INDEX FOR Hypocrisy of Swadhyay
INDAX PAGE 1. Hypocrisy of Swadhyay 2 2. Human Dignity & Swadhyay 3 3. Reply to an Email sent by Didi Mrs. 5 Talwalkar 4. Issues 8 5. Gita Ch. 9 V. 22 10 6. Concepts 11 7. Story of Nabhag 13 8. X-Ray of Religious Terrorism 14 9. Intoxication of a Cult 17 10. Mr. Athavale is the root of all the 18 troubles ailing Swadhyay 11. Where are the other Lectures? 22 12. Jai Fraudeshwar 24 13. Books of Swadhyay 25 14. Analysis of Swadhyay Followers 26 15. After Effects 30 16. Thoughts on Swadhyay 30 17. Dada’s Bhav Pheri 32 18. Swadhyay: A Money Making Scam 33 19. Honest Questions 38 20. Bhav Samarpan: True Story 39 21. “Good actions done with bad motives 41 are bad. Bad actions done with good motives are good.” 22. Divine Traits of Swadhyay 42 23. Dada & Morarji Desai 45 24. Unfit 47 25. Practice of Swadhyay 49 26. What is Happning? 50 27. Exaggerated Claim 52 28. Flaw in Explanation 53 29. Crime or Sin? 55 30. Holy Geeta 57 31. Hypocrisy, Thy Name 59 32. Gita Learning 60 33. Krishnam Vande Jagat Gurum 62 34. Vedic Sanskriti & Swadhyay 65 35. Ravan & Pandurang 66 36. Dada vs. Anna 67 37. False Propaganda 70 38. Lessons from Mahabharat 72 39. Implications of Asmita 74 40. Daily Gita Learning 76 Page 1 of 108
41. Hinduism or Christianity 78 42. Which Philosophy 79 43. Gorakh Dhandha 81 44. Recollection of an Old Timer 91 45. Lessons from Ramayan 92 46. Chanakya Says: 93 47. Deceit leads to destruction and the 94 truth leads to salvation. 48. Bramha Hatya 95 49. Bhagawan or Chor? 97 50. Impact of Swadhyay 98 51. Scriptures and Mr. Athavale 101 52. Lessons from Ramayan 103 53. Happy Independence Day 105 54. Signs of Kalyug 107
Hypocrisy of Swadhyay
Swadhyay Parivar, inspired by Late Pandurang Shastri Athavale, has always claimed to the movement that has revived the Vedic Culture and restored human dignity. Unfortunately, their words and actions do not match at all. I am giving few examples of the hypocrisy of Swadhyay. Of course, I won’t comment on the obvious one of Gadi Pratha, the very concept that he ridiculed and did a 180 degree flip and established gadi pratha in swadhyay.
It is claimed that the concepts of Bhav Feri, Bhakti Feri, Impersonal Wealth etc are inspired by our Vedic culture. However, when we study our scriptures, we find no such mention of activities even remotely close to that. Our sages and their ashrams relied on government grants and donations. Our sages did not stay in one place for too long and spent long time away from public glare to achieve spiritual wisdom and strength. Mr. Shastri constantly remained in public eye. The concept of Bhav Feri etc can be found in the early tradition of Mormon churches. They also have a similar concept of Impersonal wealth. In our culture, no sages had regular Pravachans at one place. The idea of Sunday Kendra is similar to Christian tradition of Sunday sermons.
Dada has always claimed to be proud of being an Indian. However his actions are very contradictory to this claim. Dada and Swadhyay
Page 2 of 108 always bragged about the recognition received abroad and yet never really promoted the awards given by India. Dada was awared Padma Vibhushan by Indian government. The second highest national honor and yet we hear about Templeton award, Magsaysay award or affinity of Pope towards Swadhyay and Didi. Dada received medical care in US. Why? Did dada not have faith in the doctors of India? With financial resources of Swadhyay, dada could have gone to the best hospitals in India. Yet, the choice was always abroad. During Christmas, Swadhyay organizes blood donation drive in US. Are these actions reciprocated by our Christian friends? Why not blood donation during Diwali or Gandhi Jayanti? Why doesn’t Swadhyay celebrate Independence day of India with as much gusto as it celebrates Dada’s birthday? Isn’t indian independence a land mark event in our history? Dada has repeatedly claimed in his lectures that Europeans made attempts to undermine the Indian culture and philosophy and yet Dada always looked to them for recognition.
Dada repeated expressed his contempt for politicians yet every major Swadhyay function saw huge presence of political leaders. During 1986 tirthraj milan, there was a presence of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani. Mr. Narendra Modi is Didi’s rakhi brother.
Dada claimed to live a simple and humble life but if you notice the lifestyle, that claim doesn’t hold true. Dada travelled by Concord. Dada, Didi and the gang stayed at expensive resorts. Look at the jewellary owned by Didi. Dada had a golf cart so he can meet the brothers and sisters of the Parivar. Why? The wealth belongs to God and yet it was utilized for the luxuries of Athavale family. These are just some of the examples. When will people wake up? When will they see the light of the day? Stop following false idols. Open your eyes and truth will be seen.
Human Dignity & Swadhyay
As explained by Mr. Pandurang Shastri Athavale, the key concept of Swadhyay is restoring human dignity. The quote used by Swadhyay Parivar is ”Rev. Dadaji, by means of a Swadhyayee outlook, philosophy, and a unique way of working, has enabled every last member of society to attain self-reverence, self-confidence, and self-respect and become transformed in the process. Just as important, he has enabled each human being to realize and appreciate Page 3 of 108 the dignity of his fellow human beings, their intrinsic self-worth, and human dignity in general.”
Let us look at the statement and then the events that took place in Swadhyay in relation to that. Let us begin early on when members of the Parivar such as Haribhai Kothari and Prof S. K. Joshi were humiliated and thrown out of the Parivar. Why did the Mr. Athavale or Mrs. Talwalkar not respect their dignity?
After the entire corruption scandal broke, a meeting of trusted Swadhyayees was called at the pathshala. In what they described as a “dark day” in history of pathshala, these senior members (now ex members) claimed that they were beaten and police had to be called to protect these members. How come Swadhyayees failed to protect their dignity?
Mr. Athavale had said that he does not accept any donation or charity. Yet, he had no problems accepting million dollars from the Templeton award. When he received the money, he announced that this money will be spent for the benefit of Adivasis. As we all know, this did not happen. Dada failed to honor his own words. All over the words Swadhyayees proudly announce that we don’t take anything free. Not only lies are told to the members, these members are expected to propagate these lies. When they are questioned in public, these members get embarrassed. Is this really restoring anyone’s dignity?
Didi, during a visit to the US, insulted the members of Swadhyay Parivar stating that throw your money in dirt, we don’t care for them. This was in response to the questions raised regarding financial irregularities in Swadhyay. Everyone works very hard to earn the wealth that they have. Statements such as these undermine people’s hard work, their faith and their generosity. Why wasn’t the concept of human dignity applied then?
