The New Gods in Town: Bharat’s Obsession with “Miracles”
India has an obsession with self-proclaimed “Godman”, “Guruji”, “Parmatma”. One who can perform “miracles” or provide answers to their miseries and worries. They exist because we don’t have a “psychotherapy” culture in India.
Image Credits: TV9 Bharatvarsh
On 2nd July, 120 people died and many were hospitalised due to a stampede that occurred in a satsang of ‘Narayan Sakar Hari’ in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh. He is commonly referred to as “Bhole Baba” who claims to be an ex-IB officer, left the job in 2000, neglected all traditional gods, and became a preacher of “humanity”.
According to preliminary reports, the number of attendees was far greater than permitted (permission of 80,000 and actual were 2.5 lakh). When ‘Narayan Sakar’ was leaving the event, “bhakts” tried to collect the soil of the path he walked on, guards pushed back the crowd and that’s where the actual stampede occurred, people fell over one another in large quantities and never stood up again.
By birth, humans are social beings, staying in groups with a ‘sense of belonging’. In his preachings, Narayan Sakar has neglected the Hindu gods and claims to establish a religion of ‘humanity’ attracting a vast audience, especially belonging to the marginalised castes.
Narayan Sakar Hari aka Surajpal Singh is from the ‘Jatav’ community, which also explains why his audience is also from the marginalised castes, because there is a similarity in the minds of his followers that he is also one of them, except he is not. Surajpal has immense wealth and political power, which his followers don’t have as most of them are occupied in blue-collar jobs or in agriculture, meaning the audience belongs to the lower class mostly.
Narayan Sakar claims to offer solutions and answers to all of their problems. If you have ever got to know about network marketing, there are lots of people who claim to have achieved lots of things but the reality speaks otherwise. Narayan Sakar has used networking to create his present followership, as each attendee of the satsang had to bring in more people to the next satsang.
Some spiritual jargon when combined with common-sense advice and spoken by a respected person seems like spiritual advice. These advices often include things like, “don’t do alcohol, not to get involved in gambling, respecting others, you will achieve good marks in this exam, just keep studying, you’ll get a job soon”. People are often desperate to solve their daily life problems just like mentioned above. This is when they get introduced by friends and families to such godmen who grant their wishes. People in distress are gullible and are prone to trusting anyone who claims to have the solution for their problems.
We have created hundreds of godmen who all start from simple preachings and displaying some “magical” talent, and in a few years you’ll see them at higher than ever positions claiming themselves as “gods” and sole creators of the universe and everything within it, with immense wealth, some luxurious cars, many “ashrams”, and people queued at their doorstep all the time. Where there are masses of people, politicians, who can pretend to clean drains in the name of attention and votes, often get automatically attracted to these godmen seeking “blessings” and support in the elections. In return, they get the government’s support in whatever godmen do.
On the 70th birth anniversary of Shri Sathya Sai Baba in November of 1995, it is reported that people like the Prime Minister, President, and Chief Justice of India were present at the occasion. It is also reported that after his death in 2012, when his room was opened, it was made of pure gold, his bed made of solid gold and bundles of cash in his almirah behind the bed, and a net worth of more than ‘lakh crores’. His funeral was again attended by some of the prominent people from the government, like then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi.
Becoming a “self-proclaimed godman” is one of the most difficult careers one could ever pursue in his lifetime. Once you proceed on this path, getting back is not an option but earning more than any white-collar job is guaranteed. If done right, you will stand taller than anybody with more wealth and political connections than you could have possibly imagined.
Advantages and Steps of Becoming a Godman
Once a large number of followers and some politicians are on your side, you are allowed to say anything and everything, maybe launch an NGO, do some charity work, or even better open your own charitable trust, get 100% tax exemption from the government. Now with a good marketing team, you can sell anything, from your patented breathing techniques for 1500 rupees per day, stationery with the logo of your NGO, medications which claim to cure Covid-19, or even a 15-day trip to Mansovar under 3 lakh rupees, and everything in between. The market is open and wide, and the consumer base is already present. They won’t ask questions about the authenticity but consume these products as “Prashad”.
