Sunday Sentiments
ASARAM
BAPU
THE GOD THAT FAILED, BUT CAN SURELY RESURRECT
The way
events are unfolding in the case of 'Godman' Asaram Bapu it is demeaning not
only for him whom crores of devotees looked up as their god incarnate, their
guru and their savior but also for those who put their faith in him and other
such individuals. Such incidents are violently shaking the faith of people in
godliness of individuals. This is a very depressing and disheartening a scenario
for all those who subsist just on faith. If people are pushed to losing their mutual
faith, their mutual trust and respect in their near and dear-ones, teachers,
gurus and leaders, that would be a catastrophic eventuality. It is in an
atmosphere of mutual, faith and respect that our universe hangs.
The edifice Asaram Bapu has built in the country and abroad
is the sum-total of the people's faith and trust in him and in his professions
of godliness. It is something unique in
him that he could ignite so much faith and trust in himself from crores of
people all over the world. An impersonator can befool some people for some time
but not all the people for all the times. The turn of events in his case has
been shocking enough to shake the solid foundations of faith people had laid in
him. That an aashram should be equipped with a swimming pool like the
one people experience in a five-star hotel has startled one out of one's
slumber of blind faith. God can be sought and realized not in the corridors of five-star
comforts. If it were, everyone staying in a five-star hotel would have been a saint
and a man of god. Only hermits living in complete denial of cosy comforts of a
home have attained god and godliness and not the rajas and maharajas luxuriating
in their palaces.
Maybe, Bapu himself cannot be blamed for all this. Maybe,
some over-enthusiastic of his devotees went out of their way to do all this and
even indulged in acts of illegal encroachments on adjoining government and
private lands and even violated certain laws. But he too cannot escape the
vicarious responsibility for whatever was done in his aashrams in his
name.
Why single out Hindus?
The followers of Bapu do have a strong question: Why is it
that men of god in Hindu way of life are the only target of our media, sting
operations and exposures? Every faith has its share of myths, superstations,
blind faith, hypocrisies, wrong rituals, customs and traditions. We do hear and
read, though occasionally, of wrongdoings in the places of worship and shrines
of even non-Hindu faiths too. Some news reports or even books do appear at
times. But it is only the Hindus who are being singled out for exposure of
their dark side ignoring the unique positive aspects. There has, so far, not
been a convincing answer to this question.
The nature of allegations that are emerging against Asaram
Bapu, his family members and the aashramites bring no honour to anybody,
not even to his followers. But to take the allegations as gospel of truth is
equally wrong. It is none else than Asaram Bapu who knows the truth. As a man
of gold, he is the custodian of truth. He preaches truth, so he must also practice
the truth.
What should Bapu do?
Throughout his long life as a man of god, he had been
preaching his followers to inculcate the virtue of penance, punishment that is
undergone in token of penitence for sin. Only a person of virtue — and not of
vice — can rise so high as to confess one's crimes and sins.
Bapu needs to avail himself of the opportunity of confinement
to jail as a golden opportunity for meditation in solitude. If he certainly has
committed no crime or sin, he should stand up to it and face the situation with
fortitude. But if he thinks he has inadvertently, in any way, in any
circumstances, he should practice the virtue of repentance, "an act that
shows that you feel sorry about something that you have done, something for
religious reasons". He should undertake atonement of his sins and "suffer
the wrath of his God....for having eaten the fruit of the 'Tree of
Knowledge'". The believers in God", it is said "are content that
man's suffering is ordained and, therefore, he accepts life and its trials and
tribulations as a penance for living" (Joseph Lewis)
It would be a very depressing, unbecoming and awkward a situation
to confront where, god forbid, a court of law were to come to the conclusion
that all his pleading of innocence are a series of lies and he is sentenced to
any punishment.
It is time we all — his followers and sympathisers — look
into ourselves, calmly and coolly. ***
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