Mr. Vinoo Sanchania was viciously attacked. Mr. Pankaj Trivedi was brutally murdered. Other members were threatened with dire consequences if they ever dared to question the supreme leaders of Swadhyay. When members of the family are not treated like family, when their life and liberty are not respected, how is it that this human dignity is being restored? A member named RajivYouth on website equated the violence to Lord Ram killing Ravan and Vali. I do not know whether he is an ignorant
Page 4 of 108 member or if this is an explanation given to him by the circle of Motabhais (Khotabhais). In either case, the message of human dignity has not really been understood by members. In a book titled “Darshan Mari Bari Ae Thi” published by Swadhyay, the author has attempted to compare Mr. Athavale to Mahatma Gandhi. I would like to share an incident to demonstrate the difference between the two. In the early 1920s, Indians, led by Mahatma Gandhi, were engaged in a nationwide revolt that later became known as the Non-cooperation Movement. On February 4, 1922, approximately two thousand protesters gathered to picket the liquor shop at the local market in Chauri Chaura. Armed police were dispatched to control the situation while the crowd marched toward the market and started shouting anti-government slogans. In an attempt to frighten and disperse the crowd, the police fired warning shots into the air but this only agitated the crowd who began pelting the police with stones. With the situation getting out of control, the sub inspector ordered the police to open fire on the advancing crowd, killing three and wounding several others. Infuriated, the crowd took revenge by setting the chowki ablaze, killing the 23 officers trapped inside. Appalled at the carnage, Gandhi went on a five-day fast as penance for what he perceived as his culpability in the bloodshed. In reflection, Gandhi felt that he had acted too hastily in encouraging people to revolt against the British Raj without sufficiently emphasizing the importance of ahimsa (non-violence) and without adequately training the people to exercise restraint in the face of attack. He decided that the Indian people were ill-prepared and not yet ready to do what was needed to achieve independence. As a direct result of Chauri Chaura he and the Indian National Congress called for an end to the Non-cooperation movement. Did Mr. Athavale or Mrs. Talwalkar take any action to explain the concept or stop the violence? Here is the cherry on top of this multi layered cake. An idol of Lord Yogeshwar Krishna in Jalgaon, Maharashtra sits in police custody because the image Lord Yogeshwar Krishna is copyright of Swadhyay Parivar. How does placing copyright on the image of Lord or letting an idol of lord sit in police custody help people attain self- reverence, self-confidence, and self-respect?
Again, I urge everyone to just examine the facts. If you don’t reach the same conclusion as I did, you are welcome to continue you journey as described by Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar. All I am asking for is honest examination of facts.
Reply to an Email sent by Mrs. Talwalkar Page 5 of 108
This is the email being sent by Swadhyay Parivar regarding celebrating birthday of Mr. Pandurang Shastri Athavale. As you can see from the words, they are masters of illusion and hypocracy.
Let us take it piece by piece and see if we can put this email in a context.
According to Rev. Dadaji the best study of the mankind is man himself.: Absolutely correct. Let us look at the actions of Mr. Athavale and see what we learn. Mr. Athavale’s claims regarding his conference in Japan have proven to be lies. His claims regarding Mr. Vinoba Bhave have proven to be lies. Mr. Athavale, all his life claimed that he opposes gadi pratha yet put his adopted daughter in charge.
The central focus of Rev. Dadaji's attention and concern is man . If that was really the case then why is there over Rs. 250 Crores sitting in various Swadhyay Trusts. What happened to the million dollars given to him by Templeton? Where are the details regarding the houses built in Gujarat? What has Swadhyay Parivar done for farmers dying in Vidarbha? What was Swadhyay Parviar doing when there were floods in Bihar and Kashmir? Where were the Devotional Associates of Yogeshwar when hurricane Katrina came?
Rev. Dadaji is not much interested in building theories of cosmology and epistemology. Now that you have clarified that Dada was not interested in building the above mentioned theories and above facts show that Dada really never had any interest in Man, what were his real interests? There is land grabbing, wealth accumulation, use of violence, and nepotism. Can anyone deny this?
According to Rev. Dadaji, all the problems of a modern man are due to alienation of man from himself and his creator. The remedy is Swadhyay (Self-knowledge / Self development ). For Rev. Dadaji to be is to be related. We are very well aware that Swadhyay has been recognized as a cult by cult awareness network. It has been proved beyond doubt that people in Swadhyay have ignored their families and friends. Swadhyay members are alienated from Society in general. Swadhyay members are asked not read any other material other then one written by Nirmal Niketan. They are asked not to be part of any other activities other then Swadhyay. How does alienation from his own people effect the members? Are they even aware of the situation? When
Page 6 of 108 these people are alienated from everyone, how do they develop or learn?
Swadhyay is not a term invented by Mr. Athavale. Swadhyay has been used since days of Manu Smriti. Plus, how is activity that is so focused on bringing in new members and accumulation of wealth be Self Study? Can someone explain this? How is this helping the mankind?
This self-assertion, self-awareness and self-esteem removes gradually many evils and weaknesses from man and bring gradual transformation and elevation of life. If that’s the case, then why is Swadhyay Parivar using violence, fear and terrorism as its mean to defend it self? We are very well aware of Swadhyay’s fear tactics.
Understanding of indwelling God establishes relationship of Divine Brotherhood between man and man under the fatherhood of God. If you really understand indwelling god, then where was Swadhyay Parivar when riots broke out in over Ayodhya? Where was Swadhyay Parivar when violence erupted in Gujarat in 2002? What was Swadhyay’s role in easing tensions during recent Ayodhya situation? Match words with actions first before you make the claim.
Once we accept the doctrine of Rev. Dadaji's indwelling God, then, there is established a bridge between man and man. Though one man differs from another man, still there is common bond between them and that bond is the indwelling presence of God. Thus the relationship through God, through Bhakti becomes self-transcending. First and Foremost, Mr. Athavale did not invent the doctrine of indwelling god. This concept has been part of our heritage from time immemorial. So stop crediting someone who has only duplicated the work. Second, if you were trying to create a bridge between man and man, what is the reason for murdering Mr. Pankaj Trived? Why was Mr. Sachania beaten brutally? Why were members of Swadhyay Parivar threatened and terrorized? Why are you placing copyrights on idol of Lord Yogeshwar?
One can raise gradually from reverence to oneself, reverence to other human selves, reverence to plant life, animal life and finally reverence to the entire creation of God. All the barriers built by man get destroyed and man becomes citizen of kingdom of God. Only reverence created by this cult is for Mr. Athavale and his daughter. It is so funny that celebration of Mr. Athavale’s birthday lasts
Page 7 of 108 three days while celebration of Lord Yogeshwar is one day. We have Ashiti Vandana celebration for Mr. Athavale and street plays for Lord Yogeshwar. If Swadhyay was in process of breaking the barriers, then why were senior members such as Mr. Haribhai Kothari, Prof S K Joshi, etc who worked shoulder to shoulder with Mr. Athavale to build this activity, were humiliated and thrown out. Why have you closed the temple in Bhav Nirzar and filed and affidavit stating that its not even a temple? When you imprison god, when you terrorize his children, when you steal in his name, how are you building his kingdom?
Let me share a story of Mr. Haribhai Thakkar. Most people are aware of him due to his publication of “Karma No Siddhant”. He has lectured and authored many other books. In his will he wrote, that neither me nor my family shall have any copyright of this work. You can get it printed where and when you want and how you want without permission. His request was simple that if you are a non profit organization then you can charge for books at cost and if you are a private entity books must be given free. He has published books on Bhagvad Gita, Vedant, Glory of Death, Shrimad Bhagavat etc. World over his material is reaching people without any charge. Message of lord can be propogated without glamour, shows and awards. That is true celebration of God’s work.
