Mechanism of Mantra Yoga

Mechanism of Mantra Yoga

For scientists, the present and the ancient sages is no secret that the sound creates a form (yantra). Yantra - a mechanism, the body, which remains a living being (soul). Mind - a subtle nature sounds. It is the mind we create our next body as formed its present. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-Gita. What we think at the moment of death - and then determine our next birth.

Mechanism of Mantra Yoga

Therefore, in all spiritual traditions of the world's largest value is paid to the chanting of the holy names of God (Om, Maha-mantra, the Jesus Prayer, etc.), the memory of which forms our spiritual body, not subject to material changes (birth, old age, disease and death) . This is the main practice of all reasonable people.




"Om anavritti shabda." The Vedas say, "When the sound comes through." This - the final conclusion of all Vedic philosophy and cosmogony. The only sound is able to purify our consciousness to a higher perception of reality.

Mechanism of Mantra Yoga

Modern science, which studies the phenomenon called SEMATIKOY. Interesting experiments on the conversion of a thin sound in the yantra can be seen here. All forms of this world come from the sound - especially vividly illustrated by the armor of turtles in roliike below:




Maha Mantra (Hare Krishna Maha Mantra)

Hare Krishna mantra, also known as the Maha Mantra ("Great Mantra") - Vaishnava mantra of the 16 words. It is believed that her hearing, chanting and chanting elevates the consciousness of the practitioner to the spiritual level. The practice of chanting Hare Krishna is rooted in the Vedic past.

History

Mahamantra Hare Krishna - the ancient Vedic mantra, first mentioned in the Yajur Veda (Kalisantarana-Upanishad). Popular in India, it was thanks to the Vaishnava saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the XV-th century praised God through the chanting of this mantra. In the XX-th century mahamantra popularity has spread around the world thanks to Swami Prabhupada - founder of the "Society for Krishna Consciousness."

The text of the mantra

Hare Krishna Hare KrishnaKrishna Krishna Hare HareHare Rama Hare RamaRama Rama Hare Hare

Maha Mantra performed by Krishna Das and Sting

Meaning of the mantra

Many of the texts suggest that it is this mantra helps to remove all the obstacles of the current Iron Age (Kali Yuga), and to raise awareness of the practitioner to the highest levels. Mahamantra consists of 16 words - this is repeated three names of the Absolute: Hare Krishna Rama. The name "Krishna" means "Vseprivlekatelny", "Rama" - "all-good", "Hare" - an appeal to the aspect of energy, the female manifestation of the Absolute. Repetition mahamantra - this appeal to the Absolute is in these forms that embodies these qualities not only in the surrounding world, but also within the practitioner.


Kirtan - it is a natural function of the soul. Kirtan by nature joyful, as the flow of love, pouring out his soul, he gives the true eternal blessing.

Kirtan - a dynamic meditation based on the repetition of sacred sounds.
kirtt Sanskrit root meaning "to say something loud enough for others to hear." This is the main difference between the individual kirtan mantra meditation.

Kirtan - a joint practice of reciting various mantras, usually accompanied by traditional musical instruments and is sometimes accompanied by dancing.

THE '' Aghori Sadhu ''

What kind of feelings does the word cannibalism arouses? Well most of us would get disgusted, but there are people who follow cannibalism in India even now.

Foreigners Meets to Aghori sadhus To know About them 

India land of oldest society, oldest civilization, but all this time in the Indian history there was a sect dedicated to Shiva was involved in cannibalism and other very crude animal behavior. The aghori or aghouri sect has its origin in ancient Vedic system, even though these people don’t follow the main stream Vedic system but the root is the same. The word aghori in Sanskrit means non terrifying, ‘a’-‘ghori’ most of the Hindi speaking people would have heard the phrase ghor kaliyug, ghor paap, etc.. it is the same ghor, theoretically these people don’t attach themselves to anything mortal. They do things which a common man finds to be terrifying, so they overcome this terror by going through it, since they do it regularly it is a common thing for them.

