*An attack by some naked Naga sadhus in Haridwar!* The last Kumbh festival of this century is over, but not the war between the Shankaracharyas of Jyotipeeth here. There are three of them claiming that seat, established by Adi Shankaracharya who, in the eighth century, walked all the way from his village Kalari, in Kerala, to the Himalayas to meditate under a mulberry tree here to obtain enlightenment, bring to an end through discourse the influence and control of Buddhism on the life of the Indian people and revive Hinduism. According to what I've read, India is just teeming with fighting ascetics. Go figure.
"During the Kumbh of 2002, on the big bathing day of March 28, Shankaracharya Swami Madhavashram was badly injured in an attack by some naked Naga sadhus in Haridwar. One of his followers reported the attack to the police and complained that it was provoked by a rival Shankaracharya, Swami Vasudevanand. A few days later Swami Vasudevanand applied for and obtained an anticipatory bail from the Allahabad High Court until the next month. Swami Madhavashram, whose body is in plaster and bandages, told Press persons that he had been receiving threatening phone calls from followers of the other two claimants to the seat. The callers had threatened to kill him soon, he added. Meanwhile, the people of Joshimath, where the high religious seat is located, have decided that the issue must not been resolved through attacks, but by a contest in religious discourse between them before men of highest religious learning, who would then pronounce their verdict. The one who is finally adjudged to be possessing greater knowledge would then be made the Shankaracharya of Jyotispeeth. In Varanasi (Kashi), the city of religious learning, the Vidwat Parishad, or the Council of the Enlightened, met some days ago and, according to its spokesperson Shivji Upadhyaya, passed a resolution condemning the attack on Swami Madhavashram, whom it called the Jyotipeeth Shankaracharya. He said the Council did not accept the claim of Swami Swaroopanand who had declared himself as the Shankaracharya of both Jyotipeeth and Dwarkapeeth. According to the instructions left by the first Shankaracharya contained in documented Shankar-Digvijaya, one person cannot be the Shankaracharya of two "peeths" (seats). In that order, a religious leader who has traveled abroad and taken un-sanctified food there, can also not occupy any Shankaracharya seat. Swami Vasudevanand has travelled to China, Russia and several African and European countries. In a separate statement, president of the Parishad, Ram Prasad Tripathi called for the immediate arrest of those involved in the attack on Swami Madhavashram. The conflict over the Jyotipeeth is almost 25-year-old. But physical fights between the followers of the Shankaracharyas had stopped some five years ago until the Haridwar attack. The Jyotipeeth seat had remained vacant for 165 years, until late 1940s, because of the difficulty for a Shankaracharya to walk all the way up to Joshimath. Then, with the help of the Parishad, Swami Brahmanand, a revered North Indian sadhu was consecrated as the Shankaracharya of Jyotispeeth. He passed away in 1953, after which a struggle broke out for the seat. His disciple Swami Shantanand claimed that his predecessor had left a written will nominating him, and subsequently his followers declared him the Shankaracharya at a ceremony in Varanasi on June 8, 1953. But two other sadhus, also mentioned in the will, refused to accept him. So, on June 26, 1953, Swami Krishna Bodhashram was anointed as the Shankaracharya of Jyotipeeth by learned men in Varanasi. He did not survive long, and in 1972, Swami Swaroopanand succeeded him. Meanwhile, Swami Shantanand had gone and taken over the property donated by the people of Joshimath to the Shankaracharya. Swami Swaroopanand, on being consecrated, proceeded to Joshimath and with his lathi-wielding followers tried to take over the property, which included a large building called Math and a fruit garden around it. Fights broke out with guns and lathis, in which Swami Shantanand and his men won and he remained in control. Swami Swaroopanand bought some land a little below the original seat area and built a larger Math of his own on it. In early 1980s Swami Swaroopanand became the Shankaracharya of the Dwarakapeeth also. Soon afterwards, the Parishad and others asked him to choose to remain the Shankaracharya of only one of the peeths and give up the other. He did not do so, and in 1993, the Council of Learned Men in Varanasi made Swami Madhavashram the Shankaracharya of Jyotipeeth. In the 1,200 year history of the Shankaracharya order, he is the first person from the hills to be placed on that seat. As a result, there is great sympathy and support for him in the region. Swami Shantanand, meanwhile, abdicated and placed his disciple Swami Vishnudevanand on the seat. He lasted only a few years and willed that Swami Vasudevanand be his successor. Now both Swami Swaroopanand and Swami Vasudevanand though bitterly opposing each other, are one in saying that Swami Madhavashram cannot call himself a Shankaracharya. Swami Madhavashram, however, agrees that the issue should be settled by a debate between the three which would demonstrate the level of their knowledge and ability in the presence of the country's religious leaders." Works cited: "Hindustan Times" The Fighting Ascetics of India By Harish Chandola JOSHIMATH, April 25, 2003 'The Fighting Ascetics of India' by J.N. Farquhar University press, 1925 Fortified Temple of Fighting Ascetics: http://tinyurl.com/2v82ze