In short, Mr. Athvale was a good Kathakar and misused his art and cheated many innocent God loving people and made Billions. He reminds me of Dhrutrashtra.
Issues
Thank you Vijay Uncle. You are absolutely right. We presented overwhelming evidence on this forum. It is unfortunate that neither the people nor the law enforcement has woken up to this.
It is so unfortunate that as brilliant as people are, they always turn blind when it comes to matter of faith and spirituality. It is not just Swadhyay, it is not just hindus. These activities are happening in every corner of the world. We have seen how many catholic priests were involved in abuse of children? The case of Ted Haggard. Case of Swami Nityananda, Asaram Bapu. Every follower thinks that their Guru/preacher is the best yet no one really opens their mind. It is a matter of democracy. It is a matter of leadership. Doubts should be encouraged. Introspection should be welcome. Page 8 of 108
Discussion should be appreciated. Dialogue must occur.
We have so many members coming up here. They defend Swadhyay to their last breath. I would have no objection to that if they took time and truly examined the facts then came for a serious discussion. Quoting slogans and hymns of Bhagavad Geeta is not substantial discussion.
To summarize the issues for everyone's convenience, we object to following:
(1) Violence and Murder. Many on these forum equate these acts to somehow what Lord Rama and Krishna did. No one takes this into consideration that it was after failure of government that lord took matters in his own hands. If truly you were following their examples, you would have allowed courts to hear the case. Allowed a ruling. And if the truth was by your side, why fear a group of few people who sought clarification? Violence and Murder has no place in civil society. Human life is precious and no matter what grand delusions anyone has, no one has the right to take human life.
(2) Accumulation of wealth: Isha Upanishad says anyone who hoards more then what is theirs is a vulture. Swadhyay sits on over 500 Crore rupees collected in name of serving lord not being utilized. What is the purpose of this wealth? What do you plan to do with it? This is not Mr. Athavale or Mrs. Talwalkar's money. This belongs to Yogeshwar. It should be used.
(3) Copyright on Lord's image: I have had a member tell me that somehow the image in Jalgaon Temple is similar to that of Tatvagyan Vidhyapeeth. My question is, so what? Where in Gita does it say that only followers of Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar have the right to worship this form of Krishna?
(4) Vyaktipuja. It is surprising that Mr.Athavale gets more devotion then Yogeshwar. Why? How many of you celebrate birthdays of Vyas, Vasisht, Vishwamitra or Valmiki? Has any saint or their children ever celebrated their birthdays in this grand scale? Is this really part of our tradition? Gratitude towards god or Guru. Now I know many will claim Kabirji: Guru Govind Dono Khade, Kisko Lagoo Pay, Balihari Gurudev ki Diyo Govind Dikhay. That is true, but then true guru will say that though I have played a role in you reaching God, it is only through god's will that this result has come in therefore he should
Page 9 of 108 be the center always. Does Swadhyay celebrate birthdays of Ram, Krishna, Vyas, Valimiki, or other great luminaries in this grand manner?
(5) Gadi Pratha: It is very surprising after practicing Swadhyay for 50 years Mr. Athavale could not find any one of his followers capable enough to lead the "parivar". Why make god's work dynastic? Do you see children of Valimiki, Vishwamitra, or any other sage doing this. Dynastic accession is acceptable in politics not in faith. Remember King Shantanu appointed Kripacharya after his Kulguru retired. Why not someone else?
(6) Swadhyay has been granted access to many forums of other faiths including Christians. We are aware that Christian population spends millions of dollars in converting our tribal population. Why hasn't someone from Swadhyay addressed these issues? How come no one has explained that forcible conversion are wrong? What has Swadhyay done to restore the glory of Idol Worship?
If you can have substantial discussion then you are most welcome on this forum. But please do not come on this forum and give us talking points given by your "Khotabhais".
Gita Ch. 9 V. 22
We have been studying the works of Mr. Athavale to see where his theories come from. We have discovered many serious flaws in his explanation. Here is one for example. In Gitramrutam and in Story of Bhakt Kavi Jaydev in the book "Shraddh", Mr. Athavale claims that meaning of Yogkshemam Vahamyaham is that Lord not only provides "rotlo ane otlo" (Food and shelter) but breaks the laws of nature for his devotee. Many before and after Mr. Athavale have studied Shrimad Bhagavad Gita and no one really agrees with this conclusion. On our review the true meaning is as follows:
ananyas cintayanto mam ye janah paryupasate tesam nityabhiyuktanam yoga-ksemam vahamy aham
………….TRANSLATION
Page 10 of 108
But those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form--to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.
…………….Chapter 9, Verse - 22.
The real meaning of Yoga - Ksemam is this: Yoga - process that unites one to God and Kshemam is the ingredient needed for the process. As a reference you can mention the Second Adhyay of Satyanarayan Katha, where the poor Brahmin and woodcutter were provided with the material needed for the vrata. That is the true meaning of Yog Kshemam Vahamyaham. God does not promise to break the laws of nature for devotee. For this sentence, you can use ramayan as a reference point. When Lord Rama praying to ocean for giving him permission to cross him and ocean does not listen. Lord Rama gets angry and decides to dry the ocean up. The ocean comes out in form of a brahmin and tells Lord Rama: "tava prerit maya upjaaye, Sristi hetu sab granthani gae. Prabhu aaysu jehi kahan jas ahai, so tehi bhaanti rahe sukh lai. Prabhu bhal kinh mohi sikh dinhi, marjada puni tumhari kini". Meaning: "with your inspiration the world has been created. This is quoted in the Scriptures. Everyone would be happy if they stayed within the bounds of what has been decided for them by their lord. Thank you for your punishment but I am bound by your rules." Even Lord Rama had to accept that rules that he has created have to be followed.
We have read following books on Gita for our reference: (1) Geeta Bhavarth - Hirabhai Thakkar (2) Krishna Nu Jeevan Sangeet - Gunvant Shah (3) Talks on Geeta - Vioba Bhave (4) Bhagvad Geeta: Eknath Eeshwaran (5) Geeta ane Jeevan: Haribhai Kothari.
Concepts
Many Swadhyayees tell me half heartedly that the “Concept” is great. I’d like to ask these divine Parivar Members, which concept are you talking about? Bhakti Pheri, Impersonal Wealth, Swadhyay Kendra, DBT, Amritalayam, or Yogeshwar Krishi? Which concept are you talking about?
The concept of Bhakti Pheri has been used by the Church of Mormons for ages. Lord Buddha and his students also used this concept in spreading Buddhism. So to say that concept of Bhakti Pheri is an original idea of Mr. Athavale is as funny as saying Pizza is an Page 11 of 108
American food.
What about Impersonal Wealth? Let me assure you all that in Churches and Schools of US we have been using this concept and except me no one else has even heard of Mr. Pandurang Shashtri Athavale. We host Car Washes, Bake Sales, even do chores around the houses to raise money for charity. Hospitals and Retirement Homes in US have special Volunteer Departments dedicated to service. I have volunteered at hospitals, blood bank etc and at that time didn’t even know about Mr. Athavale.