In Hinduism, “there is no evil, everything is emanated from ‘Brahman’, so how could anything in this universe be impure”? this is the kind of philosophy the aghori babas follow. According to them anything in this universe is the manifestation of god itself, so everything is as pure as god and is god like, so abandoning anything is like abandoning god itself.

The aghori mainly worship lord Shiva, according to the sect every human is a ‘shava’(dead body) with emotions and they should try to become ‘Shiva’ by denying the human pleasures and involving in the aghori rituals.

Ghauri Shankar Mishra an aghori
drinking liquor in a kapala(skull cup).

The root of aghoris are as old as Hinduism itself, but the sect in its present form has its origin in Kinaram, he was an aghori ascetic and lived for about 150yrs. He was believed to be the incarnation of lord Shiva. He attained many siddhis through tapas and rituals and then helped the people with his siddhis. There is a temple in Varanasi for this baba and is the most sacred for the aghoris. Some also trace the root to Dattatreya.

The aghori is a human symbol of lord Shiva himself. The aghori lives in cemetery (shmashana), the living place for lord Shiva, this is the representation that the final abode for everyone is the cemetery. And many of the aghoris roam around naked, representing the true humans and their detachment from this world of mortals who live in the world of illusion. By this they transcend beyond human feelings of love, hatred, jealousy, pride etc..

Bhola Giri Naga Baba blowing
 the Nagaphani.

There are many aghoris walking the streets of northern India with kapala(skull cup). These aghoris eat anything, when I said anything, it really meant anything like rotten food, food from the dumps, the animal faeces, animal urine.. etc they regularly perform rites(some are so crude that it cant be explained here) to attain the highest level in aghoratva, the enlightenment. The final part of the ritual requires a minimum of one eating of putrid human flesh, and also meditating on(sitting) the dead corpse. This is the symbolic of their rise from shava to Shiva. They follow the simple rule that the universe resides in them and they try to attain enlightenment by self realization.


As the ascetic advance in his search, he attains many siddhis. Slowly they gain control over the environment. They seem to posses powers to cause a rain or to stop one. This is disturbing but this is true, even though they possess this kind of powers they will not use it, for the basic rule of aghori itself is to deny human pleasure so the change in climate is an event which should happen on its own. Whatever the ascetic says happens, I have met people who have had direct relation with the ascetic, and I cannot question the veracity of the datas. It is also said that when he curses someone, every wish of the person comes true.

A place considered dreadful by others is home for Aghoris - The Hindu cremation ground! 

There have been many aghoris in the past. Some of them being Dattatreya, Kinaram, Tailanga swamy, Aghoreshwar Mahaprabhu Baba Bhagwan Ram.
Some stories

Tailanga swami

Tailanga Swami of Benaras was a very powerful Aghori, and perhaps the only one who performed worship of Shiva at the Kashi Vishwanath temple using his own filth. And Tailanga Swami could do so because he had full realization that filth is as much a part of the Universal Soul as roses, holy water etc. The priest who saw Tailanga Swami doing such "dirty things" slapped him and ordered him out. But at the
same night, Shiva appeared in a dream to the king of Benaras and told the king about his anger since someone insulted Tailanga Swami, who's Shiva's very essence. The King then set out to find the priest and
punish him, but the priest was mysteriously found dead.


