Is Spiritual Power Believable?

Is it to be believed?  Lord Hanuman can make himself 100 time larger, if he sees necessary!  Bhakta Prahalad prays to see Lord Vishnu and finds him next to him, a travel from Vaikunth (the heavens) to Bhooloak (earth)!  Lord Krishna lifts Govardhan Parvat  (a mountain with a 22 kilometers in circumference) on his little finger, for weeks, to shelter people from floods.    Well, we don’t know about these stories, as we were not alive then.

But here is a small example of what happened in years ago and can be experienced even today.

About 20 kilometers from Pune, on the way to Satara, there is a durgah (Shrine) at a small town called Khed Shivapuri.  The shrine is built over the grave of a revered religious figure Pir Qamar Ali Shah Darvesh. It can be identified by a huge tree outside which has hundreds of eagles hanging upside down.

Peculiarly, there is also a 250 kilogram stone in front of the shrine.  This stone cannot be lifted or even be moved by any number of people, even the strongest of them.  However, if an odd number of men like 7, 9, 11 come together, get their pointing finger below the stone, chant the name “Pir Qamar Ali Darvesh” while lifting it, the stone can be thrown up – as high as 8 feet or above.   Louder the chant, the higher it goes. No strength need be applied. If the group is short of odd numbers, fakirs standing by are happy to join in.

The surprise element is if one tries with even number of men like 10 or 12, or with a woman in the group or withtout uttering his name, the rock won’t budge.

Dargha 1 Dargha 2 Dargha 3

Logic fails here.

The story goes that a few hundred years ago, Qamar Ali Darvesh was born in a family famous for their wrestling powers.   At a very young age Qamar Ali became the disciple of Sufi saint living in the same area.   His brothers excelled in wrestling and teased him for being physically weak and a good for nothing.

Qamar Ali meditated and by the blessings and power he had, he challenged his brothers to use their muscle strength to lift the said stone.  The wrestlers could not move it without saying Qamar Ali Darvesh’s name.

Is spiritual power stronger than muscular power, then?  I wonder if similar miracles referred to in our Vedas and Puranas (holy books) might not be wrong.  Maybe, we are yet to understand a lot of the technology described in these texts.

Written : Badri Baldawa

Edited  : Meeta Kabra