You will say that concept of Swadhyay Kenda. I would like to point out two things on that matter. First of all, Christians spend every Sunday in Church listening to sermons given by the preachers. There are also Televangelists who deliver their “discourses” through TV. So that is not new. Also, the reason behind these TV Kendra was political. They started after Shri Haribhai Kothari left. Previously, there were “Chintanika” Kendras. The reason for stopping “Chintanka” Kendras and starting Video Kendra was simple. There were many people who were giving great discourses. If their popularity grew, some day they may challenge the authority of Mr. Athavale or Mrs. Talwalkar. So neither the concept is original nor the motivation is a good one.
What about Divine Brain Trust? Well, in Europe and Russia there are many Brain Trusts that run. As a matter of fact, US President Roosevelt had a Brain Trust that advised him in developing policies during the Great Depression. (We learnt this in history, also at that time there were people in US who laughed at this concept). The communist party of India used to have Brain Trusts as well. This was a Communist idea to gather followers. I would like to ask another question to these devotees of Mr. Athavale or Mrs. Talwalkar. If people like Haribhai Kothari, Ramdas Gandhi, S K Joshi, Hemraj Asher, hadn’t worked hard, do you think Mr. Athavale would have achieved success?
Now we come to Amritalayam. Well if you know about Gayatri Parivar’s Yug Nirmaan Project, you would know about their “Kutir Mandir” project. Loknath Amritalaym is replica of that concept.
Now the best one. Yogeshwar krishi. If you are not aware, for last 400 years or so, Sikhs in Punjab area have been doing “Khalsa Kheti”. They have been following their Gurus and perform their duties on
Page 12 of 108 these farms singing hymns from Guru Granth Saheb. They are far more effective as the income generated from these concept actually helps people.
So my dear blind sheeps, which concept really belongs to Swadhyay or Mr. Athavale?
To take credit for someone else’s successful ideas is not an achievement. Do not encourage this false propaganda and criminal activity.
I hope this clears up the concepts.
Story of Nabhag
Followers of Mr. Athavale take his work as the last word on every matter without verifying the facts. As an example, I have discovered another flaw in works of Mr. Athavale. I am certain that people are aware of Shraddh series. In part one, Mr. Athavale tells story of "Nabhag". Divine Brain Trust in Texas University has posted this flawed work on this link: ftp://uts.cc.utexas.edu/.snapshot/sv_daily.0/student/dbt/docs/stories /nabhag.html
The story is about "Naabhaag" not "Nabhag". This story is found in Shrimad Bhagawad Puran, Canto 9, Chapter 4/5.
So here is the story in brief. Naabhaag returns home from his Gurukul. There is no details of meeting someone at Ashram. I would like to ask Mr. Athavale's followers to show where Mr. Athavale got this part of Naabhaag meeting a Kulpati of Ashram or delivering a discourse at this ashram.
Now continuing story, Naabhaag comes home and his brothers tell him that he has received their father as inheritance. There is no mention of Naabhaag meeting his father Nabhag before coming home. As described by Mr. Athavale.
So the father tells Naabhag that Bramhins of Angiras Gotra are conducting a huge Yagna. They are making a mistake on the sixth day. If you teach them two sutras, then when they depart for heaven they will give you their remaining wealth. There is no mention of Naabhaag requesting wealth for giving guru dakshina. Shrimad Bhagawad does not Page 13 of 108 even mention a nephew of Naabhaag as described by Mr. Athavale. Again, can anyone from this divine parivar tell me where this part of story comes from? Also, Shrimad Bhagawad Puran does not mention father and son being thrown out. Mr. Athavale also mentions that a king is conducting this Yagna. Shrimad Bhagawad Puran does not mention a King in this story.
So the last part of the story is that Naabhaag completes the yagna. He is given the remaining wealth. Lord Rudra appears at that time and claims the wealth. Naabhaag goes to his father for justice. Naabhaag's father says that wealth remaining from Yagna belongs to Lord Rudra. So Naabhaag apologizes to Lord. Lord pleased with Naabhaag and his father returns the wealth to them and also teached Naabhaag Sanaatan Bramhatatva. This is not mentioned by Mr. Athavale at all.
Shrimad Bhagawad also provides "Phal Shruti" of this Akhyan. Whoever recites or meditates on this story each morning and evening will achieve prestige and knowledge of Vedas.
Naabhaag's son is King Ambrish, whose story is well known.
Again, if Mr. Athavale did his own research he wouldn't have missed this at all.
I urge the followers to wake up and smell the coffee. Mr. Athavale only duplicated works of others and therefore has repeated mistakes that have been made by others. If Mr. Athavale was a scholar as described by "Khotabhais" who had elephantine memory, how on earth did he miss such a big boat?
X-Ray of Religious Terrorism
In the later part of 20th century and at the start of 21st century, many activities have come up in name of sect and religion in India. Many of these activities have a good side but along with that they have adopted many illegal and immoral methods to prove that somehow one sect is better than other. These methods have deeply hurt the psyche of general public.
Many of these leaders of so called “sects” are as dangerous as Osama Bin Laden. These people have used hypocrisy to realize their ambition. Here is a modus operandi of how they achieve these goals. Page 14 of 108
Do some good work in society then over exaggerate the good work that has been done then convince the people that somehow the work they are carrying out is much bigger in terms of scale and scope. If someone asks legitimate questions then try convincing them and if that doesn’t work harass them, terrorize them, abuse them, beat them up or even go as far as taking their life.
People who ask legitimate questions are treated as obstacles in path. The leaders of the “sect” are constantly thinking of ways to remove these “obstacles”. When they achieve their goal of removing these obstacles through immoral or illegal ways, then this is how they explain their action: 1. This was not done by us. 2. Other people are doing this to malign us. 3. This is being done to obstruct our good work. 4. People hungry for power/publicity are doing this and we are innocent. The leaders of such so called “sects” appear to have adopted methods popularized by Joseph Goebbels.
Let us revisit experiences of people who care for society and have lauded good work but that same time they have always pointed out flaws that may damage the good work or have a negative impact on society. Let us also see the reaction of their genuine concerns and legitimate questions: 1. Mr. Gunavant Shah - Now he does not need any introduction. Mr. Shah had said that he has respect for Mr. Athavale and the work being done by him but he also objected to Vyakti Puja. He questioned intolerance and lack of respect in Swahdyay. What was the reaction? Threatening letters, Phone Calls, Abuse 2. Yaasin Dalal - Journalist and renowned writer. He also objected to the wrongdoings of Swadhyay Parivar. He also got threatening letters, anonymous phone calls, and told not to write anything about Swadhyay 3. Tushar Bhatt – Editor of Times Ahmedabad – Commended Swadhyay for their revolutionary thought process but at the same time objected to their wealth accumulation and hypocrisy and he faced the wrath of Swadhyay Parivar 4. Kumarpal Desai - a notable author and columnist – Was blacklisted by Swadhyay for his views on Swadhyay. 5. Swami Satchitanand – he had warned members of Swadhyay regarding the exact same things in 1986 during “Tirthraj Milan”. When he objected to Swadhyay’s violent methods after brutal murder of Pankaj Trivedi, he was attacked and is facing several legal cases in court.
These are the people who are not part of any sects and are neutral
Page 15 of 108 observers of the society. Director of IIM, Mr. Narayan Sheth and Prof. Devvrat Pathak of Gujarat University also appreciated the good work of Swadhyay but are disillusioned by current trend in Swadhyay.
