Shankaracharya visits Matoshree, says Uddhav was betrayed
The Shankaracharya also opposed the construction of Kedarnath temple in Delhi and termed it as a mockery of belief. “As per Hinduism, there are 12 jyotiralingas
Mumbai: Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath who had criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for inaugurating the yet-to-be-completed Ram temple at Ayodhya in February 2024, visited Matoshree, the residence of the Thackeray family, on Monday. After the visit, the Shankaracharya commented that Uddhav Thackeray was betrayed, and the pain will not go until he becomes the chief minister again.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray along with his family members welcomed the Shankaracharya at their residence and took his blessings by performing pooja. Besides wife Rashmi Thackeray, MLA son Aaditya Thackeray, younger son Tejas Thackeray, loyalist MLC Anil Parab was also present.
“We have nothing to do with politics. But since we follow Hinduism, we believe in ‘punya’ (virtue) and ‘paap’ (sin) as part of our religious beliefs. ‘Vishwasghat’ (betrayal) is said to be one of the biggest sins, and Uddhav Thackeray has faced it. He called me, and I came. He welcomed us, and we told him that we were pained by the betrayal. Our pain will not go till he becomes the CM again,” said the Shankaracharya. He also remarked that those who betrayed Thackeray are anti-Hindu as a true believer of Hinduism cannot betray anyone.
The Shankaracharya also opposed the construction of Kedarnath temple in Delhi and termed it as a mockery of belief. “As per Hinduism, there are 12 jyotiralingas. Their locations are fixed. Kedar is in the Himalayas, so why do they want to bring it down to Delhi? It’s a mockery. Now, there will be another scam in the construction of Kedarnath in the capital,” he said.
Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati had opposed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s act of inaugurating the Ram mandir at Ayodhya and the ‘pran pratishtha’ of the Ram lalla idol, before the completion of the temple structure, calling it wrong according to Hinduism’s tenets. Commenting on his giving blessings to PM Modi at the recent Ambani family’s function, he said, “Modi is not my enemy. He came to me and bowed before me. It is our tradition to give blessings to those who bow down. So, I gave my blessings to him. Similarly, if he commits any mistake in religious matters, I will not hesitate to point it out.”
Meanwhile, Sanjay Nirupam from the Shiv Sena led by CM Eknath Shinde has slammed the Shankaracharya, for his political remarks. “This Shankaracharya is more political than religious. We have no objection to his meeting Uddhav Thackeray. But he should have avoided any statement on the internal politics of the Shiv Sena. It is not fair and logical to say that Hindus do not betray, as Hindu mythology and history have many examples of betrayals. As far as betrayal in the Shiv Sena is concerned, one will have to decide first, who betrayed whom?” he asserted.