The statements made by Tamil actor Sarath Babu in visual media made me to think about this sensitive issue.Defending a god man who was involved in a sex scandal , he said no body has a right to peep into somebody's bed room. Here we get the tricky question. Should a monk be absolved from the responsibility of maintaining a clean image with regard to his personal character? Does a proclaimed swamiji come under the category of 'somebody'?
Some throng to swamijis to hear few good words. Any swamiji is good for them, since listening to satsang is supposedly an old age past time. Some go them anticipating solace from their miseries of life. Driven by a need and curiosity for a miracle, these people in most cases end up being devotees. Some go to them to reap some material benefits which they think swamiji is capable of delivering. Large number of their devotees, sevaks and believers unite like a family developing strong bonding between themselves with goals of serving the corresponding swamiji and canvassing his philosophy. Milder devotees display intolerance towards criticism of their guru and ferocious do not hesitate to blow a hurt to the critic. The close confides of fake swamijis are those related to them in their past lives on earth and are precisely collaborators and benefactors of ill gotten fame of their guru. They make good liaison between swamiji and high statured politicians, bureaucrats, celebs, high value donors. They know the weakness of swamijis but hang to them in pursuit of their personal goals. There no wonder even if they resort to blackmailing.
Swamijis initially come forward to solve the personal problems of all who throng to them. At the end of the day they assure heaven for many of their devotees. They teach them modern techniques of good interpersonal relations, and improved efficiency in work place. It is true that some marriages take place within devotees circle, and few promotions are bestowed to the persons by the bosses belonging to the the same cult. For those who want 'moksha' it has been offered in installments. You will be granted with it only when you can lure few more 'customers' to swamiji. Amway is no different from it. You will be promoted to the next level as you add on more more clientele to the swamiji hub. Hitherto unsuccessful artists come to the lime light with the grace of swamiji while singing in their satsangs.
Present day Swamijis love hair colors, heavy jewelery and designer silk robes. They believe in good stage presence. Few can live without air conditioners and luxury cars. Few believe in their own self healing and specialist doctors are lined up to check their blood pressures and heart beats. Running between hectic schedules it is still a matter of doubt whether any swamiji can pull any time for god. Their celebrity status robs their spiritual inclinations down to the scratch.
These god men are divided into two categories. The old fashioned swamijis are more conversant with orthodox Hindu texts. They are appealingly sarcastic and propagators for superstitions.The other is the younger lot, who are proficient in English and attract foreign devotees with their universal appeal. The modern management guru swamijis are clever enough not to preach renunciation. They do not teach you abstinence. They teach modern management techniques. Emphasis is laid on good interpersonal relationships and improvised work efficiency. They quote few lines from every religious books. They make Gita or Upanishad as modern management manual. Their 'satsung ' is often priced. But down the lane each one of swamijis ends up building a multi crore empire. Principally all of them belong to Hindu monk cult. They build huge prayer halls and confine to traditional ritualistic or devotional routine. All their preachings stem from the fundamental tenants of Hindu spiritualism consisting Bhakthi, Gnana, viragya, and mukthi. Few of them are attributed with miracles too.
Even the ashramites are expected to adhere to certain code of conduct during their stay at ashram.. The inhabitants are restricted from using tobacco, alcohol, drugs and sex, with few exceptional liberal ashrams which cater to foreigners. Despite of all the controls it is not unusual that inmates indulge in some kind of violations.
The scandalous swamiji in recent controversy is no where nearer to Osho. He is a traditional Hindu monk who preaches spiritualism wearing saffron robes. Evidently he is very young and sprang to lime light in recent years. He has been popular with many devotees from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka including celebs. Recently aired videos clippings show him indulging in physical gratification with few actors, offering fodder to the news channels. Evidently one more time people are being fooled by a saffron clad who is no better than a lusty ordinary man. He is not the only sinner. Few more are in the line with dubious credentials.
The only surprising thing in this particular case is that there are scores of people defending swamiji. Swamiji finally came to admit that it was none other than himself who appeared in video, further elaborates that he was in trance while the video was shot by hidden camera. The alleged actress was 'serving' him only like a humble disciple. He has not done any thing any thing wrong 'legally' and the video has been shopped in certain parts.
We compromise with our rationale to the extent that we somehow tend to believe in lying politicians, dubious religious organizations, and self serving regionalist and also fake gurus. We apprehend any day, any thing might turn miraculous to prove our logic incorrect. Since we are fed with this kind of nourishment since beginning, no wonder there are people to defend tainted gurus . Above all we are being told that a swamiji also can indulge in any kind of act which a normal person can indulge yet manage to be a swami. Above mentioned Swamiji cleverly says he never advocated celibacy. After his underground days probably he might come out as charming swamiji who will preach erotic lessons. This is a land of miracles, land of unfounded beliefs, land of credulous.
Finally we came to acknowledge that a swamiji can have a star studded bed room hidden from the public eye !
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