Let us look at those who had dedicated their life to work of Swadhyay. The first person who faced this modus operandi of Swadhay was Shri Haribhai Kothari. Many in Swadhyay used to call Haribhai “Chhote Dada” or “Chhote Shashtri”. People in society viewed Mr. Kothari with respect. When he questioned the wrong doing of Mr. Athavale, he fell out of good books of both Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar and then he faced serious defamation campaign against him carried out by members of Swadhyay. Excited by the success of these methods, many other dedicated Swadhyayees faced this. Some of their names are: Hemraj Asher, Ramdas Gandhi, Mahesh Shah, Satish Rudhani, and S K Joshi. All this was done in name of saving the “Karya”. Dada, Didi and their supporters are right, everyone else is wrong. Then came the whole campaign to malign their characters, humiliation and expulsion, court cases, physical attacks, threats and abuse. Creating an environment filled with fear and grief. This was all being done by Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar to ensure that power did not slip out of their hands.
After death of Mr. Athavale, there was a dramatic rise in use of these methods. Mrs. Talwalkar felt that these methods were bringing in desired results. Followers blindly obeyed Mrs. Talwalkar. Through brainwashing, the followers were convinced that Swadhyay is the only right thing and everything/everyone else is wrong. In order to create a sympathy wave in her favor, Mrs. Talwalkar carried out a long drawn campaign called “Asthi Kumbh Yatra”, where she took ashes of Mr. Athavale to various places including UK and USA and then Archiryan.
Mrs. Talwalkar used this sympathy wave to firm up her support. She started making several claim. People were explained that as long as the work was good, methods/tools used to carry it out did not matter. This diluted the emphasis on purity of thought and action. Many pious people left Swadhyay and low level thinking prevailed. Those who opposed this in Gujarat, Maharashtra, UK and USA faced dire consequences for questioning absolute authority of Mrs. Talwalkar. Same methods were used as before, lying, threatening, abusing and harassing.
In discussing all of these, I forgot to mention an important event.
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This may also help in putting things in perspective. This involves Hon. B. J. Diwan. Mr. Diwan has had a long illustrious career as a judge of Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh High Court. He also served as an acting governor of Andhra Pradesh. He had been working with Mr. Athavale since 1959. When the first letter written by Mr. Pankaj Trivedi came out in open, Mr. Athavale asked Mr. Diwan to meet those who were dissatisfied with the way things were being done in Swadhyay and prepare a report on this. Mr. Diwan prepared a report along with his suggestions but they were completely ignored. When Mr. Diwan was shocked when Mr. Athavale claimed: “This is not Yogeshwar’s work, This is my work.”. With a heavy heart, Mr. Diwan resigned from his post of trustee in Bhav Nirzar Trust.
We know the chain events here onwards. Attack on Vinu Sachania, Shankarlal Thakkar, multiple cases and harassment of Pankaj Trivedi and the height of this was brutal murder of Pankaj Trivedi. Media did a great job in covering this murder and forcing government to take at least some action. I still hope that even though justice is being delayed that it will not be denied. In the end, all I can hope is that may lord give each one of us wisdom to do what is right and help us heal from this. I’d like to quote a line from Adi Shankracharya on this: na me dve şar āgau na me lobhamohau mado naiva me naiva m ātsaryabh āva ḥ
I have neither likes of dislikes. Nor have I covetousness or greed, Nor have I any arrogant vanity nor any competition with anyone.
P.S: everyone has the right to disagree with this assessment. I would be very happy if I am proven wrong.
Intoxication of a Cult
Mr. Athavale had a great respect for Karl Marx. Mr. Athavale had glorified Karl Marx in many of his lectures. Mr. Athavale also talked about visiting the house of Karl Marx in his lectures. Karl Marx had once said: "Religion is like opium." Mr. Athavale used that statement as a business model and truly pulled off a remarkable heist.
When you are intoxicated by Opium your body and mind become relaxed. Also, the intoxication of opium lasts only several hours. Whereas, intoxication due to religious extremism, blind faith and power lasts life time and makes one more aggressive. The common feature in both
Page 17 of 108 intoxication is that ability to differentiate between right and wrong is lost.
Mr. Athavale was not a great scholar by any means. However, he had a good understanding of human weaknesses. Mr. Athavale exploited people for his personal gain by taking advantage of these weaknesses.
He repeatedly claimed that Swadhyay was not sect yet took Swadhyay in direction of CULT. When Mr. Trivedi was murdered, Swadhyay bought news paper ads (no newspaper was willing to publish their lies) claiming innocence. On the other side, people like Ms. Parul Raichura from Chicago who support Mrs. Talwalkar asked whats wrong with it? If Didi has asked us to murder someone, there is nothing wrong in it. The intoxication due to power and blind faith can be seen in Swadhyay everywhere from innocent people of small villages to educated idiots living abroad.
Both Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar have been very successful in supplying this intoxication of faith and power to their followers. However, they forget that there is a higher power.
Mr. Athavale's last days on this earth were torture. He lost his leg to gangrene. He was blind, deaf and lost most of his mental capacity. (I'd like the blind followers to study lives of other great luminaries. Show me one avatar who had death as terrible as Mr. Athavale). Mr. Athavale's suffering, in my opinion, were due to this blatant exploitation of people, and complete disregard for god. When an average man suffers like this, many say this is due to his karma. Why then use different yardstick for Mr. Athavale?
A visiting ex-swadhyayee from USA once told me that Mrs. Talwalkar is not afraid of god or his will. I'd like Mrs. Talwalkar and her blind followers to think on this matter. In mid phase of her life, she has been spreading lies and terror in name of saving the "Karya" and the definition of "Karya" is expansion of Swadhyay not growth of people as human beings.
Do you think that god will not pay attention to this? Do you not think that there will be consequences?
Mr. Athavale is the root of all the troubles ailing Swadhyay
Swadhyaya Movement (if it can be called one) has spread rapidly in Page 18 of 108
Gujarat, parts of Maharashtra and has many followers in UK, USA, and UAE. If we analyze this activity and its downfall logically, the conclusion is definitive that Dada is at the root of all that ails Swadhyay.
Brother Manav has captured the sentiments brilliantly in his post. Didi, Mahadevbhai Mangela, Ishvar Tandel, Manish Savsani, Bharat Bhatt and rest of them are intoxicated due to the poison fed to them by Dada. The components of this poison are: (1) Religious Extremism (2) Intolerance and (3) Power.
Didi and her followers like hippies are spreading this poison throughout the society. Governments are battling drug cartels everyday to ensure that drugs like opium, heroin, LSD etc are not sold to people. Yet, we see them failing. Why? Because the state of intoxication provides more pleasure and also these drugs are addictive. No one wants to admit they are addicted. Same analogy can be used for Swadhyay. None of the Swadhyayees will admit that they are intoxicated or addicted. So let us proceed with the analysis:
Dada started the Swadhyay activity in 1954. His father Vaijnath Shastri Athavale used to give discourses on Bhagavad Gita, Upanishad etc at Madhavbag Pathshala. Dada inherited the pathshala. “Bhakti is a social force” was the slogan he gave to the new recruits to spread the message but his aim was to fill his own coffers.
Dada grew up in extreme poverty and had therefore always had the ambition of earning great wealth. He paid attention to human psychology and learnt what were people’s weaknesses. He also studied Karl Marx. Dada had mentioned several times in his lectures that he had read “Das Kapital” several times.