The revenue by selling yoga lessons and stationery items might not be adequate. What about the “donations”? They can range from 100 rupees to 100 crores depending on the donor and what they get in return. Remember, they are donating from their goodwill and it is in nobody’s authority to object to it. With the donations collected, now you can fund your dreams of having luxurious cars and houses or just buy a Scottish Island worth millions. Just don’t forget to get them registered under your “foundation’s name”. Some government authorities will definitely pay a visit at your door but you can always tell them of upcoming elections and the support they will direly need.
Unquestionable trust and faith of your followers in you will save you from any allegation. Anyone who questions the credibility of you being a godman or moreover being ‘god’ himself, don’t worry. You already have an army, the followers will take care of the allegations by talking absurdity, providing logic and reason without logic and reason itself.
In case you got some serious police charges like murders or rape, don’t worry. The followers will be there to protect you or start a riot for you. They can go to any heights to save you or your image because gods don’t murder and rape. Even a person who is involved in so many charitable works, talks and dresses spiritually, and has millions of followers can’t possibly do any wrong, can they?
Now comes a little tricky part that is public answering or media attraction. Unlike your followers, they will directly ask some questions about your credibility, but don’t worry the questions won’t be too hard because it is not beneficial for the media channel because you have bought advertising times on their channel too. Prepare the answers beforehand. You can use the same answer for years to come. If the questions are out of syllabus, show some humor, deflect the question, and answer only what you have prepared. You will get praised and worshiped for decades to come. Even after you die, your status of “god” will not die with you and you will be remembered by generations to come. If you had any offspring, they will get a childhood that can’t be imagined by most of the population.
Fearmongering is a very important tool to maintain followership. People are prone to “new ideas” and it is your duty to isolate them from everything which might not be in your interest. Engrave fear in your followers’ hearts like “if you don’t follow this, or not do this then you will perish in this life as well as in the afterlife, you will be born as an animal in the next birth”. Fortunately, nobody wants to be an animal because we know how they get treated in society. Use this tool wisely, it has power greater than anything.
Preaching the same thing might get boring after some years, so involve science in your lessons, but presenting scientific facts straightforward might lead you to trouble, so twist and turn and intermix the scientific knowledge with your spiritual preaching. Say anything like “E is not equal to MC square” or “The Earth is not round because we have not seen it with our eyes”. With your years-long knowledge of manipulation, say some odd things such as “In my previous birth, I was having tea with Einstein when we discovered this concept”. If you speak English, remember to increase your vocabulary with scientific terms such as “consciousness”, “duality/non-duality”, “bio-field”, “chakra energy”.
Congratulations, you are now in the 0.1% of the people who control society. To maintain this status, remember to have good relations with every politician no matter the personal ideology, because political ideology is just a social construct meant for an ordinary man to distract them from real agendas. You are no ordinary man, you have earned the title of “god”, “parmatma”, “prabhu”. Everything else is beneath you. Have a great social media team to maintain and whitewash your image for every unforeseen event.
People in distress are gullible. It is the tendency of human minds to turn to search for a shortcut relief, which is often offered by self-proclaimed baba/guru-ji. In reality, it is a matter of time and mere consequences that short-term problems might get resolved which people link it with them praying to their godman. Only the positive side of the stories is highlighted just to prove their point of being some higher power. Future prediction or guiding the universe according to their will is a blatant lie on the faces of followers. If it is, then why not use this godly power to predict something useful to mankind like a cure for cancer or a terrorist attack on pilgrims’ buses? Maybe resolving some teenager’s attention towards their studies or someone’s marital life is a more important issue.
The miseries and helplessness are an opportunity for the “Jagat Gurus”. The more the crying, the more beneficial it is for them. If you think somebody else will help you out in your lowest, beware of whom you put your faith in. No one else will be responsible for what comes next, but you will be blinded by them to even comprehend the bigger picture, so it might be a win-win situation as you have your distraction. Most of the time, we just need someone to listen to our problems, that’s a cure for your procrastination. For other problems, it’s money. The rest are unsolvable because in reality, they are not your problems but of your kin, you just taking responsibility for them.
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- Content Editor
- Vartikesh Singh, a journalism student at the Delhi School of Journalism, University of Delhi, is making waves in the field of media and communications. He holds the pivotal role of Content Editor at News India Official, where his dynamic skills drive the organisation's digital presence and engagement to new heights. His multifaceted talents make him an invaluable asset to the team.
