God Men: Holy Men in the Path of the Pursuit of God

Prof Dr Colonel ( Retired)K Prabhakar Rao

The greatest spiritual men in the world have reached the status of divine men only when they completely submitted themselves to the God and freed themselves from the family bonds. They were only ordinary men as long as they remained within the frame work of worldly affairs. Gautama Buddha was known as prince Siddhartha as long as he stayed in the comforts of palace at Kapilavastu in India. He renounced his family including young wife Yasodhara and a small child Rahul and spent years in the search of truth and finally he attained realization under Bodhi tree in Gaya. He was called Buddha from then onwards and is being worshipped as God. Hindu mythology has granted him the status of 9 th incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) remained Mohammed as long as he stayed with his family and became Nabi only when he visited the cave near Mecca regularly and when submitted himself completely to Allah and realized the truth. Jesus was an ordinary boy and person till he left the parents, house and submitted himself to the God during his absence from 13-27 years about which the scriptures are silent. Some scholars claim that he visited India and came in contact with Buddhism that made impact on him and these are reflected in his teachings. Then onwards He was known son of the God and rest is history. Sankara was only a learned boy as long as he remained with his mother in a village in Kerala , an Indian southern state and he was known as the Holy Sankaracharya (Acharya means great teacher) only after he renounced the world and submitted himself to the God completely. Thus we see that great men such as Prophets attained their status only when they submitted themselves completely to the God. Things were not different for Nanak who found Sikhism (1).
Is it possible for every one to attain status like the above men? God men are the true precursors of the truly human and it is claimed by some scholars that it is possible. In the words of Sir S Radhakrishnan, “The God men show us what is human being capable of. The possession of God consciousness by Gautama or Jesus does not remove them from other men. Even if Jesus is sinless his humanity is not affected. Sin is not the essence of human nature. It is a disturbance or corruption of it. In ordinary human being God consciousness is darkened and imperfectly developed while in Jesus it is absolutely powerful, the image of God is in full radiance. (2). For those who believe in God all human beings come from God and go back to him. Following are relevant in this case:
“ Any one who obeys my father in heaven is my brother and sister or mother” ( Matthew 12:50 ). This gives an indication that we are all children of God,

“ you must always act like your father in heaven” ( Matthew 5:48 ).. This is a direction for the people to be accepted as the sons or daughters of the God.

“He came into his own world
But his own nation
Did not welcome him”………………………………….( John 1:11 CEV )

“ Yet some people accepted him
And put their faith in him
So he gave them the right
To be the children of the God…………………………..( John 1:12 CEV )

They were not Gods children
By nature or because
Of any human desires
God himself was the one
Who made them his children”…………………………..( John 1:13 CEV )

