Who is a Sadhu ? The one who practices austerity harnessing himself to the mission of service to the people or the one who just boasts tobe a Godman claiming remedies for all evils and ills on earth hypocritically claiming capability to play readily available miracles solving whatever problems could be there.A sage leading the life of an ascetic adherently pursuing service to mankind in action and with prayers is certainly the one who honestly earns love, regard and obviously an obeisance from the people as against those who are nothing but just the lusty chaps exploiting the sentiments of innocent persons for their own ill designed motives. When exposed, they turnout to be the rascals of first order –ruffians,mafias,even the killers.
Only the other day a friend of mine narrated to me an instance of how a so called sadhu was blatantly instrumental in killing the wife of a colleague of his. The sadhu is currently a kattha vachak (story teller) on religion with his disciples in tens of thousands spread over not only in India but throughout the world. He acquired more of fame when he was able to coin an attractive marketing angle amongst his disciples – ‘I don’t need any money as dakshina (presents) but better you offer me atleast one of your vices or whatever bad habit(s) you suffer from.This I will accept as dakshina and as my aashirvaad (blessing) you will get rid of the problem. Such a marketing worked well sumptuously increasing the number of his followers who easily took it as something unique and selfless on the part of the sadhu.Hundreds and thousand started thronging to seek his blessings.My friend’s colleague and his wife, who was a chronic patient of diabetes with several other implied complications, approached the saint as his disciples requesting some remedy. The saint was kind enough to say ‘don’t worry, this moment onwards your problem is my problem.and you take it that you are now no more a patient of diabetes’. The couple’s query whether she should continue with her regular drugs was emphatically met with ‘no, not at all’. The advice followed meticulously, the ailment compounded most alarmingly.When contacted again first over phone and then personally, the sadhu stuck to his earlier advice which the couple followed faithfully. The lady died.The poor chap (victim’s husband) grew half mad.Asked as to why he didn’t question the godman’s audacity to play such a havoc with somebody’s life, his answer was ‘nobody has the courage to do so unless he is prepared for the worst –thrashing, beating, manhandling and even loss of life in the hands of goons hired by him’.
This very godman once turned up several hours late on the venue of the congregation of his disciples who assembled there in a very large number to get blessed by him and obviously to listen to his godly discourse.The reason of the delay was that the organizers failed to pay him in advance the fee for his deliverance of sermons.The godman gave his darshan to the devotees only after the organizers apologized and paid him the agreed advance.The worse part of the drama was yet to happen.The godman wanted organizers to convery necessary message to the devotees that delay occurred as the Baba was in Samadhi mudra (deep meditational posture) and it was so high in degree that coming out of it was just not possible easily. Message conveyed to the gathering, they accepted it well as something so great on his part but there was some murmuring too on the part of some who started whispering their doubts.Before it could further spread, the poor lot so doing were pounced upon by the goons and beaten mercilessly with the warning that if they still continued any murmur on the subject, nothing but death is to be their penalty.Little voices silenced, everything was normal and the godman was in his form giving discourse on the topic of the day –greed, lust and vengeance.Elaborating his points, the Baba told ‘one should not feel greedy as the greed and lust are the causes of all trouble in the world and that if someone is harsh to the other one, this should not be allowed to be a reason for retaliation’.
Kumbhs/Ardh Kumbhs are great events periodically taking place at Pryag (Allahabad) for centuries.The sages, the saints who so gracefully adored these big events earlier are more or less a forgotten lot obliviously and the present scenario, with limited exception, is in no way rich in conveying any message of love,devotion, kindness or service to humanity kind of thoughts.What the changed scenario manifests is by and large the grandeur,the pomps,the fanciful gestures. Displaying themselves in heavy crowns of gold and jewels, the sadhus lead a march mounting on glitteringly decorated elephants followed by their lieutenants on the horses enthusiastically imitating what the erstwhile kings used to do.The kings did it to demonstate the strength of their state against potential aggressions by their enemies and outsiders but why sadhus should do it is a matter that puts a question mark on their entity as the messengers of Divinity, the couriers of godly blessings.
Yoga is recognized the world over as the science of vigour, vitality and over all health for the humans and demonstrations on that count are just common at any religious congregation like Kumbh, Ardh Kumbh.True, such demonstrations do impart a message of health enabling a large number of people to derive a tangible benefit out of it. But there again one can easily come across number of the so called sadhus overdoing yoga with gymnastic feats to the point of exposing their masculine organs aimed at alluring their followers-tobe mainly the womenfolk. In one instance a naga-sadhu performed an acrobatic event tying a thick rope to his masculine organ with the other end of it fastened to a hook in the back of a jeep finally dragging the vehicle for several yards.His potential clientele cheered him showering flowers on him throughout whatever distance it was.One can’t just understand what a message on worshipping the God this sadhu wanted to convey to the people by exhibiting the strength and vitality of his private part.
A lady friend of mine told me in confidence sometime back that a baba with whom she was in regular contact for the purpose of routine puja in her house prescribed her to have sex with him to get rid of certain evil spirits hovering around her as it was he only who could combat them with the supernatural powers vested in him.She reacted to baba telling that she didn’t in any manner feel any presence of some spirit or the other around her, the baba threatened her of dire consequences cautioning ‘you can’t see what I can through my divine capability. I see certain evil spirits in your house and some day you will be killed.The lady stopped going to him.
Such stories are innumerable and as said Shakespeare through his ‘Hamlet’ that ‘the world is without joints’, it appears it is really so, rather it continues tobe so worse confounded. None is yet ‘born to set it right’.
2 comments:
Sadhus in many cases are much different than what they pose tobe.The author has dealt with them quite appropriataely.
I quite agree with author's depiction of present days Sadhus.However it may not be appropraiate to generalise the decay.I recollect my experience of some mahatma's visiting my father in my younger days but they were really pious and in quest of truth and God.
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