Divinity
of Shankara Mutt in Kanchi is under a serious threat in the
aftermath of the alleged involvement of the senior Seer Jayendra
Saraswati in a murder. The divinity of Kanchi Shankara Mutt
was challenged few years back (in 1987) when the Seer Jayendra
disappeared for few weeks, the reason for which is elusive even
today. Before the difference of opinion between the Paramacharya
and Jayendra Saraswati deepened, thanks to His grace, Paramacharya
attained eternity.
With the recent midnight-arrest of Jayendra Saraswati in Mehboobnagar,
near Hyderabad on the Deepavali day, the reputation of the Kanchi
Shankara Mutt hit the nadir. All these years, there were few
rumours and whisper campaigns about the mismanagement of Mutt
Treasury and also the alleged violation of Mutt rules and regulations
by the Seer (the Seer's plan to visit China couple of years
back was alleged to be a violation of Mutt rules). The political
clout enjoyed by the Mutt added fuel to fire and raised questions
in the minds of neutral observes on the role of the Kanchi Mutt
in politics. Jayendra Saraswati's direct involvement in negotiations
related to Ayodhya dispute is a direct pointer to the raising
prominence of teh Seer in national politics, albeit this is
justified as the role of a respected Hindu saint in a religious
dispute. However, the social activities started by the Mutt
such as the Shankara Deemed University and eye hospitals in
various parts of the country certainly contained the damage
to Mutt's reputation and projected the Senior Seer as the social
activist. These activities also justified the huge inflow of
money to the Mutt's Trust. Jayendra Saraswati even started a
social (read semi-political) forum called "Jan Jakaran
Jan Kalyan" through which he was disbursing aid for the
needy people. The point is that Seer Jayendra Saraswati and
controversy has always been intimate all these years ever since
he left theMutt in 1987.
Ironically,
the person who carried Lord Shankar in his name and who was
the loyal acolyte of Sri Paramacharya could not bear with the
style of Jayendra Saraswati and started raising objections to
financial irregularities. Reports say that he left the Kanchi
shankara Mutt long back but continues to be a thorn in the flesh
for Jayendra Saraswati. Shankararaman, the rebel against the
seer charged the Mutt and particularly the Seer with serious
allegations. Two years back, another ex-acolyte S. Radhakrishnan
who has also turned against the Mutt activities was assaulted
by hired-killers and all the attention was directed towards
the Mutt. On 3rd September 2004, Shankararaman was brutally
murdered by the hired-killers within the precincts of Sri Varadharaja
Temple, the well-known Vaishnavait temple in Kancheepuram. Ever
since this murder happened, the opposition parties carried on
a veiled propaganda against the Kanchi Mutt and also insisted
that the true criminals are brought to book. Obviously the serious
allegations of Shankarraman threatened the Mutt and the Seer
who seemed to have a hand in the irregularities of the Mutt.
Not withstanding the political support enjoyed by the Mutt,
the Seer must have estimated the serious impending consequences.
Although the jury is not yet out, the cloud surrounding the
Seer and the Kanchi Mutt is so intense that one cannot give
the benefit of doubt to Seer. The circumstantial evidences are
so strong and they blow a death-knell to him and to the future
of centuries old Kanchi Mutt. The bank transactions, mobile
phone calls, letters confiscated from the Mutt, confessional
statements by the arrested goondas form a crucial part of the
case material against the accused. As "The Hindu"
rightly pointed out, the devotees of the Kanchi Mutt should
realize that "it would be absurd for them to believe communal
allegations that he has been framed by the State Government
to `appease minorities after the general election debacle' or
for other devious political reasons". The charges against
the seer are framed not only under Art. 302 (alleged murder),
but also under the serious provisions of Art. 202
(criminal conspiracy) and Art. 127 ( causing disappearance of
the evidences). The letter written by Shankararaman was found
in the Mutt and the mobile phones of the arrested Goondas carried
the Mutt telephone numbers. And the bank transaction after the
murder, as revealed by the Mutt account in Kancheepuram ICICI
bank, provide a strong evidence of disbursing huge amounts of
money to the hired-killers. These evidences form the 'prima
facie' to arrest the seer.
It
looks like even the high profile political support can not save
the Seer and the Mutt functionaries. This could be the reason
as to why the Tamilnadu Police had to come down heavily on the
Mutt and arrest the Seer. It is heartening to note that in an
extremely rare case such as this, the two bitter antagonists,
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and DMK president M.Karunanidhi,
agree with each other and stand by the principle that the law
must be allowed to take its course in a highly sensitive case
that has no precedent. Karunanidhi appreciated this step and
described it as "an honest action". Almost the entire
political spectrum in Tamilnadu barring BJP praised this bold
and right step. The criticism from BJP, VHP, and RSS is not
at all surprising. The Central government seems to be in a state
of shock and asked the State government to furnish full information
on the arrest. It is surprising that Kanchi seer could not mobilize
support either in the State or in the Central government at
this point in time. Given the political patronage it enjoyed
all these years, it is a surprise surprise. Be it under the
pressure or on its own volition guided by the rule of the law,
the Jayalalithaa government took this honest step which should
be appreciated, especially given the fact Jayalalithaa herself
is a staunch devotee of the Mutt.