He hid his ambition of wealth behind the veil of “Ayachak Vrat”. He created this false impression, which was greatly propagated by his followers like Mr. Paramanand Gandhi, that he did not seek wealth at all. In other words, Dada was a two faced personality. He realized that in order to rule for a long time, religion was a better avenue then social or political service.
So he began his journey with the goal of minting money using religion. He read works of people like Vrajlal Shroff, Bal Shastri Hardas, G M Joshi, Rev. Savdekar and Vinoba Bhave. Being a great
Page 19 of 108 orator and lack of availability of these books to general public made Dada look brilliant. He started boosting ego of his followers by giving titles such as Krutisheel, Bhav Lakshi, Part Time Rushi, Sagar Putra, Motabhai, Motaben etc. In those early days, Dada used to host 100 day shibirs at pathshala feeding egos of his followers to recruit more people. In those days, fact verifying was not easy so he started spreading false stories about himself. We are already aware of claims made regarding his trip to Japan, his alleged meeting with Vinoba Bhave. Those who think that Didi is taking Swadhyay in wrong direction and Dada has nothing to do with it need to think about it. When these false propaganda started, Didi was still in diapers.
Dada then presented his own version of Ekadashi, Bhagavan no Bhag etc. through his dedicated followers spread this message across Gujarat, Maharashtra and various countries. Money started pouring in. Dada never provided those financial details to anyone. People like Purushottam Kheraj and Mr. Somani (who was known then as Sugar King) were made trustees. Later they were thrown out when they asked questions. Dada was great at quoting scriptures to embarrass people and when he did that his blind followers felt reverence for him.
Dada then gave experiments in name of god. If you notice all his experiments involve one of the two things: (1) Raise money or (2) Gather more followers. These experiments included Bhav Pheri, Bhakti Pheri, Ghar Mandir, Yogeshwar Krishi, Shri Darshanam, Matsya Gandha, Hira Mandir, Goras, Parivar Stores and Yantra Mandir. People used their efficiencies in name of god and benefits were being enjoyed by Dada.
Initially, Dada had full time Krutisheels who were carrying his “message” forwards. To ensure that their expenses do not drain the funds from Swadhyay Trusts, Dada asked rich businessman and industrialist to keep these members on their payroll. Dada used to tell them: “He is your family priest. You have responsibility towards him. Each month you should give him salary as well.” These are Dada’s words. So the Swadhyay funds started to grow even at faster rate.
In 1986, Dada hosted Tirthraj Milan. This event was mainly organized as a show of strength for Dada. Politicians from all over India were invited. No one really paid attention to the fact that Dada had criticized politicians harshly in his lectures. Full details of political presence at Tirthraj Milan can be found in Swadhyay
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Publication “Dadhichi”. Dada made over Crore Rupees in Tirthraj Milan. They sold Dada’s pictures, books, bhakti chakra and then shamelessly sold the cloth used for tents as “Prasad”. No one dared to question this.
Even though the funds were growing at rapid rate, salary of those full time Krutisheels still came from those rich businessmen. No one got the benefits of the funds accumulated in Swadhyay Trusts except Dada and Didi. Those who had spent over 40 years dedicating their lives to Swadhyay did not even get pension, gratuity or a gift as a token of appreciation.
Under the false propaganda, awards such as Magsaysay and Templeton were won. Dada promised that he will not buy even a cup of coffee with this money. It was promised that award money will be spent on human development project. But alas, the money was deposited in personal accounts of Dada and Didi. In 2001, Gujarat was struck by terrible earth quake. Swadhyay Parivar world over raised money to aid the victims of this calamity. Local Swadhyay Kendras made kits to aid the people and credit was given to Dada and Didi. Dada made initial claims that 40,000 houses were built by Swadhyay. When challenged on the figures, tunes changed to 4534 houses were built and later diluted further to say that raw materials were provided to build these houses. A web of lie and deceit was built and blind followers were not able to see through this.
In 2000, a huge celebration was held at banks of Narmada called “Ashiti Vandana”. This grand scale program was organized to appoint Didi as a successor to Dada. Even though Dada knew that Didi’s training was incomplete, due to his affection for her, he still appointed her. Didi had wealth, youth and oratory skills of her father and therefore blind followers accepted her without any questions.
In 1954 when this movement started, Dada had given few core principles: 1. This is god’s work 2. This work is being headed by Yogeshwar 3. This is not a sect
By 1990s, these principles had been changed to suit Dada’s and Didi’s needs:
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1. This is Dada’s work 2. This work is being headed by Dada/Didi 3. Swadhyay became a CULT
If people pay attention, this appears like the George Orwell novel Animal Farm. All this happened under supervision of Dada and with his consent. Following verse of Shrimad Bhagavad Gita aptly applies to this: “mayadhyakeshna prakritih suyate sacharacharm”. (Ch. 9, Sh. 10). I am certain supporters of Didi will recognize since they claim to know everything about Gita.
There were many people whose ego was boosted in early days by Dada, who had spent their life glorifying Dada, were unceremoniously thrown out of this loving brotherhood of man under fatherhood of god. Didi created her own force of yes-men and strangled the faith of people. New age of money power and muscle power was ushered into Swadhyay. Initially, Dada tried to win over those who opposed Didi by emotional blackmail. When that did not work, these people were systematically isolated then threatened. When that did not work physical assaults were carried out and every dirty legal trick was used to harass them. When those tricks did not deliver the result, the ultimate evil act was carried out. A pious bramhin was brutally assassinated. At each step, big advertisements were bought in paper to proclaim Swadhyay’s innocence. But between public outcry, media’s endless coverage, and smart detective work brought the truth out in public.
All of these events could’ve been prevented if Dada and Didi really wanted to prevent them.
I hope these details will aid everyone in reaching the right conclusion.
Where are the other Lectures?
I want to share a true incident with you all that happened recently. One family stopped going to Swadhyay after attending Kendra for several years. The reaction was surprising. They received phone calls, Khotabhai and company visited them at their home and asked: “Why have you stopped coming to Kendra?” Response given was fantastic. “From last 20 years, you have been playing the same old tape of Dada. There are four things that we have been hearing about for last two decades. 9th and 10th Chapter of Geeta, Ved Mantras and Isha Vasya. Didi shouted from the roof tops that Dada has been Page 22 of 108 delivering discourses for last 50 years without repeating the topic. So where are those other discourses? Why aren’t those discourses being brought out?”
To tell you the truth, people need good material to do Swadhyay. Now a days people are saying: “Do you guys know anything else besides Trikaal Sandhya? We have been hearing the same old stories each time you come for your Bhav Pheri and Bhakti Pheri. Tell us something different.” There is a saying in Gujarati which I will translate here. If its in the well then it will be captured in the pot. Here the well is empty, how can you expect pot to have anything in it.
To tell you the truth, if Dada really wanted to spread the knowledge regarding our faith and culture, then we have more than enough literature to discuss. But if people are given freedom then they will not chant “Dada Dada and Swadhyay Swadhyay” as they do now. The truth about Dada is that he couldn’t share the spotlight at all. He didn’t like anyone else speaking from his “Vyas Peeth”. If Dada had his way, he would ask Morari bapu and Rameshbhai Oza to speak as well. We have many other brilliant scholars like Gunvant Shah, Suresh Dalal, Makarand Dave etc who can discuss our scriptures at great length. Forget outsiders, even insiders like Haribhai Kothari, Hemrajbhai Asher, Ramdas Gandhi, Paramanand Gandhi, S K Joshi, Jagdish Shah and Justice Diwan can deliver discourses for months at length on our philosophy. I will accept that the Vyaspeeth at Madhavbag Pathshala belongs has been inherited by Dada and Didi but the Vyaspeeth of Swadhyay is not an inheritance.