The only requirement for all men to become the accomplished sons of God is commitment, following the prescribed path, devotion and complete submission to the God. But why only very very few men are known as prophets and they could achieve the status. If it is so simple as commitment and devotion and submission, why many are not able to achieve the same thing? Obviously it is not very easy to meet the requirements as human beings are tempted by evil, such as passion, lust, materialism, selfishness, hatred and ego. These are the dangerous elements that are after every human being in this world and majority of the human beings in all societies fall a prey to them. As stated earlier, in ordinary human beings God- Consciousness is darkened while in accomplished men it is other way and they attain special status and are revered as Prophets. Thus, we come to understand that such accomplishments are extremely difficult if not impossible for most of the mankind and the prophets are obviously God sent men with a purpose to guide the human race at different times and in different societies. Most of the religions would probably agree to this with respect to their prophets who are highly revered which they amply deserve. However some could maintain that the revelations made to the Prophet of the religion in which they believe is the only unique revelation for the first time in human history. According to Brunner there is no “historical continuity of revelation” (3). Some of the holy men however end up being saints and not as prophets. Such Saints are there in every society. Saints in Christianity, Hinduism and Bodhisattvas in Buddhism belong to this category. Islam however does not accept any one with divine status next to God and Allah is one and absolutely one and no one is comparable to him.
India is a land where there is no dearth of God men. They are referred as Swami, Baba, Guruji, Maharshi, Yogi, Brahmarshi, Mahatma, Acharya, or Sant. While there are some genuine holy men who are learned and Godly doing genuine social service, there are numerous fake Holy men known as God men in India who go about exploiting the sentiments of gullible people across the land. Some have sexually exploited women while some have made lot of money and escaped the police drag net. There have been many instances where such pseudo God men were arrested by Police. Some of the God men have built great estates where they literally enjoy five start comforts and immunity from the law of the land. Some of the God men are politically very powerful too. Some of the reputed God men have influenced people of West particularly in America and various Institutions have been established there by these men. International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) established by Swami Prabhupada is one among them. Other important missions are Chinmaya Mission, Rajneesh Institutions and Maharshi Yogi Institutions that are known to be doing religious service. In Muslim societies too there have been holy men particularly from the Sufi tradition who although believed in all its scriptures, interpreted the scriptures slightly in different form that has drawn severe criticism from the orthodox Muslim clergy. They were persecuted, some were executed and in some countries the practice of Sufism has been banned. The greatest Sufi Al Hallaj was crucified for his convictions that were known as Tafrid. It means on would become aware of the self by withdrawing from everything else. . His statement and al Haqq meaning I am the truth is very close to Upanishad statement I am the truth or I am Brahman or Thou art I. This is Adwaita philosophy. In India, noted Sufis spread universal brotherhood, love and compassion and the Sufis were greatly influenced by Buddhist and Hindu teachings. Some of the noted names are, Baba Salim Chisthi, Nizamuddin Aulia, Khwaja Banda Nawaz, Khwaja Mohiuddin Chisthi, Jahangir Baba, and Baba Moula Ali. Hindus and Muslims had great reverence for them and even today they flock to their Dargahs (graves) and pay respects. Thus we notice that holy men commanded great respect in the societies in all parts of the world.
The question is why the God men are required and are being sought in the society? What are their duties and functions in the society today? In the days of yore, the God men were great scholars in various fields such as scriptures, music, dance, literature, astrology, Statecraft, warfare, wielding of conventional weapons and divine mythological weapons, medicine, grammar, poetry, Yoga and many more arts. They established hermitages away from the busy cities and towns deep in the forests in isolation. Kings, nobles and Princes sent their children to stay at these places and learn various arts and scriptures along with children of common people. They had to serve the teachers with reverence and devotion and had to observe Brahmacharya (abstinence). Some of the greatest teachers of yore in India were Sage V Vyasa, Valmiki, Vashishta, Viswamitra, Parasurama, Agasthya, Bhradwaja, Gautama and Yagnavalka. These hermitages were maintained by the respective kings through endowments and were protected by the kings. The teachers although were valiant and masters of warfare and wielding weapons restrained themselves from taking part in such activities involving themselves in warfare and devoted time for spiritual pursuits. However there are examples of such involvements such as Sage Dronacharaya and Kripacharya who were actively engaged in warfare in the great Mahabharatha war between princes of Kourava and Pandava clans in which Lord Krishna played great part. All wicked men were killed in the battle and earth was relieved of such burden. But as modernity dawned on the world, these hermitages disappeared and modern school education has been established. In the days of yore no certificates were issued after education and ones own conduct and display of his knowledge was only the proof of his accomplishments. In to day’s society such hermitages are of no relevance as the concept of education has changed. For fancy in India some schools are termed as Gurukulas. But these are only apology for the former and these are nothing but modern schools with some spiritual conduct and teaching and prayers. Those who come out of such schools are at disadvantage in society for getting jobs and recognition. Schools that are established to teach Vedic scriptures are no exception and the students who study at these schools find it difficult to earn livelihood although there are some exceptions. In the days of yore and medieval times, studying Vedas was forbidden for the lowest castes and after gaining independence India has established such Vedic schools where any one could study the Vedic scriptures. However there is no great progress in the direction and such schools remain as an ornament of government policy than real schools of learning.
The function of God men is to guide the members of the society on right path prescribed in the scriptures. There are many God men in India who are busy in giving discourses, publishing religious literature, Compact discs, Audio Cassettes, organizing spiritual events and many flock to these meetings. During Muslim rule in India, many Sufis settled in the land. They lived secluded lives in pursuit of God by devotion and guided people who flocked to them. Many Muslim rulers too were their ardent disciples. However the practice varied from ruler to ruler. India is a land where people are easily carried away by external appearance and the donning of robes. Some God men also use techniques of the hand to create materialistic things as if out of nothing and gullible people are mesmerized and carried away and attribute divine powers to them and straightaway fall at the feet of the God men. There is no looking back for them. Although such tricks were exposed by the media in India through hidden video filming and flashed in press, the people have unflinching faith in such holy men too and in turn those who publish such findings get threatening calls, death threats and the offices of the press are ransacked for filming and reporting . People are intolerant everywhere in the world. There is no doubt that some God men are involved in genuine social service and thus their short comings are overlooked if they have any.
Some accomplished men in India have been very frank with respect to God men or Holy men. Saint Vemana who lived in 18 Th centuries (Some claim him to be from 15 Th century) in the State of Andhra Pradesh wrote excellent poetry that could be understood by ordinary and even illiterate men from the villages and lower strata of the society. Following are relevant ( 4):

