Presently I happen to be in Chandigarh and what a visit it is turning out to be. I came here for a medical check-up, but it appears that it will have to wait. Chandigarh and its satellite cities of Panchkula and Mohali are in a state of upheaval. All this because of an impending court verdict on a 'rape accused' on friday the 25th by a CBI court in Panchkula in Haryana. That the 'accused' also happens be a 'god-man' with a huge following in the states of Haryana and Punjab has added to the chaos.There has been a large influx of his followers into the region as a show of solidarity and the administration has responded by bringing in additional security personnel to maintain the law and order. How the situation evolves will be apparent in a few hours time when the verdict is pronounced.
Let us stop for a moment and ponder how did the gurus of bygone era metamorphose into the god-men of the present era. The institution of 'God-men' is of recent origin, it came into being in the last century only. The 'Guru-shishya' tradition prevalent for ages denotes a succession of teachers and disciples in traditional Indian culture where teachings and knowledge were transmitted from a guru (teacher) to a shishya (disciple). The former took the responsibility for the spiritual well-being and progress of the latter. The word 'Guru' is so profound that 'teacher' or 'guide' are inadequate terms to describe the meaning of the word. The disciple desired to acquire knowledge from the teacher but this did not mean unquestioning acceptance of all that the teacher said. Even Arjuna in the Gita questions Sri Krishna on many occasions.
'God-men' is a colloquial term used in India for a type of charismatic 'gurus'. They usually have a high-profile presence and are capable of attracting attention from a large sections of the society. They claim to possess para-normal powers and an ability to influence future events. As in Hinduism there is no centrally established religious authority, so people tend to follow such personalities. These so called 'god-men' even enjoy patronage of politicians and high ranking bureaucrats. People look, not for knowledge or spiritual emancipation, but seek worldly comforts and materialistic possessions and the 'god-men' take advantage of such greed. The result is a 'Cult-following' of such charlatans !
Let us stop for a moment and ponder how did the gurus of bygone era metamorphose into the god-men of the present era. The institution of 'God-men' is of recent origin, it came into being in the last century only. The 'Guru-shishya' tradition prevalent for ages denotes a succession of teachers and disciples in traditional Indian culture where teachings and knowledge were transmitted from a guru (teacher) to a shishya (disciple). The former took the responsibility for the spiritual well-being and progress of the latter. The word 'Guru' is so profound that 'teacher' or 'guide' are inadequate terms to describe the meaning of the word. The disciple desired to acquire knowledge from the teacher but this did not mean unquestioning acceptance of all that the teacher said. Even Arjuna in the Gita questions Sri Krishna on many occasions.
'God-men' is a colloquial term used in India for a type of charismatic 'gurus'. They usually have a high-profile presence and are capable of attracting attention from a large sections of the society. They claim to possess para-normal powers and an ability to influence future events. As in Hinduism there is no centrally established religious authority, so people tend to follow such personalities. These so called 'god-men' even enjoy patronage of politicians and high ranking bureaucrats. People look, not for knowledge or spiritual emancipation, but seek worldly comforts and materialistic possessions and the 'god-men' take advantage of such greed. The result is a 'Cult-following' of such charlatans !