There are multiple reasons for not having other “discourses” on the market. Principle of marketing is that you have to give public what they want. Other then above mentioned topics, Dada’s other discourses have flopped. Also, if people heard those discourses, true face of Dada will come out. Dada has spoken on many controversial subjects. If his true views regarding scheduled caste people were known, you would know that Dada was a racist. Dada wanted a dictatorship in Swadhyay. Indications of his intentions are present in his discourses.
The other reason for hiding these discourses is simple. Dada plagiarized lot of his discourses. So, they are waiting for opportune time when people who Dada plagiarized from die so that his authority cannot be challenged.
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The other reason for hiding his discourses are of course calculations of Didi and her gang. If they released all the material then people wouldn’t buy it. After Dada’s death, if you release these materials slowly, people will pay top dollar for it. On this forum, we have already shown the profit margin of Swadhyay books. So why cash in all the goodies at once?
A line from a famous song aptly describes this phenomenon. “One Two Ka Four, Four Two Ka One, My Name is Pandurang, My Name is Pandurang.”
Jai Fraudeshwar
I have been getting good responses to my posts. I want to thank each and everyone for their kind and encouraging words. I have spent my life spreading message of Swadhyay. While I still believe that the principles are impressive, the entire operation is a fraud. I dedicated my life to this cause and when I learnt of this betrayal, I was shocked. Finally, I found a place where I can express myself.
So let me continue sharing my experiences in hopes that people will get to see the true face of Swadhyay, Dada and Didi. The true greeting for Swadhyay should be “Jay Fraudeshwar”.
So, I want to share another incident. Dada loved luxurious lifestyle. Dada would often visit Kerala and stay at five star resorts. On one of his trip, he met Christian priest in Kerala. Preacher told Dada:”I love the principles of Gita but I cannot directly express them in my congregation.” So Dada taught him a trick to fool the people. Dada said: “Do not worry, open the Bible and speak on Gita.” The preacher impressed by Dada’s trick gave him a gift (Do not take anything for free). He gifted Dada a cross with following words written on it: “Jesus is the head of the house, the silent listener to every conversation and invisible guest at every meal.” Now you can see where I am going with this. Dada got a brilliant money making idea. Dada replaced Jesus with Yogeshwar and started mass production of memorabilia containing these words and even few others that many Swadhyayees will have in their homes. Here are few examples: 1. God does not work for you, God works with you. 2. Bhakti is a social force. 3. Those who see the invisible can do the impossible. If you have friends who devote their time at “Vimal Jyoti”, ask them how much profit is generated from sale of these items. The numbers will Page 24 of 108 shock you.
In Sanatan Dharma, we do not have the tradition of placing such things on our wall as we believe in Indwelling God. This is a Christian tradition.
Jay Fraudeshwar is an accurate greeting and I very much like it. It applies to Dada and Didi well. Dada wanted to be an incarnation then he is one. He is an incarnation of fraud. Dada used every trick in the bag to cheat people. Dada fooled that preacher in Kerala, Betty Unterberger and the Templeton Foundation. Dada had claimed that he would use the money for downtrodden people and then by fraudulent means deposited the whole amount in your own pocket.
“Strength of Truth lies in Love and Strength of love lies in truth.”
Books of Swadhyay
Swadhyayee leadership serves as a bard who flatters Mr. Pandurang Shastri Athavale. In the introduction of each of the publication of Swadhyay, Mr. Athavale is described as having brilliance of Veda Vyas, sacrifice of Adi Shankracharya or devotion of Vallabhacharya. Each of these publications are based on “discourses” given by Mr. Athavale. People who truly love vedic sanskriti, those who truly study the Vedas and Upanishads, would like to ask questions to the followers of Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar. Here are the questions:
1. Why is that each and every publication is based on the “discourses”? Why is that Mr. Athavale or Mrs. Talwalkar do not edit them and claim authorship of this work?
2. Those who truly study Vedic Sanskriti would know that those who really preach about vedic sanskruti write what is known as “Prasthan Trayi”. Prasthan Trayi means three pillars of Vedanta. Brahma Sutras along with Upanishads (Sruti Prasthana) and Bhagwad Gita (Smriti Prasthana) constitutes the ‘Prasthan trayi’ or the ‘three canons’ of Vedantic scriptures, which are the pristine springs of Vedantic metaphysics. Study of these three is the basic goal of all the students of Vedanta. Last “Prasthan Trayi” was written by Shri Vallabhacharya who established the “Pushti” sect. This was done 500 years ago. First “Prasthan Trayi” was written by Adi Shankracharya. This was done 1200 years ago. Adi Shankaracharya established the “Math” tradition and had developed “Math Amnay”. This “Amnay” is so Page 25 of 108 brilliant that even the Supreme Court of India uses it to resolved issues between the four Maths.
So here is the question: Why Mr. Athavale, who these bards compare to the luminaries of Vedanta such as Shankracharya, Veda Vyas, and Vallabhacharya, has not written “Prasthan Trayi”? Forget that but unlike his fellow Chittapavan Bramhin Lokmanya Tilak, Mr. Athavale has not even written his explanation of all 700 verses of Bhagvad Geeta.
Why is it that all the books published by Vimal Jyoti are based on discourses? Why is that Mr. Athavale or Mrs. Talwalkar do not author the books themselves?
Let me try and explain this to you. If ever, a question was raised regarding anything written in these books, then Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar would blame those who compiled the work. They can easily say that this was a misunderstanding on the part of the people who compiled it and both Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar can claim that they are completely innocent.
Another point I’d like to make relates to Mahatma Gandhi. I know that Swadhyayees are told to look down upon Bapu. When Bapu wrote Anasakti yog, he claimed that this based on my 38 years of experience of putting principles of Gita in action in my own life. This is based on my own experiences. Bapu took care of common people by making sure that this work was available to them at affordable cost. Compare that to the attitude of Mr. Athavale. Publications of Mr. Athavale are only available to his blind followers.
Mr. Athavale claims that he has restored “Human Dignity”. He celebrates his birthday as “Human Dignity Day”. Yet, Mr. Athavale has failed to provide concise, easy to understand and experience based explanation to his followers.
These overly glorified books are compiled based on “discourses” whose authenticity cannot be verified for only publicity reasons. What does it tell when all the publications are based on “discourses” and no one takes responsibility of the work? People should ask these questions to Swadhyay leadership.
Analysis of Swadhyay Followers
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Have you ever wondered why Dada and Didi focus so much on rural India to gather followers? Well, I think I have figured out what is the reason behind this. Here is my analysis:
Dada was a great orator and had cunning instincts. He was able to understand people’s weaknesses well and he was an epitome of hypocrisy. I devoted my life to the work of Swadhyaya and held on to every word that he said. Many on this forum who pay attention, Dada repeats his examples many a times in his “pravachans”. I have often heard this story being told by Dada which I will give here briefly to make my points. The story is about a great classical musician. One day a poor village bloke comes to learn music from him. The musician asks this guy if knew anything about music and the villager replied no. The musician told him that he would charge Rs. 100.00 as his fees. Then another person comes to learn music. This person has a good voice but does not really know the intricacies of the ragas. Musician tells him that the fee to train him would be Rs. 1000.00. A well trained singer comes to him for training saying that I know the ragas, I have the sur, lay and taal only thing is that I can’t emote when I sing. Classical musician charges him Rs. 3000.00. The family members of the musician are shocked and asked him what is the reason for doing this? So the musician replied, the first bloke knows nothing and therefore will do exactly as I say whereas the other two, I will to work harder as I have to make them forget what they already know.