Dhuni wale baba
This refers to an incident which a man narrated to Ambar joshi about an Aghori Baba who lived in Burhanpur (near Khandwa,MP).This is what he narrated---There used to be an old Baba .People used to call him Dhuni wale baba. Now there is a samadhi of Dhune wale bab in Khandwa whre people still throng in large numbers to worship him.He used to stay ther and roamed the adjoining areas ,use to eat whatever came his way- rotten food or thrown away food .He used to utter obscenities if anyone talked to him or disturbed him even while he seemed to be doing nothing. He used to stare into the sky for hours and talk to himself. One day i saw a person come up to him and touch his feet and ask him to bless his daughter who had not been married in spite of their best efforts. The Baba uttered obscenities on him. Cursed his mother and family members and said that his daughter would go to hell. Then the man went away contented and after three days he came with some sweets and gave to the Baba who again uttered obscenities on him. I intercepted him on the way back and asked him why he respected a useless mad old man. The man remarked he is a great Baba and has cured many peoples problems. If he curses you then your problem is bound to get solved. Aghori Babas are like that he said and offered me a piece of burfi(An Indian sweet)which I gladly ate. Then I saw many other instances when the Baba uttered obscenities, people used to still go behind him even while he used to answer the call of nature. He used to throw his faeces all over people who came behind him and they used to collect it and take home as prasad.(holy).


Maldevata incident taken from ‘The Week’
Maldevta is a popular picnic spot near Dehra Dun. Thirst overtook us while trekking to Maldevta and we decided to ask for some water at a small thatched hut about a eight hundred scrubby hundred yards from the canal we were following. A dusky, well built man wearing a skimpy loin cloth emerged from the dark interior of the hut. Why, of course, we could have water, he answered. He didn't have that much left, just a couple of glasses, as he'd just finished cooking, but we were most welcome to it. Was this his permanent residence, we asked him conversationally? Oh no, he had no fixed place of stay. There was a cremation ground just a stone's thrown away, and he'd built this hut as he had been waiting for a lawaris body (homeless person's body which is generally cremated by a philanthropic organization or trust). As luck would have it, after waiting for some three months, such a body had arrived just yesterday, and he'd been able, in exchange for a good luck charm, to obtain the head of the dead man. In fact, he'd almost run out of water as he had used most of it for cooking the dead man's brain with some rice.

He brought out a blackened pot and showed us the contents. He'd already had one portion of it, and would have to space out eating the cooked brain and rice over the next three days. Repelled, chilled, yet curious, we asked him who he was. He was an aghori, he said, and Calcutta was his birthplace. After early initiation when he was just nine years old into Tantric Kali worship, he'd moved into other deeper sadhnas (disciplines), but always, it was with the forces of the dark. The rules and demands of the search for power in which he was now engaged ordained that he had to eat at least one human brain annually. Already, he had acquired the ability of divining the future. He could actually show us our future, in case we were interested. Why didn't we come in?

The Great Peacful Aghoris Symbol Of Lord shiva

Fascinated yet afraid that at this isolated spot we might end up becoming his annual meal, we left somewhat hastily, forgetting all our lessons in politeness. Over the next few days, I couldn't get the aghori out of my mind. When a brigadier and his wife came to seek a reading from the cards as they were in deep trouble with a court martial looming on the horizon, it gave me the opportunity to go back to the aghori, with the anxious brigadier and his wife in tow. After all, he had said he could show one the future. What better way of testing the claim ? He was still there, at the peak of his powers, he informed us, as he'd recently consumed the human brain. This time, we entered his hut and our eyes soon became accustomed to the dimness. The aghori requested us to sit, and as we sat cross-legged on the earthern floor, placed a lota (container) of water before us. "Look into the water" he commanded. And in the water, we saw the brigadier, older, dressed in civilian clothes. After several sequences, we saw the brigadier with the Supreme Court clearly visible in the background, and he was wearing a dark blue suit and distributing sweets to a group of people who were with him.

Some months after this amazing incident, the brigadier wanted to take a friend to meet the aghori, but when we reached there we found the hut in a sad state : it was just a bundle of grass and straw and twigs strewn on the ground. Enquiries at the cremation ground revealed that the aghori had been driven away by irate residents of Raipur, a nearby suburb. Seven years passed with only occasional meetings with the brigadier, who was no longer in active service and was fighting his case in the civil courts. One day I received a message from him. The Supreme Court was to give the verdict on his case. And when I went on the appointed day, apart from other settings, there, outside the imposing Supreme Court building, was the Brigadier, dressed in a dark blue suit, distributing sweets just as he had been seven years ago in the lota of water the cannibal aghori had placed before us.