“Running around the woods and the forests
Searching Gods in rivers swelling
Let wisdom dawn on these insane men
That God is within and in own dwelling”

“Let not men search in caves for teachers
Might come across a cruel and beast mighty
Bound to show the path right real then and there
And it would take you straight to the almighty”

( Translated by Dr K Prabhakar rao)
Vemana is critical that it is futile to run after the holy men searching them in far off places and in caves and in the process, one could even loose life and sarcastically said the wild animal would show the path to the God meaning facing death at the hands of some wild animal. He is also critical that God is not to be found in temples, rivers and mountain tops and one has to seek God within own heart. Again this is nothing but Adwaita as discussed above. Thus we also notice that the religions point towards Adwaita as the path for realization of absolute.
Most of the holy men that go about are dualists and follow the teachings of devotional path that is called Bhakti Marga which is stated to be the easiest way for attaining the absolute. It involves chanting the name of the God in groups and in the congregations of these holy men, this is the main activity and people flock to them in search of solace and peace. People who go about the holy men are known to follow Visishtadwaita preached by Ramanuajacharya in eleventh century. The individual are guided by a holy teacher and is inspired by associating with him and the individual expects to get his qualities of virtue over a period of time. Thus the holy men have become a part of the society in India and they are able to influence west too. Christianity also saw emergence of many saints over the years and they are highly revered. In India, the tragedy is that such genuine men are very few while most of them are taking the gullible people on a wild goose chase and rough camel ride while the pseudo Swamis and Babas (Pseudo Holy men) enjoy five start life and political patronage. Inspite of the widespread devotional path that has engulfed India, seeking God is an individual effort and Adwaita remains the path of higher level of achievement.

Bibliography
1. His Holiness Malayala Swamulu, Devathwam or Daivatwamu , Vedanta Bheri (Telugu), Suka Brahmasramamu, Sri Kalahasthi, 517640, AP, India, Volume 38 and issue 2, Feb 2006, PP19-20
2. Sir S Radhakrishnan, Recovery of faith, Hind Pocket Books Limited, GT Road, Shahadra, Delhi, India 1955, PP 164
3. The Mediator, English translation (1924), PP 25 as cited in Sir S Radhakrishnan, Recovery of faith, Hind Pocket Books Limited, GT Road, Shahadra, Delhi, India 1955, PP 169
4. Prof Dr Colonel ( Retired) K Prabhakar Rao. Saint Vemana and his relevance, New Swatantra times, 8-2-248/B/35, Road No 3 . Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, AP, India. Vol XII, No1, Jan 2000, PP14-15