Gods, Demons and the Farmer from Kashiram Nagar - Part 1

In the U.S., we are not used to stories about demons and spiritual warfare. Frankly, that kind of stuff creeps us out. But in the developing world, such stories are not uncommon. Idols, curses, demon possession... It's here and it's real, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not!

Well, what follows is the story of a man for whom spiritual warfare is just another part of life. The other day he visited Truthseekers and offered to tell us his story. You'll soon see why I had no choice but to write it all down.

Now, there is a lot to think about here, and it will undoubtedly raise questions. But I'm not going to offer any commentary. I'm just going to share what I heard. Believe it or don't believe it. It's up to you.

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Ram Kishor was a simple farmer. A devout Hindu with only a second grade education, he was just like millions of others all across the country. However, even from his birth it was obvious that Kishor would lead a different path.

On the night that his mother went into labor, a Brahmin priest gave his family a very bad horoscope. Consulting the stars, he proclaimed that "This child will either die very soon, or he will lose an eye."

Sure enough, a young Kishor suffered an accident which left his right eye almost totally blind. Of course, after the accident there was much celebration in his village. He wasn't going to die! The priest came back and gave a new prediction. "Now that he has survived, he will become a devout follower of the gods who will give him the power to help others."

With this prophecy always in the back of his mind, Kishor lived his life as a dedicated and hard working farmer. He constantly looked for ways to show his faithfulness to the god Ram, after whom he was named (Ram Kishor means "The Good Shepherd of Ram"). He got a tattoo of the monkey-god Hanuman on his left shoulder and a tattoo of Om on his right hand.

Kishor's early years passed without incident. Like most young men, however, he became increasingly weary of his daily routine. Around the age of 28, he was fed up with it all, and decided to take his devotion to the next level by chanting mantras. He chanted continuously for 7 months, waiting for something supernatural to happen. Then one day, something did.

Kishor began hearing voices. At first, these voices gave him suggestions of things to do or places to go. As he gave into their commands, however, the voices took over. Kishor became trapped in his own mind, watching as if in a dream while his body went places and did things he could not control. He began living among cows in a field, sinking deeper and deeper into madness and demon possession.

After two or three months of this, the nearby villagers had had enough. They were tired of this raving lunatic yelling at their children and frightening their cattle. They got him admitted into a mental institution where he would be safely contained behind lock and key.

However, the doctors at this hospital were either lazy or deluded, because they released Kishor after only one year. Even though he still heard voices, he was deemed fit enough to be introduced back into society. So, off he went to the only place he could think to go... home.

He was reunited with his family, slept in his old bed and tried to work on the farm again. But things were still not right. He was still hearing voices, except that this time, they were telling him to commit suicide. To drown himself in the Ganges river!


Before long, Kishor found himself on the edge of a bridge, looking down into the murky waters and preparing to jump. Just before he could, however, he saw a vision of a red dog leaping out of his chest and drowning itself in the water. All of a sudden he heard a new voice. This voice wasn't commanding. It wasn't angry. It was... soothing.

"You don't need to kill yourself. You saw the red dog jump. The spirit within you has been drowned in your place. Follow me."

With this new voice in his head, Kishor left the bridge and visited a few local missionaries he knew of. These Christians taught him about Jesus and began reading to him from the Bible. He decided to follow Christ, and was soon learning to read so that he could study scripture on his own.


Eventually, the time came for Kishor to publicly declare his faith. But before this could happen, he had a dream that shook him to his very core. In the dream, he was heading down to the river to be baptized. As he approached the water, he noticed that his old god Hanuman was the one who would be performing the baptism!

Confused by this apparent contradiction, he nevertheless entered the water. The spirit Hanuman placed his hand on Kishor's head and pushed him under the water. But he would not let Kishor come up for air. Hanuman was drowning him!

Kishor flailed for breath, trying desperately to shout out the name of his new God, but a shadow had fallen over his mind and he couldn't remember what to say. All he could get out was "Hail Hanuman." Finally, gathering all of his energy for one final outburst, Kishor yelled out "Jai Yeshua Massih!!!" ("Hail Jesus Christ!").

With that exclamation, the spirit of Hanuman lost his power and became weak. Kishor hurled him into the water and awoke from his dream.

After this bizarre vision, Kishor asked a Christian friend why this had happened. His friend inquired, "Do you have any pictures of gods or idols above your bed?"

"No," Kishor replied. Then he remembered, "but I do have these two tattoos!" Of course! On his shoulder was a picture of the very god that had tried to drown him.

Immediately he ran to the closest tattoo parlor he could find and had both images covered over by crosses. He also decided to change his name. From that point on, he was no longer to be known as Ram Kishor. Now, he was to be called Kishor Massih, "The Good Shepherd of Christ."

Kishor was a new man, a follower of Jesus. His life had been completely transformed. But that's only the beginning of the story, because not long after that, the healings started.

To be continued...