Godmen

Juxtaposing the perspectives of Indians towards Godmen surely succeeds in baffling a “non-Indian”. But for a bhartiya, it’s a dilemma which has become a part and parcel of our everyday life. Every era has had its own quota of numerous godmen either claiming of being a reincarnation of God himself or just a guru who enlightens us with a path to our salvation.

Even though the names of these so called godmen have changed with the changing time, the image or the feel attached with them remains constant. One always expects them to be detached from all the worldly pleasures: someone who has already attained nirvana.

In a flourishing community which is highly skewed towards men, seldom do we find a “Godwomen” who enjoys such a bizarre list of followers. This doesn’t mean that I am claiming their existence to be a question mark but rather I am simply throwing light on their low acceptance level by the guru-seekers. Still going against the odds, many a times these women have succeeded in attracting massive chunks of our population and transformed them into their devotees.

But is that it? Are these saints only there to help us in attaining “moksh”? I have always grappled with accepting that there is no other side to their intentions. A part of my growing up was reading about the various heinous crimes committed by them thereby conjuring in me a sense of hatred towards them.

Then what is it that pulls millions of “bhakts” towards these men? Is it their charismatic persona which Hitler is believed to have possessed too or are they actually sent by the almighty himself? This is where rational individuals like me would exasperate in astonishment and throw colossal number of examples exposing godmens who were simply cheats.

Coming from a school of thought who believes that one doesn’t need an intermediary to be one with the creator or himself, I find this whole idea of their existence ridiculous. But then again this is just seeing the world from my lenses and hence would give it an incomplete ending. Brooding on the psyche of the followers who serve their entire lives for these spiritual leaders makes me keen on knowing them personally. What is it that makes them blindly follow them? Is it something which is too abstract for me to comprehend or is it simply an illusion trap in which millions of us Indians fall daily!

Sophia Jose

sophia.jose@northpointindia.com

PGP MR 2015-16

Northpoint Centre of Learning