieved Brāhmaṇas of Bhuvaneśvara came to him and asked him the authority under which he was thus acting. He plainly declared to them that the authority of the British Government was about to cease and a Dalabeherā of Khordhā was to be the ruler for Orissa. All those who would oppose his practice were to suffer in a short time from his divine wrath. This terrified those who came to enquire but the matter was communicated to the authorities by one of them. Bābū Kedāra Nātha the Deputy Magistrate, was deputed to enquire and submit a report. It was through the exertions of that officer that the impostor was brought to trial and punished!!
It was rumoured that a large number of impostors of this class rose simultaneously in several parts of Orissa, but when they heard of the trials of the two alluded to above, they got afraid and kept silent.
Such is the character of the Atibāḍīs! How horrible they are! We would advise the Cuttack Editors to expose these characters and try to correct them. If they want to be patriotic, they ought to save their motherland from the hands of the Atibāḍīs and Alluks. With all the attempts for improvement, Orissa will never rise till these wicked and designing members of the Atibāḍī class are converted into ‘Honest Citizens'.
