The name of Nityananda has surfaced after quite a while. Nityananda is another one of the numerous scamster Godman, who has brought disrepute to the Hindu religion. He shot into prominence by invading the Madura Adheenam, a three millennia-old mutt and crowning himself as the sole successor of the sect. In 2018, the Madurai bench of Madras HC removed him and restrained him from entering Madurai as well.
Again, he was in public glare, when one of his assistants broke the story of his sexual escapades with an actress. After that, several complaints emerged, of abductions, child abuse, land grab and sexual exploitations. Nothing deterred the saffron-clad Swami, as the number of foreign and local disciples increased continuously. His sprawling Ashram near Bengaluru is in thousands of acres.
In the meanwhile, Swami was reported to have escaped with a forged passport to Venezuela. He was keeping in touch with his disciples only through social media.
How does conmen continue to milk people, and how people continue to be gullible? It foxes me! Nityananda is by no means the first and follows a long list of fraudsters spanning our country. The list of controversial Godmen and women could be very long and does not limit to the following: Asaram Bapu, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, Ram Pal, Chandra Swami, Premananda, Dhirendra Brahmachari, Swami Bhimanand, Sadachari, Amrita Chaitanya, Radhe Ma. Two weeks ago another Godman was raided in Tamil Nadu, Kalki, and unaccounted cash worth Rs.500 crores and many quintals of precious metals confiscated.
What is wrong with us? Are we eternally suffering from infinite wretchedness? Has our faith in God blinded us all that anyone donning saffron robes is considered to be a gateway to heaven? Try locating a sadhu, alone and not with disciples. These disciples mingle with visitors, firstly singing paeans about the miraculous cure they attained, which is bogus and meant to gain the confidence of the credulous, digging out details to clandestinely pass on to the guru. Rest is a cakewalk as the ‘all-knowing’ Swami now predicts the ailments and the cure as well, merely enriching himself in the process.
The authorities are hand-in-glove as the crumbs are large and tasty. It’s the fear of God on which a large part of all present religions thrive, helps these swamis to flourish, despite periodical raids and arrests. The government must step in and regulate the Ashrams, which are like unreachable kingdoms, out of bounds to authorities.
For a few days we will all be discussing the conman, who is now on a mountain of ill-gotten wealth, on the Cayo de Agua beaches!
Hari Om!
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix