February 10, 2008
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Feb 9: Hindu religious heads from across the country will meet in March to decide on a self-regulatory code for Swamijis in a move to weed out fake seers.
The Andhra Pradesh Peethadipathis' Forum has taken the lead to hold the conclave of Hindu religious seers, following a spurt in the number of fake swamis and the recent seizure of counterfeit currency and pornographic material from the residence of self-styled godman Sri Tripurananda Nada Swami alias Nityananda Swami in the city.
"We are writing letters to heads of all mutts and peeths in the country on the need to expose fake swamis. A conclave will be held in March either in Hyderabad or New Delhi, which will come out with clear-cut guidelines to define the term swamiji. Nowadays everyone who takes Sri Vidya Upasaka is claiming that he has the vision of the Mother Goddess and declaring himself as a godman. We want to expose them,"
Forum convener and Visaka Sri Sarada Peeth chief Sri Swaroopanandendra Saraswathi told this correspondent.
According to the tradition set by Sri Adi Sankaracharya, only those who posses "Yoga Patta" are to be declared as saints and seers. They have to maintain celibacy at any cost and leave behind the worldly desires. "We have now in the country around 50 swamijis, who have adopted Yoga Patta and Dasanama Sanyasam. They are the true
followers of the sankaracharya tradition," he said, adding that there are thousands of self-styled godmen and fake swamijis, who are bringing bad repute to the Sanatana Dharma.
The proposed conclave of seers will make it clear that those who undergo Sri Vidya Upasaka are not godmen or seers, but are doing so to lead a devotional life. "Such people are doing it for their mukti after leading a family life for quite some time. It is an individual's effort to make oneself religious. Sri Vidya Upasaka does not bestow sainthood on a person. We want to clarify this to one and all," he said.
Tripurananda Nada Swami, who is currently on the run after a police raid on his residence, had taken Sri Vidya Upasaka and not Yoga Patta. "Time has come for the followers of Hinduism to know the difference between a seer and a fake godman. If we do not educate them and evolve a self-regulatory code for ourselves, we will be failing in our duty as religious heads," Sri Swaroopanandendra Saraswathi said.
4 comments:
sri swaroopanandendra himself is a self styled shankaracharya
sri swaroopanandendra with the help of politicians enjoys the life.for any saint, a saint should lead life as praised in bhagavadgita.as per birth swaroop is saivalingadhar.sanyasa is prohibited for them
just having yogpat is not sufficiant.their are hunderds of dasnami yogpats in bharat but of no use.most of them are after name & fame but they shine with bad influance of politicions and media.ALL ARE FAKE .....even TTD is projecting self styled swamis .oh the worst fate of sanatana dharma.
There is no room for this sort of hatred and hierarchy within Hinduism. Hinduism is about experience and self-reflection with a progression toward self-realization and moksha. Therefore, all jockeying for who is fake and who is not fake is commentary for the masses but is really not constructive when thinking of an individual's journey toward self-realization. If we want to talk about the political stance of a Swamiji then the commentary may be appropriate but otherwise let's remember that this is a spiritual journey. If someone truly does see the mother goddess, remember that this means that they see it in themselves. God is not a separate entity in Hinduism and if the author does not realize this than we should keep his commentary in proper perspective. Religious heads declaring a code is a political function and serves no purpose in the true spiritual journey and it is very important to make that distinction. I will leave you with one question: if a religious head is more than a political figurehead and is truly advanced in Hinduism than why are they concerned about the self-regulatory code? Does that not show an in ability to leave behind worldly desires? (self-pride in this case). On the converse, if a religious figurehead is truly political, why should we turn to them for spiritual growth anyway.
Let's not cloud Hinduism with hatred and focus on the true tenets of compassion and self-reflection with the goal of understanding that there is no difference between "you" and "I."
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