Philosophy behind this: Aghoris are indifferent to everything. For them there is nothing good ,ideal or bad. Everything that exists in this world is essentially made up of same thing. Hence they utter obscenities, may take liqour, eat Dead human flesh and do other things which might appear to be 'uncivilised' to us.

We should respect the way chosen by these people for enlightenment. After all lord shiva is also an aghori, yes it was his another name. Many people think that aghori babas kill humans for their rituals, but there is no strong evidence for this. Since this sect has most of its rites and rituals a secret, we don’t have exact number of aghoris present in India, but you can always find few aghoris in the Kinaram aghori temple in Varanasi.

WHAT IS '' MANTRA '' ?

The Incomprehensible Power of the mantras to change one's whole life, on all its levels from karma,mind and emotions to the physical level cannot be understood but only experienced.

Mantras - the name comes from the root Man=mind and Tra=protect. however mantras are much more than a way of "protecting" one from the wonderings of the mind. As is done when repeating a simple word or sound with the intention of reaching a state of concentration upon it.

The mantras are sounds and words of power that, when properly activated by initiation, resonate with specific forces in the universe, and can make these forces become alive in the practitioner.



The mantras are of two kinds, bija mantras and long mantras.

The bija (seed) mantras are single syllabic and each once of these corresponds to a specific kind of energy or shakti (power) which exists in the universe and therefore also in the human organism (according to the adage “what is found outside is found in the body & what is not found in the body will not be found outside” as expounded in the Shiva Samhita).
The long mantras are mantras composed by the combination of different bija's and words, giving rise to complex and unique forces which can be tailor suited for each occasion.
The mantras affect the human organism on all its levels; The Karmic-causal, Mental-Emotional, Energetic & Physical.
As the mantras themselves and the forces working behind them are coming from levels of existence which are beyond the mind (and will lead the aspirant beyond his) it is quite impossible to use words and concepts (which are of the mind) to explain the way in which these mantras work.
However their efficacy can easily be verified by practice, in a very short time powerful results are noticed.
The mantras are used ultimately in order to raise the kundalini energy from its seat in the base of the spine the muladhara chakra to the Apex of the Skull, the Sahasrara. In terms of kundalini yoga, when the kundalini has risen to sahasrara one achieves the state of samadhi.
How the mantras do this we cannot say as we ourselves do not comprehend it. Yet objectively all the signs both external and internal that one manifests in a kundalini rising are experienced.

While in the Kundalini mudras of hatha yoga, the kundalini is raised in a powerful way for a short time, giving rise to transient states of high consciousness. When using the Tantric Mantra Sadhana the kundalini's rise is slower. However any “state” achieved becomes a permanent shift in consciousness. And so while with the kundalini mudras one suffers a “fall” into mundane consciousness after one has stopped the practice, with the Tantric mantra sadhana the practitioner, step by step, raises his consciousness, until it will reach its peak. And never again fall down.

HINDU MANTRA

It is a properly repeated hymn or formula used in ritual worship and meditation as an instrument for evoking the presence of a particular divinity; first uttered by an inspired seer (rishi) and transmitted orally from master to disciple in a carefully controlled manner. A mantra may be composed of but a single sound (om), or several syllables. Each deity is represented by its own mantra. It is only by the correct enunciation of the correct mantra that the deity will descend to enter the body of its images or will respond to a devotee. A mantra has great potency and represents the Supreme Being Himself in the guise of sound. The disciple must keep his mantra secret and say it silently as part of his regular worship. Other mantras are openly known and commonly said, e. g. the Gayatri Mantra, which forms part of the morning ritual.

Hindu Mantra #1

Gayatri Mantra - Most Powerful Vedic Mantra

Om Bhur Buvaha Svaha 
Tat Savitur Varenyam
Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi
Dhiyo Yonaha Prachodayath
Gayatri Mantra English Translation

'' O Supreme Creator, Thou art the giver of life, the remover of pain and sorrow and the bestower of happiness; O Creator of the Universe, may we receive Thy supreme sin-destroying light; may Thou guide our intellect in the right direction. ''
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Hindu Mantra #2

Mahamritunjay Lord Shiva’s Mantra 

Om
Tryambakam Yajamahe
Sugandhim Pushti Vardhanam
Urvarukamiva Bandhanat
Mrytyor Muksheeya Mamritat
Mahamritunjay Mantra English Translation

'' O Great Three Eyed Lord of All Worlds. You are the sweet fragrance of life. You are the creator and sustainer. Free us from the terrible diseases of ignorance, attachment and weakness. Deliver us from the cycle of birth and death to freedom and ultimate liberation. ''
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Hindu Mantra #3

Vishvani Deva Mantra for Abundance

Om Vishvani Deva
Svitarduritani Para Suva
Yad Bhadram
Tanna a Suva
Vishnavi Deva Mantra English Translation

'' O Supreme Creator, You are the creator of the entire Universe. Take away all the bad deeds, bad habits and miseries. Give us all the good qualities, and blissful and auspicious objects. ''
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Hindu Mantra #4

Lord Ganesha Vakratunda Mahakaya Mantra for Success 

Vakratunda Mahakaya
Surya Koti Samaprabha
Nirvighnam Kurumedeva 
Shubha Karyeshu Sarvada
Lord Ganesha Mantra English Translation

"O Lord, with large body, curved trunk and the radiance of a million suns. Please make all my good work free of obstacles, always". 
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Hindu Mantra #5

Om Mantra - The Highest Mantra 

AUM (OM)
AUM Mantra Meaning

The primodial sound representing Divinity and all of manifestation.

Shabda: Acoustical and Spiritual Aspects in Hinduism

Shabda occupies a very important place in Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism). Understanding and realization of Sabda is said to be the goal of life itself. The Amrta Bindu Upanisad proclaims that

Dve brahmani veditavye sabda bramha param ca yat 
Sabda bramhani nisnatah param bramhadhi gacchati

Which means, “There are two Bramhans to be realized, Shabda and Param Bramhan: one who has realized and well versed in Shabda Bramhan will realize Param Bramhan.” Also it is noted by Laksmana Desikendra in Sharada Tilaka Tantra, that the essence of all beings is itself the shabda bramhan.

Caitanyam sarva bhutanam shabda bramheti me matihi

Thus, the above statements from Hindu scriptures indicate that shabda is an integral part of our life. In Vedic literature, it is given that the Shabda Bramhan is omni present through the sound of ‘Om’. The philosophical analysis of this Om (A+U+M) is dealt in several Upanishads.

The modern scientific inquiry of sound, which is also termed as acoustics has shown that sound plays an essential role virtually in all aspects such as earth sciences, engineering, life sciences and arts. Sound in modern scientific view refers to the audible range, with infra and ultra sound covering the inaudible molecular vibration of the medium. Similarly, in Hindu scriptures, shabda originating from the vibratory cause is termed as ahata shabda. This article will only deal with this type of shabda (sound). In addition Hindu scriptures also refer to self-sustaining sound, without vibratory cause, termed as anahata sabda which is experienced only in higher states of yoga.

Thus it is seen that shabda (sound) encompasses the life itself. Broadly we can categorize the role of shabda in spirituality, speech, music, and literature.

Shabda and Spirituality
In Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma, spirituality includes philosophy, yoga, tantra and agama. The source of all these branches of knowledge is the Vedas. Veda is also described as shabda. The orthodox systems of Hindu thoughts are based on the Vedas as authority or shabda pramana. Here shabda refers to the spoken words as mantras. In the process of creation, the first element is space and this allsurrounding space can only be described by shabda. The scriptures say, ‘Shabdaikagunamakasam’ which means ‘only sound qualifies space’. However, sound propagates through other elements, namely air, fire, water, and earth. The sound as only property of space can also be observed in terms of acoustical quality of space in rooms. It is known that the sound quality of a room space is described by the reverberation characteristics. Thus it is seen that the sound plays a major role in the universe composed of five elements.

