Babas in India: Faith, Scandals, and the Quest for Divinity
In this country, achieving the status of a living God is among the simplest careers. Currently, India has thousands of living Gods, many of whom are well-known and often stir controversy. Hinduism, regarded as the oldest religion, traces its origins back approximately 5,000 years. The history of worshiping saints began during the Bhakti movement. People saw some notable souls like Sant Kabir, Sant Ramanand, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and many others and their teachings gave a meaning to the lives of people. Many saints lived with the common people and felt pain like others and worked a lot for the welfare of humanity. There were many saints who worked for social reforms along with devotion. The word saint means one who enlightens. That is, such great men who enlighten about Sat i.e. Brahma, Jiva and Maya are the real saints. At present, it is very difficult to find a true Guru or a true saint.
Today Babas are sitting in every corner of India. In today's era, becoming a Baba has become the biggest startup. Only a handful of them wish to help people. Bowing before saints is Indian culture. All Baba has to do is tell people that everything will be fine. When someone's work gets completed due to some other reason, he starts giving credit to Baba. Slowly, Baba's fame spreads far and wide on the basis of his communication skills. These days Baba Pandit Dhirendra Shastri of Bageshwar Dham, famous as Parchi Wale Baba, is in the news. His witty style of clapping, questions of devotees on pamphlets, miracles, talks of Sanatan Dharma and Hindutva, protection of people in power, strange behavior, controversial statements, allegations of land grabbing, amid all this, Baba's popularity has reached the top. A day before his birthday program at Bageshwar Dham in Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh, a devotee Shyam Lal died and 10 other devotees were injured when the pandal collapsed on the devotees who had gathered to see him amid rain and storm.
Some comments were seen on social media today. People are saying that if Baba had taken out the slip of the deceased devotee and had known his future beforehand, then perhaps he would have been saved from the accident. Baba takes out the slips of people and claims to tell their future. I do not want to comment on the penance, accomplishments and spiritual knowledge of saints. There is a saying 'Aaye the Hari bhajan ko otan lage kapas', which means that he had come to sing the praises of God but started enjoying worldly illusions and pleasures. It is surprising to see the lifestyle of Pandit Dheerendra Kishan. During Baba's foreign trips, seeing his shiny priceless cars, expensive clothes and glasses, doubts arise whether he is a saint? The question is about the faith of the devotees and questions are also being raised about the accident.
Recently, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused him of taking money under the table. Which is being discussed a lot. There is no doubt that getting narration of stories from Babas is not within the reach of a common man. Lakhs of rupees are spent on these stories. Dheerendra Shastri also remains in the news due to his controversial statements. Now the question is why people in India start considering humans as God. It is surprising when many Babas are serving sentences on charges of murder and rape. One Baba kept extorting money by feeding people red chutney and green chutney. Some were caught in sex scandals. In Hathras, about 125 devotees died in a stampede to get the dust of a Baba's feet. Still, due to blind faith, religious people are making humans amazing and supernatural. Although news of such fake gurus and babas being involved in crimes like murder, rape, tax evasion and fraud keeps coming. Still, the passion for faith in these babas continues in India. "There is no dearth of such babas in India who are called by different names Baba, Guru, Sant or Swami, who present themselves as believers with God. They assert that they have direct communication with God and possess the ability to foresee future occurrences. In reality, they are criminals.
Indians come to these self-proclaimed babas because they feel that mainstream politics and religion have let them down. So when there are no politicians or priests to alleviate their suffering, they turn to gurus, babas, pastors and maulvis for help. In many ways, the recent rise of babas like Bhole Baba tells us something about how conventional politics and religion are letting down a large number of people. So these people become followers and turn to unconventional religion in search of some respect and quality. Such groups have emerged in many parts of the democratic modern world. India is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country and people here easily become believers of God. It is very difficult to identify a true saint in today's times. There is only business going on in the name of religion and it is immaturity to believe in the miraculous powers of these babas. In such a situation, man has to become thoughtful.