Palaghar, Sadhus and Hindus!

It's been a year since the Palaghar lynching incident happened where 3 Sadhus were murdered brutally by a mob. There was a huge uproar to the incident and a lot of anger, which seems to have died down after a year without the necessary action being taken against the mob and delivering justice.

It takes me back to when I was doing a 42-day Sadhana, as a part of which I had to beg for alms( ask for  bhiksha)bare-chested, with an orange dhoti and rudraksha mala in my neck from at least 21 people. So on a particular evening, I decided to visit the Ram Mandir near my home. I went inside had darshan and sought permission to wait outside the temple to beg for alms. The first person who met me was a 35-year-old man who had himself done the sadhana before, he just folded his hand, wished me, and donated. Wow, I was happy the first one was pretty easy. I then waited outside the temple for the next 2 hrs, it was a busy road, with a bus stop just opposite the temple. At least 200 people would have passed by, most of them looking at me with a certain amount of disdain clearly visible on their faces. Some even came near me and said " You are a healthy young man, why all this?" etc I guess you can comprehend what they would have said next.

I was extremely disheartened (not to sound exaggerated), I left the place and when to another popular Vishnu mandir nearby. An old lady selling flowers called me and gave me bhiksha, I walked to all the shops nearby, most of them didn't want to give anything, some felt some kind pity for me? while they donated ₹5? I was supposed to be silent and not look at what amount people were donating, just chant Shambho during the whole process. Some people who very clearly didn't seem to have undergone modern-day education,were happy to see a young person like me, donated and wished me in Kannada "Oḷḷeyadu āgali"(Let Good Happen).

It gave me a reality check as to what perception people have of sadhus, sanyasis or sadhaks. I did receive bhiksha from 21 people by night and went back home.

Something did shift in me, but I wasn't very particular in articulating it.

Fast forward almost 6 months later I was visiting a Hanuman Temple with my cousin, after darshan upon our exit was a Vaishnava sannyasi chanting "On Namo Naryana" and seeking bhiksha. I just went towards him and gave him a few rupees. He would carry a bell, above which he kept the money and blessed me under its weight. I felt happy and was walking back when my cousin says" kaisa aadmi hai bhagwaan ke naam pe bhil maangta hai". I got furious maybe because I knew what significance it holds and yet my cousin would speak in such a manner. I explained the whole thing to him and he didn't have anything to say anymore.

Fast forward to the Palaghar lynching incident, 2 reasons why the incident according to me has caught so much attention  

1) The police, who are supposed to help in maintaining law and order themselves handed over the sadhus to their murderers in front of a police station.

2) The brutality of the murder captured on camera and circulated.

After all outrage, I was still wondering why is it that it doesn't pain people, especially Hindus to see their Sadhus killed in such a brutal manner.

I knew the answer after my experience, but I hesitated to articulate it, for it was not easy for me to digest it.

A large and significant part of Hindu Society(especially Modern Educated Liberals) don't feel the sadhus contribute anything profound to their life, they are just people who have a costume and act out a certain drama in the name of tradition. The popularity of films like PK is just another reality check to this, otherwise, the murder of our Sadhus in such a manner should have shaken Hindus from their deep slumber, but they seem to be drowning in the ocean of Secularism.

We can say that there cannot be a Sanyaasi or a Sadhu compared to the stature of Swami Vivekananda or Ramana Maharishi present every time, yet each person who is holding onto our tradition is significantly important for our civilization.

They are clear, they are killing one man at a time and we don't have the capacity to even stand up to our dharma and civilization.(Dharma pata hoga, tabhi toh khade ho paaoge).

It's not to create more anger in people, but for people to recognize that you must stand up when it's needed, recognize the threat, recognize what value our civilization and culture hold, and not allow asuric forces to destroy it.