Sabda and Speech
Shabda as speech is extremely important for human speech is regarded as a gift to human beings. The goddess Saraswati is the deity of speech. The infinitely large Vedic literature in the form of mantras depicts the spiritual effect of sound or sabda. The intonations termed as swaras bring out the sounding effect. The speech seed sounds are generated at various chakras located in the human spinal cord, namely Muladhara, Swadhishthana, Manipura, Anahata and Vishuddhi. The seed sounds generated at the chakras take the form of vowels and consonants in the mouth with the help of the throat, tongue, jaws, teeth, and lips. The space variation in the mouth cavity with exhaling air will enable the production of words. Hence, word is also known as shabda. Shabda as the underlying energy in speech production plays an important role in human life.

The complete process of production of speech is mysterious. It is said in Rgveda that the process has four stages. These four stages are Para, Pasyanti, Madhyama and Vaikhari. The first three are internal and yogic and can be experienced by yogis. The fourth stage is Vaikhari is the audible speech, which is used by all human beings.

Catvari vakparimita padani tani vidurbramhana ye manishinaha Guha trini nihita nengayanti turiyam vaco manushya vadanti

Shabda and music
Music can be described as a universal language of emotions shabda in addition to the well-known form of seed sound and words takes another important form called nada. The nada refers to the flowing energy of sound, which also refers to the expressions of caitanya or consciouseness. Saranga deva in sangita ratnakara says

Caitanyam sarvabhutanam vivrutam jagadatmana Nada bramha tadanandam advitiyam Upasmahe

Which means that ‘we worship nada-brahman, that incomparable bliss, which is intrinsic in all the creatures as consciousness and is manifest in the phenomenon of this universe’. Thus, the nada and sabda direct to the same entity, which is consciousness.

However, nada relates the emotional expressions through music, whereas shabda as sound and word emphasized the philosophical inquiry. In the process of describing the origination of nada, Sangita Ratnakara gives :

Nakaram prananamanam dakaramanalam viduh Jatah pranagnisamyogattena nadah abhidhiyate

Which means’ it is understood that the syllable ‘na’ represents the vital force and ‘da’ represents the fire. Thus, being produced by the interaction of vital force and fire it is called nada’.

This nada which manifests as seven notes becomes the vehicle of emotional expressions through the nine rasas in the form of music and dance. The nine rasas(sentiments) are love(erotic), heroic, pathetic, marvelous, comic, odious, terrible, furious and peaceful. The words of a song denote the sabda(pada) while the singing tune (raga) denotes the expressing of nada. Thus it is seen that sabda and nada are connected by music. It is true that music and dance are integrally related.

Shabda and Literature
A literary work is essentially a composition of words to express the inner feelings tof the writer. In the Hindu view, this writer or Kavi, after experiencing the theme, expresses it through the proper assembly of words. This choice of words indicate the role of shabda. For example: the premier poet Valmiki has demonstrated the effect of poetry and Sabda in Ramayana. It is well known that the Sanskrit language has several unique effects of sound or shabda. The poems in Sanskrit are easy to memorize due to the explicit sandhi (union of alphabets) effect. The large number of vowels and consonants as basic sounds enable the language to deal with many expressions; the metrical details in Sanskrit also bring the sound effect. The infinitely large literature in Sanskrit has been carried throught generations by oral traditions not only because of its intrinsic values for life but also for the joy of sound that it provides the reader and listener with.

