In the last few weeks, especially since last Sunday, Sathya Sai Baba has become the biggest news in India. You open any newspaper or switch on any news channel, you are bound to find atleast one article about the man. For those who don't know who I am talking about, let me give you a small introduction to the man who called himself God.
Sathya Sai was (and still remains) India's most popular God man. He has approximately 40 million followers across 168 countries in the world. He was born in 1926 in a small town, Puttaparthy, in Andhra Pradesh (India). At the age of 14 he claimed to be the avatar (re-incarnation) of Shirdi Sai Baba. Thus, began the journey of this self proclaimed God and spiritual leader. He died on April 24, 2011, at the age of 84, of multi-organ failure.
With his death came the overflow of information about him, his deeds of philanthropy, miracles performed by him, and what not. Andhra Pradesh declared a four-day state mourning in his honour. Every high profile politician, right from Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh to LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi expressed their grief on Sathya Sai's passing away on national television. Channels constantly showed pictures of lakhs of devotees assembled in the ashram in Puttaparthy, crying as though they had lost a loving member of their family. They also aired old footage showing the various 'miracles' performed by Baba, such as suddenly producing vibhuti (holy ash) in his empty hands and distributing it among his followers, or magically producing watches, necklaces, gold rings and other accessories out of thin air. One video showed a 3 tonne gold lingam (shivling) emerging from within Sathya Sai body, at a Shivratri function in his ashram, in 2004.
Newspapers carried first hand accounts of devotees who had experienced life changing events after they came in contact with Sathya Sai. They also showed photographs of many high profile celebrities like Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar breaking down while sitting in front of his body before the funeral.
I, like every other citizen of India, had heard about Sathya Sai Baba. For me, until recently, he was a guy with long curly black hair who wore only orange clothes, and whose name was similar to the name of another God man. I have been raised to believe that the only God is a power above in the sky, and that no man or woman on Earth can possibly match it. So, I was never interested in learning anything about Sathya Sai, or for that matter any other baba or guru. Then, one fine day in December 2000, I came across an issue of India Today (a leading weekly magazine) lying on my grandfather's bed. I started flipping its pages without much interest, and suddenly came across a story about this self proclaimed God. The article alleged that Sathya Sai was a paedophile who sexually abused small boys and young men, and demanded sexual favors from his devotees. There were first-hand accounts from ex-devotees who described their ordeal and torture in detail. As I read through the story, I felt repulsed by the man and was convinced that every spiritual leader is a fraud who plays with the emotions of innocent and ignorant people to accumulate wealth. However, with time I forgot about the story and about the man itself.
But, with the great influx of news about him in the last few weeks, I became curious. Any news channel I saw or any newspaper I read, I could only find positive stories about Sathya Sai. There was no mention of any controversy around him and no one spoke about him negatively. As I vaguely remembered that old magazine article about him, I started searching about him on the internet. After a few articles which praised him, I found loads and loads of web pages, stories, blogs, and international newspaper articles which condemned Sathya Sai, and told the tales of his misdeeds. During my research, I also stumbled upon a documentary made on him by BBC, called The Secret Swami. The 60-70 minute documentary was a revelation. It contained interviews with devotees, ex-devotees, politicians, and rationalists. It exposed all of baba's 'miracles' as simple magic tricks. Also, it revealed how the BJP government, under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had taken out an order to close down all the investigations against Sathya Sai, related to sexual abuse and the murder of four of his close aides in 1993. Following are the links of the documentary that can be watched online for free:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
After watching this documentary, my mind was actually in a turmoil. It was very difficult for me to understand that how could people be so blind so as to ignore the facts staring them in their faces. It was so easy for anyone to just stand up one day and announce they he/she was the avatar of some God and convince foolish people that he/she had magical powers, by showing some cheap tricks. All I could think was that becoming a baba or spiritual leader is the most profitable business worldwide today. Look at Sathya Sai, that's exactly was he did, and gradually became the head of a trust worth Rs. 40,000 crores (approximately $9 billion).
In conclusion, I would just like to say that the picture of Sathya Sai baba that formed in my mind after watching the documentary and reading the numerous articles was that of a con man, and not a god man. What are your thoughts on it? Do let me know.
Signing Out,
Still Confused
Sathya Sai was (and still remains) India's most popular God man. He has approximately 40 million followers across 168 countries in the world. He was born in 1926 in a small town, Puttaparthy, in Andhra Pradesh (India). At the age of 14 he claimed to be the avatar (re-incarnation) of Shirdi Sai Baba. Thus, began the journey of this self proclaimed God and spiritual leader. He died on April 24, 2011, at the age of 84, of multi-organ failure.
With his death came the overflow of information about him, his deeds of philanthropy, miracles performed by him, and what not. Andhra Pradesh declared a four-day state mourning in his honour. Every high profile politician, right from Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh to LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi expressed their grief on Sathya Sai's passing away on national television. Channels constantly showed pictures of lakhs of devotees assembled in the ashram in Puttaparthy, crying as though they had lost a loving member of their family. They also aired old footage showing the various 'miracles' performed by Baba, such as suddenly producing vibhuti (holy ash) in his empty hands and distributing it among his followers, or magically producing watches, necklaces, gold rings and other accessories out of thin air. One video showed a 3 tonne gold lingam (shivling) emerging from within Sathya Sai body, at a Shivratri function in his ashram, in 2004.
Newspapers carried first hand accounts of devotees who had experienced life changing events after they came in contact with Sathya Sai. They also showed photographs of many high profile celebrities like Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar breaking down while sitting in front of his body before the funeral.
