INDIA: A God for Mokhimpur

The 70-odd villagers of Mokhimpur in Uttar Pradesh were nobodies. Spurned by their neighbors because their subcaste was regarded as backward and ignorant, the Baghbhans of Mokhimpur had little to sustain them but their faith in the Hindus' God of Preservation, Vishnu. Some day—the Baghbhans have told each other for generations—Vishnu himself, in his reincarnation as Lord Ramachandra. would turn up in their village in the guise of a sadhu, or holy man, and from then on. all would be well. This faith has long made their village a favorite target for the hordes of self-appointed holy men (estimated total: 8,000,000) who roam all over India like carnival medicine men in the frontier U.S., wandering the face of the land in search of a quick rupee, with little to attest to their powers but a loin cloth, a straggly beard and a fanatic mien.

The Best House. "In our country," runs the preamble to an Indian parliamentary bill which now seeks to put the sadhus under some form of government supervision and control, "the number of holy men is increasing day by day. Most of them indulge in vices, which, if not checked, will help crime to increase unabated." But to millions of superstitious Hindus, the sadhus, good and bad, are potent miracle workers who transcend the laws of men. Three months ago, when the beardless holy man who called himself Baba Raghubaranand arrived in Mokhim-pur, established himself without a by-your-leave in the best house in the village and promptly went into a trance when its occupants asked where they themselves could now live, the Baghbhans were all too ready to believe that Ramachandra the Preserver had at last arrived.

Gorging himself contentedly on fat food offerings from the poverty-ridden villagers, Raghubaranand repaid the kindness with a never-ending stream of spiritual advice, giving his time generously in private audiences to the village women when their husbands were off at work in the cane fields. He even went so far as to honor the village by singling out one robustious young virgin as worthy of sharing a god's bed. But if the godly sadhu could be generous with his favors, he could also be terrible in vengeance. When one old villager dared doubt his authenticity. Raghubaranand simply ordered the man's own family to drive him out of the village. The ugly job done, the villagers of Mokhimpur returned to the pleasanter task of dancing and reveling in the company of their resident god.