Bhang- A Gift from the Gods

Gang Bhang Dono Bhen Hai, Rehti Shivji Ki Sang. Charan Karne KI Gang Hai, Bhajan Karne Ki Bhang!

Bhang has been accepted as a compassionate gift to humans to help us attain delight and lose fear. 

In the ancient text Artharvaveda, Bhang is described as a beneficial herb that "releases anxiety".   

There is even a belief that to meet someone carrying bhang is an omen of success. 

Longing for the hemp plant foretells happiness, and to see it in dreams ensures prosperity for that person in the future. 

Also, walking on a holy bhang leaf spells doom for the treader.

     

 People strongly believe in the medicinal properties of the cannabis plant. If taken in proper quantity bhang is believed to cure fever, dysentery and sunstroke. 

It is also believed to help to clear phlegm, quicken digestion, sharpen appetite, cure speech imperfections and lisping, freshen the intellect and give alertness to the body and gaiety to the mind, among other benefits.

It is widely accepted amongst Hindus that Shiva takes Bhang. What's disputed is the consumption of it by ordinary mortals. Wise usage is believed to cleanse sins, unite you with Shiva and avoid the miseries of hell in the after life. Foolish usage however, without the proper rites is a sin.

Most Hindus do not know their ancestors used to take cannabis whenever they saw fit. Consumption of Bhang wasn't always reserved for the Gods and holy days. 

In fact, not so long ago it was considered an insult to refuse Bhang.

Bhang is also considered a sister of the Mother Ganges (a holy river and a Goddess in India). 

There are many songs which start off: "Gang Bhang Dono Bhen Hai, Rehti Shivji Ki Sang. Charan Karne KI Gang Hai, Bhajan Karne Ki Bhang." Roughly translated this means the Ganges and Bhang (cannabis) are sisters and both live in Shiva's head. 

The water from the Ganges is poured over a Shivalingam (a form of Shiva in the guise of a phallus shaped black stone) at a Temple and Bhang is consumed by the devotee so they can mediate, be better able to sing hymns, achieve a blissful state and be like Shiva.

 One of Shiva's epithets was "Lord of Bhang" as he is said to have discovered the transcendental properties of the mixture. 

After an argument with his family, he wandered off into some nearby fields. Drained from the family conflict and the hot sun, he fell asleep under a leafy plant. 

When he awoke, his curiosity led him to sample the leaves of the plant. Instantly rejuvenated, Shiva made the plant his favorite food and he became known as the Lord of Bhang. 

Another telling states that during the creation of the world and the emitra (elixir of life) was produced, from the churning of the ocean by the Devas and Asuras, Shiva created cannabis from his own body to purify the elixir. 

Another telling states that a ganja plant sprouted after a drop of the elixir was spilled and hit the ground.

Bhang has now become synonymous with the spring time festival of colors, Holi, to the extent that bhang drinks have now become an official Holi drink. 

Culled from the leaves and buds of cannabis - the very intoxicating bhang helps to escalate the spirit of holi - a festival which does not recognise any restrictions. Thandai, pakoras and vadas, all having bhang as a very essential ingredient, are savoured by all on the day.

All over India yet especially in Northern India and Nepal, temples in especially in Benarus, Baidynath and Tarakeswar, on the day of Shiva Ratri, bhang is taken in different forms such as smoked, or mixed with sweets and drink. 

Offering bhang to lord Shiva as a prasad (gift) is said to aid in sadhana.

In Hinduism, sadhu is a common term for an ascetic or practitioner of yoga (yogi) who has given up pursuit of the first three Hindu goals of life: kama (pleasure), artha (wealth and power) and even dharma (duty). 

The sadhu is solely dedicated to achieving moksha (liberation) through meditation and contemplation of God. 

Still others partake in the religious consumption of charas, a form of cannabis and contemplate the cosmic nature and presence of God in the smoke patterns.

  In imitation of Shiva, many sadhus use Bhang to boost meditation and achieve transcendental states. Besides, Bhang or cannabis is also believed to be popular amongst Sufis as an aid to spiritual ecstasy.

By emphasizing physical austerity through celibacy and fasting, cannabis helps sadhus transcend ordinary reality and achieve transcendence. 

British psychiatrist G. Morris Carstairs spent 1951 in a large village in northern India and reported on the two highest castes, Kshatriya and Brahmin, and their traditional intoxicants of choice -alcohol and cannabis, respectively. 

The Kshatriya were the warriors and governors; they consumed a potent distilled alcohol called daru. 

The Brahmins were the religious leaders; they were vegetarians and drank a cannabis infusion called bhang.  

Kshatriya lore, glorified sexual and military conquests. 

The priestly Brahmins, on the other hand, "were quite unanimous in reviling daru and all those who indulged in it. 

Bhang, a Brahmin told Carstairs, "gives good bhakti." He defined bhakti as "emptying the mind of all worldly distractions and thinking only of God." 

Whereas the Kshatriya in his drinking bout knows that he is taking a holiday from his sober concerns, the Brahmin thinks of his intoxication with bhang as a flight not from but toward a more profound contact with reality."

Today, bhang is so common in some parts of India that it can be found in government licensed street stands.

Bhang is most commonly consumed in three forms:

Bhang Lassi

Ganja

Charas















References:
"Bhang Explained." Everything Explained At. Web. 28 Apr. 2012. <http://everything.explained.at/bhang/>.

"Bhang." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 Jan. 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhang>.

"The Teenage Mind." History of Cannabis in India. Web. 28 Apr. 2012. <http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-teenage-mind/201106/history-cannabis-in-india>.