The phenomenon of a criminal, masquerading as a holy man, has been present in our country since ancient days. In fact, it has an unbroken chain extending from Rahu, Ravana and Kalnemi to present day babas and bapus. In Panchatantra and elsewhere, we find stories which have only one lesson that nobody should be trusted on the basis of his just outward appearance. Tulsi Das, a very perceptive observer of human beings, warned of impostors and their trickery in the very beginning of Ramcharitamanas. To quote: "An impostor of fair and outward show may be honoured on account of his garb, but in the end , he is exposed and does not succeed, like Kalnemi or Ravana or Rahu." He goes on to add that, "in the present age, anyone with unkempt hair and nails" is "celebrated ... as a model of mortification." Further, "to be dressed in the loathsome rags and ghastly adornments of a mendicant and feed indiscriminately on any kind of food" is "to be an ascetic, a saint, an object of veneration in that age of iniquity. All kinds of evildoers" are "accepted as preachers" in these "miserable days". In this age "ascetics amass wealth" and "make Brahmins bow down to their feet." "...not merely fools but even clever men are taken in by a fair appearance; look at the beautiful peacock; though its notes are sweet and ambrosial, it feeds on snakes." He underlined that such holy men are "outwardly swans , but inwardly as black as crows ... embodiments of falsehood, vessels of impurity, hypocrites, professing devotion to Rama, but slaves of gold, of passion and of lust." They are, in fact, golden jars full of poison. {These quotes have been taken from English translation of Ramacharotamanas, published by Motilal Banarsidas.)
Posted on: Sat, 05 Oct 2013 00:21:31 +0000
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