Dying in Magahar

(6)

'But when he was sick and old and just on the verge of death, Kabir asked his disciples to move him from Varanasi and take him to Magahar. Magahar is a poor village, a very small village on the other side of Varanasi. I don't know how it came about, but the story is that if you die in Magahar the road directly goes to hell. Perhaps just parallel to Varanasi you have to manage a road to hell too. And Magahar is just on the other side of the Ganges; on this side is Varanasi. Kabir said, 'I want to go to Magahar.'

'His disciples said, 'Are you mad? You must be.' He said, 'I have always been mad; but I cannot die in Varanasi, because if I die in Varanasi and reach to heaven then what credit is it to me? The whole credit goes to Varanasi. I am going to die in Magahar and I am going to see how they can take me to hell. I am going to die in Magahar and I am going to heaven; otherwise I am going to create hell there.'

'He insisted on moving; he forced his disciples and finally they had to take him on a boat to Magahar on the other side. He died there - the only man who came to die in Magahar in the whole of history.'