The God Industry?

Written by Huma Iqbal • July 2010

India lately has been rocked by a series of scandals involving self-styled "godmen" who have been allegedly running vice rings and cheating people.

In a world of pain and sorrow, a smiling man in a saffron robe who can cure misery by magic is a bewitching prospect. However, when the same healer is found to be at the centre of a raging sex controversy, it creates nothing but anger and a sense of humiliation among the millions of otherwise complacent devotees.

India lately has been rocked by a series of scandals involving self-styled "godmen" who have been allegedly running vice rings and cheating people under the guise of legitimate religious practices. In March this year, an Indian guru, the long-haired Paramhamsa Nityananda, came into the limelight after local television channels in India showed him allegedly engaging in sexual acts with two women, believed to be Tamil actresses. The guru, who claims to have devotees in 33 countries, was later arrested from the northern state of Himachal Pradesh and was charged with "molestation, indulging in acts that are not in conformity with what they profess to be in religious and spiritual order, obscenity, criminal intimidation and hurting religious sentiments."

The issue, unlike many similar ones in the past has created uproar even in the high quarters of the country where lawmakers in the Karnataka state have called on the government to take over Nityananda's ashram. Following a police complaint filed by a group of lawyers in the city of Madras in Tamil Nadu accusing the swami of obscenity, an inquiry has been ordered by the state to find out if he committed any unlawful activities at the ashram.

The guru has an altogether different story to tell. Describing the video as faked, Nityananda stepped down as head of his global Dhyanapeetam (Meditation Centre) organization soon after the police inquiry was launched. Claiming to be innocent, the swami announced to live a life of spiritual seclusion for some indefinite time.

There has been a mixed reaction to the swami's conduct. To his thousands of followers across India and around the world, Nithyananda Swami is nothing less than a true guru - a genuine holy man who could lead people to spiritual happiness. Following his message - Be blissful - posted on the website of his organization, Dhyanapeetam, or Knowledge Centre, these followers question the authenticity of the video appearing to show the leader getting a little too blissful with two shapely south Indian women!

Earlier this year, Shiv Murat Dwivedi, a 39-year old man with flowing black hair and beard, was arrested in New Delhi for allegedly running a prostitution racket from his temple, involving airline cabin crew and college girls.

He was also said to have amassed more than 600 million rupees (U.S.$13 million) over a period of 10 years. Another Indian swami was arrested during the same period for allegedly raping under-age girls and found to be keeping a tiger pelt, drugs and pornographic videos in his ashram. In the state of Kerala alone, a guru made news after he tried to shoot himself in the head in a police station, upset by a local newspaper report. A third swami from the same state is now on the run after being accused of failing to repay a loan of one million rupees that he took out in his former life as a film producer.

But critics acknowledge that it would be wrong to tar all spiritual leaders with the same brush. They cite instances of Sathya Sai Baba as well as Mata Amritanandamayi, popularly known as the ‘hugging mother', who have used donations from their worldwide followers to set up universities and hospitals not only in India but across the region.

It is evident from the recent examples that for some of the Hindu swamis their knowledge of the Mahabharat and the Bhagvad Gita is matched by their practice of the Kama Sutra.