If
this swift action by the Tamilnadu government on a 2-months
old case is to gain political mileage against the formidable
opposition combine, on would wait for further scenes to unfold
before making concrete comments. Jayalalithaa has checkmated
Karunanidhi as he cannot but only appreciate this bold action.
The public gains confidence in her governance as this action
comes on the close heels of shooting down the forest brigand
Veerappan. There can not be any allegation against the government
on the law and order aspect, as is accused by the DMK and its
associates. The Tamilnadu Police gained the much needed morale
boosting and could build its image as it fell down so drastically
in the minds of people due to the Jayalakshmi case. The Tamilnadu
police must have collected the crucial evidences on the involvement
of seer in Shankararaman's murder before arresting him. It looks
like that the confession by the two
detained persons on 9th November led to the dramatic turn of
events thereafter. It is very rare to see such a situation like
this one wherein a powerful public personality that too a religious,
well-venerated person was arrested within few hours of clinching
the crucial evidence. If there was no support from the corridors
of power, this could not have become a reality. The BJP criticized
the day, time, and place of seer's arrest. It also argues that
seer need not be detained as he would cooperate with the investigation.
It is not the willingness or possibility of cooperation that
decides the need for the arrest but the possibility and capability
of the accused to erase/alter the evidences that decides the
need for the arrest. On this logic, any delay in arresting the
Seer would have hampered the process of investigation and justice.
As a person who strongly believes in the philosophies of 'Advaita'
enunciated by the Adi Shankara, I am deeply hurt to see the
stain on the great traditions of the Kanchi Shankara Mutt. This
author's heart bleeds to see the assault on the great confidence
and religious beliefs reposed on the Mutt by millions of devotees.
There is a need to release the Shankara Mutt from the shackles
of evil forces. The "Advaita" preaches that "God
and living-beings are not two different entities and they are
one and the same. It is the actions ('Karma') of individuals
that unites or separates these two". Obviously, the Seer
who must be the custodian of this philosophy, by his karma,
denigrated himself too low and he had lost the status of a righteous
Hindu athma. He should not continue as the Seer any longer.
An
over-hauling of the Mutt is the need of the hour. The junior
seer must come forward and hand over the Mutt treasury and its
administration to the Court until a thorough audit and investigations
are completed. Until then the younger seer and his associates
must refrain from any 'worldly' ('lowkik') activities of the
Mutt and protect only the religious rituals of the temple and
the Mutt. He should prove himself to be 'Clean' and must weed
away the corrupt and evil forces that dominate the Mutt activities.
If the younger seer is afraid of the 'Madurai Adeenam' controversy
to be reenacted, he is doing injustice to the traditions of
Adi Shankara. Tough situations require tough actions. All the
office-bearers of the Mutt should be thoroughly investigated.
Only the big fish in the pond is captured and there must be
many other small fishes waiting to be fried. The rules and regulations
for the functioning of any Mutt and religious organizations
(belonging to any religion) should be made stringent. The activities
of such Mutts and organizations must be transparent. The way
the brokers and even some officials turned the Lord Venkateshwara
into a money-spinning object in Tirumala makes one to wonder
when Tirupathi-Tiriala temple is going to expose itself of heinous
sins committed in the name of God. If one wants to have out-of-turn
Darshan of the Lord, the temple brokers exhort thousands of
money to enable a darshan of Lord. Of course, it is the mistake
of devotees to pay bribe to have darshan out of queue. Religion
is a sensitive subject and the religious heads seem to take
advantage of this fact, as rightly pointed out by Mr. Karunanidhi.
The
Hindu dharma says that an upper caste and educated deserve greater
and stringent punishment for a crime than what would be imposed
on uneducated and uncivilized. The judiciary guided by the criminal
law would pronounce its punishment if the seer's involvement
in the murder were proven. But for bringing down the Mutt's
reputation, Jayendra Saraswati should not be allowed to continue
as the seer. If his guilt was proven, he should not be allowed
to enter any temple and Mutt in the world by those who believe
in God, who believe in Hinduism, and by those who believe in
Adi Shankara's preachings. It would be suicidal for any political
party and religious organizations to pardon such a crime blessed
/involved by the Seer of a Mutt. The devotees look up to the
junior Seer to protect the divinity of the Mutt. Will he or
won't he?
Picture: Vikatan
