If only you had listened to this man

This is Chandi Prasad Bhatt speaking at Nehru Museum Library earlier this year. He said exactly the things that you see unfolding in Uttarakhand, not only that he has written these to policy makers. But then: policy makers peh tho development ka bhoot sawar ho chuka hai. Development here means the American model of wanton destruction. Mr.Bhatt was one of the pioneers of Chipko Andolan that saved thousands of trees in Chamoli region, indeed they are desultorily referred to as tree huggers by some. 

  Parasites in the temple

So now the dead bodies of hapless pilgrims will have to be disposed. The sensitive State government has asked the opinion of parasites of the temple (also referred to as priests) who in their collective parasitism want the holy place to be purified!! Here is a situation wherein thousands of people are dead and they are thinking in terms of purification (“shudikaran”). As if dead are impure…

Did the parasites that thrive in temples ever express any opinion on degradation of surrounding and environment as the fragile hills were exploited? Did they protest against illegal (immoral is the right word in this context) constructions around the temples? Are the parasites ever concerned about the well being of the pilgrims, who must add face exploitation at each step right upto the sanctum sanctorum? Temple towns like Puri, Madurai, Haridwar…the list long, are the worst places with the parasites spread across generation, adept in the skill of exploitation. They have armor of cleverness, wiliness, argumentation skills, even shlokas adept for occasion, made proficient during centuries of hereditary exchange. That many have moved to other greener pastures like politics and media, or anything that is manipulatable with high returns, is well documented, requiring similar skills.  Another temple that emerged in the last few decades is BCCI, the cash rich answerable to no one. They make their own rules and the priests have ready shlokas for each occasion, they have mastery of manipulating any situation. The art of stepping aside is one of them. They also made god out of cricketers. Thus rivaling Thirupathi in its earning and power. Who controls the money, where is the money used, is not outsiders concern. As in the case of parasites of temples the pilgrims, that is, the audience/fans of cricket, is not their concern, these are people meant to be squeezed. Praying for the faithful to the god, as they hold the control keys to heaven, is how parasites find their credibility and is not dissimilar to playing for the country or opportunistic media -like for instance first visual claims of tragic scenes or GDP by economists. These are parasites emerging from the same exploitative mindset, only differing in profession otherwise everything is intact.  This is where the concept of greater good for the nation and who will have to relinquish their every possession for development and wait for trickle down finds credence. Shift from brahminism to neo brahminism is the easiest, as they are the same breed, others too are catching up the intricate steps of quid pro quo world with effortless ease as this is part of our collective psyche, second nature.      

The parasites of temple will never show any signs of wisdom that defines “brahmin” because this is an ordained position. Crap ideas of karma and previous birth are added as embellishments for qualification, without any thoughts on compassion or concern. All in days work by unemployable ‘brahmins’ centuries back. Precisely what happens when dimwits have time and leisure of free food, they come out with amazing nonsense not only devoid existential angst of common people indeed make fun of their predicaments.  No they will never protest against exploitation of temple towns since they themselves are part of exploitation, this business includes them. They are traditional parcel of exploitation. Indeed after the tragedy a parasite was explaining how the temple was saved, this is reflection of greatness of the presiding deity, he asserted. In market language it is called brand building, the miracle spin. Who is responsible for deaths of pilgrims is cleverly not part of miracle.    

A person doesn’t become priest because of any competence or wisdom, these are parasites who are sucking in the name of faith for centuries.  These are dark spaces inside the temple, these are blots on faith. Over the centuries they have seeped into Indian psyche with detrimental effect. These parasites have nibbled away the soul of the civilization, and left caste driven zombies (ably exploited by politician as part of thriving democracy). Whatever left is humanness of individuals, a space where humanity still survives. 

Kedarnath also happens to be the final resting place of Adi Shankaracharya, an amazing man. I am in wonderment of this person. He truly was one of the greatest travelers. There is a shloka by him, very remarkable rendition by MS Subbalaxmi. I am sure many of us must have heard it atleast few hundred times…. Bhaja Govindam “Bhaja Govindam bhaja govindam mudamadhe, samprapte sannihite kale nahi nahi rakuate dukokarai”… “when the appointed time comes repetition of names and rules will not save you O fool”… it was statement on repetitive name calling of god and rituals, without any intelligence or reverence or context. Must add it is matter of grave concern that Shankara’s efforts were used to spread ritual driven faith by parasitic forces, that indeed was beginning of the end.  

 

 This is what S. Radhakrishnan had to say on this shloka “When intelligence (jnana) matures and lodges securely in the heart, it becomes wisdom. When wisdom is integrated with life and issues out in action, it becomes devotion (bhakti). Knowledge (jnana) which has become mature is spoken of as devotion. If it does not get transformed into devotion such knowledge is useless”.