Concluding Remarks
Thus, shabda undoubtedly plays a key role in all aspects of life including both scientific and spiritual. Shabda or sound encompasses life itself. As Saranga Deva in Sangita Ratnakara puts it,

Nadena vyajyate varnah padam varnat padat vacah
Vacaso vyavaharoyam nadadhinamato jagat

Which means nada manifests the letters, letters constitute the word, and words make a sentence; so the entire business of life is carried on through language, and therefore, the whole phenomenon (the world) is based on nada.

In the words of Sriranga Sadguru (a seer-yogi, the founder of Astanga Yoga Vijnana Mandiram, Mysore, India, “the two essential aspects of spiritual development are in realization of the identity between ‘Spoken Word-Object’ (Pada-Padartha) and the integral cause – effect relationship of ‘Seed Sound-Word’ (Bija-Vriksha)’.

Special Mantra Saves Men Trapped up Tree by Hungry Tigers

A holy man uttering a special chant succeeded today in calming a group of snarling tigers that had chased five men up a tree, leaving them trapped there for nearly five days.As the holy man uttered his mantra – a mind-calming chant that originates in ancient India – the tigers turned tail and slipped back into the Indonesian jungle, allowing the desperate men to come down from their precarious perch in the branches.

During the long days and nights they had been trapped there, the tigers, which had already killed and eaten a sixth member of their group, prowled around the base of the tree waiting for a chance to grab one or more of the men.

A Sumatran tiger attacked and killed a sixth member of the party after they accidentally killed a cub .While tigers can climb trees, it is believed the terrified men, from a village in Aceh province on the island of Sumatra, had lodged themselves onto slender branches that would not have borne the wait of a tiger. But as the hours and the days went by they became weak from hunger and lack of sleep, each of them fearing they would fall and become another victim of the tigers.

The animals had chased the men – who had gone into the jungle in the Mount Leuser National Park early last week to look for a special wood that is used to make incense – after they had unwittingly killed a tiger cub in a trap that had been set to catch deer.Finding the cub dying from its injuries, the pack of tigers gave chase after the men and caught one, named only as David. He was quickly torn apart and half his body consumed.

They are trapped up a tree in Gunung Leuser National Park, north Sumatra, Indonesia
The men, from Simpang Kiri village in Aceh, northern Sumatra, had gone into the dense forest in search of agar wood, which is very rare, expensive and used in the production of incense and aromatic oils. Just 1lb of agar wood can fetch up to £175, resulting in villagers risking their lives to enter the jungles of the Gunung Leuser National Park where tigers and dangerous elephants roam.

Yesterday Police Chief Dicky Sondani explained why officers had been powerless to intervene.

‘We can’t go rushing in to rescue the men in the tree because of the remoteness and because of the tigers still being there at the base of the tree,’ he said. He told the Jakarta Globe that villagers enter the jungle to look for the pricey wood but they were risking their lives doing so. The group were attacked by tigers on Thursday after they caught and killed a tiger cub in a snare meant to catch a deer.

‘Nearby tigers drawn to the scene of the fatally injured cub pounced on the men and killed 28-year-old David as the five others climbed a tree to safety.’

Just 1lb of agar wood can fetch up to £175, resulting in villagers risking their lives to enter the jungles of the Gunung Leuser National Park where tigers and dangerous elephants roam (stock image)
Resident of Simpang Kiri village learned of the men’s fate because not only were they carrying mobile phones, they had also managed to get a signal, enabling them to call for help. But as rescuers from the village neared the tree they saw David’s partially eaten remains and four large tigers – and fled.
But police said they had little choice but to plan the rescue carefully and that would take some time. The tigers would have to be shot with anaesthetising darts due to their endangered numbers. Conservationists said they had no doubt that the tigers chased the men seeking revenge for killing the cub.

More than 100 Sumatran tigers are believed to roam the forests of the Gunung Leuser National Park. But there are fears their numbers will dramatically drop as the rainforest shrinks and palm oil plantations take their place. Looking for food, tigers are more frequently entering villages and there have been a number of attacks on humans.