Amruta Fadnavis, the wife of the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, is drawing criticism because a video shows her accepting a gold necklace from a self-styled godman. At an awards ceremony at an educational institution in Pune, Mrs. Fadnavis, who is a banker, is seen with Guruvanand Swami, who whisked the necklace allegedly out of thin air. This Guru is worshipped by many and also criticised by most. Some of his former followers have made lots of posts on his typical and shady background.
His former disciples claim that Guruvanand Swami is very strange and full of himself. He boasts about his “greatness” & “supernatural miraculous powers” endlessly. He claims he has no equal in this world and he is far above everyone in holiness and that he is the richest man on Earth. People literally worship him as God (idolizing his photos and bowing down to his feet) feeding his enormous ego 24/7 with endless praises & shower flowers as if he is God in Human Flesh. People mistakenly do believe that Guru is God and Guru (mere creation, one soul of many) is even Greater than God (the all-powerful creator of the universe). In Toronto samagam, he told everyone his ‘1 second private meeting fee is $5,000’.
Brahmrishi Kumar Swami also claims that a few hundred years from now “Scientists of the Future” will be doing “SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH” on his Samagams. In other words, future scientists will be looking at all his Samagams ‘video tapes’ and studying what he “preached” to his mostly uneducated followers from lower and middle class hundreds of years ago. No one knows, why would any scientist will spend single second studying or analysing Kumar Swami’s improbable and contradictory nonsense/propaganda? Besides, religion in general is on the decline and atheism or agnosticism is on the rise. As science is developing its wings, it disproves ancient religion & scriptures.
On the other hand, many believe that the Gurudev is considered one of the most revered saints living today whose blessings have uplifted the lives of numerous people. A disciple of the legendary Yogiraj Devraha Baba, he is a perfected master (Satguru) who is also a renowned scholar of Hinduism and Jainism with a deep understanding of other religions. His core teaching is that we should lead morally uplifting and spiritually fulfilling life, leading to overcoming karmic debts while fulfilling worldly duties. There is debate among believers and non-believers. I actually do not believe in such miracle men so don’t want to comment anything, let us come back to our core topic.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ wife Amruta received condemnation from rationalists for accepting necklace of chanting beads speciously pulled out from thin air by self-declared godman Guruvanand Swami at a function in Pune. However, she clarified that she did not believe in any miracles, but accepted the necklace as it was gifted by an elderly person. These are values that she has been brought up with and these are the values she will continue to practice. Of course, being politically linked, she will be asked about this.
Leaving Amruta aside, it is the facts that even the politicians, whom common man see as high and mighty, bow to such people. This gives them more credence and eventually more power to promote their loot in the name of God. Again, this holds true for all politicians who passively endorse any such person. Over here, it just happened to be Mrs. Fadnavis.
Now the question is that, how this spiritual leader is connected to this event? Why he was present there? Is Amruta a follower of this Baba? BJP desperately needs services of Guruvanand Swami to rejuvenate India’s stagnating economy, or this is another Vote bank issue? Whatever it is, through the ‘medium’ of gold chain, the godman might have conveyed some ‘message’. He might have also asked for ‘protection’ from his shady deals in the past? If not then he should accept the challenge and perform same miracle in front of the rationalists.
Rationalists have demanded that CM Fadnavis should issue a clarification on the incident and tender an apology. In a statement, president of Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti challenged the godman to perform the miracle in controlled conditions as specified by the samiti. The rationalist body claimed that they are willing to offer him a prize of Rs. 21 lakh if he can perform his miracle before the samiti. Following the assassination of rationalists Dr. Narendra Dabholkar on August 20, 2013, the state government had passed the Anti-Superstition Bill in December 2013. As per the provisions of the Act, the one who performs the miracle and the one who receives any benefaction are held equally responsible.
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