I, like every other citizen of India, had heard about Sathya Sai Baba. For me, until recently, he was a guy with long curly black hair who wore only orange clothes, and whose name was similar to the name of another God man. I have been raised to believe that the only God is a power above in the sky, and that no man or woman on Earth can possibly match it. So, I was never interested in learning anything about Sathya Sai, or for that matter any other baba or guru. Then, one fine day in December 2000, I came across an issue of India Today (a leading weekly magazine) lying on my grandfather's bed. I started flipping its pages without much interest, and suddenly came across a story about this self proclaimed God. The article alleged that Sathya Sai was a paedophile who sexually abused small boys and young men, and demanded sexual favors from his devotees. There were first-hand accounts from ex-devotees who described their ordeal and torture in detail. As I read through the story, I felt repulsed by the man and was convinced that every spiritual leader is a fraud who plays with the emotions of innocent and ignorant people to accumulate wealth. However, with time I forgot about the story and about the man itself.
But, with the great influx of news about him in the last few weeks, I became curious. Any news channel I saw or any newspaper I read, I could only find positive stories about Sathya Sai. There was no mention of any controversy around him and no one spoke about him negatively. As I vaguely remembered that old magazine article about him, I started searching about him on the internet. After a few articles which praised him, I found loads and loads of web pages, stories, blogs, and international newspaper articles which condemned Sathya Sai, and told the tales of his misdeeds. During my research, I also stumbled upon a documentary made on him by BBC, called The Secret Swami. The 60-70 minute documentary was a revelation. It contained interviews with devotees, ex-devotees, politicians, and rationalists. It exposed all of baba's 'miracles' as simple magic tricks. Also, it revealed how the BJP government, under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had taken out an order to close down all the investigations against Sathya Sai, related to sexual abuse and the murder of four of his close aides in 1993. Following are the links of the documentary that can be watched online for free:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
After watching this documentary, my mind was actually in a turmoil. It was very difficult for me to understand that how could people be so blind so as to ignore the facts staring them in their faces. It was so easy for anyone to just stand up one day and announce they he/she was the avatar of some God and convince foolish people that he/she had magical powers, by showing some cheap tricks. All I could think was that becoming a baba or spiritual leader is the most profitable business worldwide today. Look at Sathya Sai, that's exactly was he did, and gradually became the head of a trust worth Rs. 40,000 crores (approximately $9 billion).
In conclusion, I would just like to say that the picture of Sathya Sai baba that formed in my mind after watching the documentary and reading the numerous articles was that of a con man, and not a god man. What are your thoughts on it? Do let me know.
Signing Out,
Still Confused
Nicely written! It's a debatable topic and even I was shocked when all channels, even the notorious Hindi ones showed only good deeds of SSB. I guess they were following the Hindu tradition of not speaking wrong of dead people.
ReplyDeleteI never believed in any man claiming to be God. But then again, it's a personal choice. If he only claimed to be a philanthropist, I would have no problem with him! One of the more interesting aspects of this "blind" following was pointed out by the genius Pratap Bhanu Mehta - the gullibity of his rich and mighty followers! This was an interesting read. Do check it out: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/with-a-pinch-of-ash/783230/
I am also of the opinion that no human being can be God - and he certainly wont be charged with such misdemeanors. I guess matters of faith are not related to logic. As for only positive stories coming out after his demise - India mein parlok sidhar chuke logo par ungli nahi uthai jaati and it is even more beyond question that a Godman like SSB would be targeted.
ReplyDeleteI was actually searching for the links to documentary The Secret Swami but could not find them..Can watch them now :) Do read this brilliant cover story in Caravan magazine http://www.caravanmagazine.in/Story.aspx?Storyid=314&StoryStyle=FullStory
ReplyDelete@Preeti..thanks :) I know it's a highly debatable subject. Yes, if he had portrayed himself as only a philanthropist, then there was no problem. But, claiming to be god is something I don't understand.
ReplyDeleteThe article by Pratap Bhanu Mehta is quite interesting. He gives a very valid argument about the rich following godmen. I quite liked the part where he quotes Chesterton. Thanks for sharing the link :)
@Jaspreet..True, logic and faith can never go hand in hand.
ReplyDeleteThe reason mentioned by you and Preeti (in her comment) about why only positive stories about SSB are coming out is probably the right one. But, then this shows nothing but the hypocritical nature of the Indian media.
@Pankaj..Happy watching :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the link. A very well written story. It clearly shows not only the poor and ignorant, but also the rich and knowledgeable can succumb so easily to such false claims. However, I am quite surprised to read that SSB's devotees turn a blind eye to all the allegations against him and actually justify his actions.
Loving Readers..I respect all your opioions here..but just request you all to comtemplate for few minutes on this thought.. If someone in your family or community post-blogs or comes up any allegation about the love of your mother towards you..then What would be your first reaction..... I am sure none of you would like to hear anything about your absoulte faith in your mother love..So, When you have faith in your mothers love, then why devotees has to forshake thier faith towards thier loving God with all these false and beseless allegations. Also even none of you were present when BBC had visited the ashram or when article was printed India today.All of you were expressing your opinions based on secondary information which is completely manupuliated and far beyond the truth....If you really seeking the truth..Connect to the tiny voice withing your own heart...the Hi-C within each of you. You will know the truth utimatimatly..be at peace and blissfull and clamdown tHe TurMOIL INsidE..
ReplyDeleteyour- Hi-C (Higher Consciousness)