This story was often repeated in the Shibirs hosted by Dada. Dada used to say that if we want to build up the work, increase the numbers then we have to find people like the first guy in the story. Those with clean slate will be easy to train and will do what we tell them to without asking questions. (Those familiar with shibirs will know this.)
Dada has often claimed from “Vyas Peeth” that I have been telling people about “Bhagvan No Bhaag”, “Matsya Gandha”, “Yogeshwar Krishi” etc since 1965. But see who actually made these projects come alive. Not the people from Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad or Rajkot. The projects were taken up by the innocent people in rural areas. No one really bought in to this idea in big cities so us educated people also started focusing on rural areas to achieve “success”. I have recently read in news paper that in USA elections candidates rely on small
Page 27 of 108 contributors to raise huge funds for their campaign. Dada’s strategy was similar. He needed people who would do the work without questions. In case, if follower had the potential then Dada could kick him out to ensure that no once challenged the authority of Athavale family.
Dada atleast relied on people like Hemrajbhai, Ramdasbhai etc who had the intellectual capacity but then the age of Didi descended on Swadhyay. Didi used the strategy of focusing on people with clean slate to her advantage. People such as those were given leadership positions without ever questioning whether they were capable or not. Their only claim to the position was that these people were fanatically devoted to Dada and Didi. Their fanatic devotion served as a fuel for ambitions of Dada and Didi. Dada and Didi glorified these people and in turn they worshipped Dada and Didi.
In order to gain fame and bag awards, Dada started inviting groups of intellectuals to have tours of Swadhyay’s experiments. Of course, the places were selected by Dada and Didi and were thoroughly controlled to ensure that Dada and Didi were portrayed in the best light possible. Also, they fed the ego of these innocent people by putting down greats like Gandhiji and Vinobaji. Dada claimed that both Gandhiji and Vinobaji failed to change the social fabric which has been achieved by these small time workers of Swadhyay. So the innocent people glorified Dada and Dada boosted their ego. It was a symbiotic relationship.
Of course, this whole strategy fell a part whenever questions were asked. I’d like to share one example of that. Once Rajiv Vohra of Gandhi peace foundation was invited by Dada to observe the “Karya”. He was sent on this highly selective tour to portray Dada as a great personality. Of course, the people who took this delegation on tour were “blind slates”. After the tour, a question and answer session was organized between the delegation and welcoming Swadhyayees. When Mr. Vohra asked his questions, these blind slates could not answer them and furious Dada blacklisted Mr. Vohra. Here are some of the questions asked by Mr. Vohra:
1. Why is that only “Bhav Geet” written by and selected by Swadhyay are sung at the Kendras?
2. Why do you not use bhajans written by Narsinh Mehta, Meerabai,
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Surdas, Kabirji? What is the reason to ingnore the works of such devotees?
3. If you see god in everything and everyone then why is it that you do not work in cooperation with other groups such as Sarvodaya to help the children of god?
4. What gives you the right to claim that only your methods are right? Aren’t you behaving like a prude rich kid who will not play with others on the play ground? Why isn’t Swadhyay able to cooperate with others to enhance development?
5. You make big claims about Swadhyay being “Unique” then why are you so secretive? Why don’t you publish your “Achar Samhita (Code of Conduct)”?
6. You claim that you are not a sect yet the rules enforced in Swadhyay are even stricter then typical “sects”. You do not sing bhajans written by Meera, Narsinh, Kabir or Surdas. Works of these great luminaries have found place in history yet your followers do not know them at all. Who wrote your “bhav geets’? Are they well paid poets or true devotees? Why aren’t they given credit in your publication?
7. After centuries, works of Meera, Narsinh, Kabir and Surdas are still being sung. They enlighten people and evoke devotion. 80 – 90 years ago also the bhajans of Narsinh and Meera were sung at Gandhi Ashram. Do you not think that it is inappropriate of you to not teach these works? Also, have your “bhav geet” found acceptance on general public? Are they being incorporated in works to be taught in schools or colleges? Do you not think that this attitude has signs of pride and superiority complex?
After hearing these questions, the hosts were completely shocked. Their only reply was that we will raise these questions with Dada, Didi and Parth Preeti and revert back to you. It has been over 15 years and no one has gotten the answers to these questions.
I had asked these questions to a very senior Swadhyayee once. He told me on condition of annonimity that when Didi was asked these questions, Didi replied very rudely that I don’t need such intellectuals. They don’t get my work done. Why should I answer their
Page 29 of 108 questions? To me those workers, who spread Dada’s message are the only thing and I am not answerable to anyone.
Of course, no swadhyayee has the courage to ask these important questions. If any Swadhyayee has answers to these questions, I would truly love to know.
Thank you.
After Effects
I recently read a book by Scott Takaeda called "After Effects". This is a must read for every Swadhyayee. He discusses the effects of placing so much importance on one individual and what adverse impact is caused by this practice. He also uses example of Guru Govind Sigh of Sikhism in this book. Guru Govind Singh removed the tradition of "Guru" and replaced it with "Guru Granth Sahib". He praises Guru Govind Singh for this. Here are some major points made by Scott in regards to Individual being given undue importance.
1. Vision can not be matched.Have you ever noted a successor to match the qualities of previous leader? 2. Personified Charisma is not duplicable. 3. Perception of people changes. 4. People taming is not a repeatable process 5. Increased Self Interest in workers. 6. Corruption increases and honesty decreases.
Can Swadhyayees deny that all this is happening? Scott has predicted this by studying a lot in his book and he has not even heard of Swadhyay.
Dada used people and now people are using Swadhyay as means to achieve their ambitions.
In short, if "Vyakti Puja" had been removed may be only Dada would have been worshiped now an entire clan is being worshiped. Do you realize how much damage this causes? Have you thought about this?
I write this in hopes that these facts will raise people's awareness and may be just may be some of the wrongs could be corrected.
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Jay Yogeshwar
Thoughts on Swadhyay
Many people have asked me, what was it about Swadhyay that attracted people to it? If we think about it, there are three things that were unique in Swadhyay that attracted people:
1. Pravachans of Dada 2. Jay Yogeshwar Aarti 3. Bhav Geets
Now many of those who have become an extremist Swadhyayees will know that Dada cannot lay a claim on any of those.
We have already seen that Dada’s pravachans were not written by him. Once when we were returning from Nashik, Padhyeji confided this to us. Padhyeji was Dada’s personal assistant. He told us that: “I write and Dada recites that in “Pravachan”. Dada’s logic was good that’s why he was able to deliver discourses based on our notes.” In short, Padhyeji and others would get Dada to do “Net Practice” and that’s why Dada could play so well. Afterwards, Dada would speak on topics suggested by Solicitors, Lawyers, and merchants of Jetha Market. Initially, Dada would utilize bright and upcoming yet unknown authors' works. He would go to Puna and buy books from book stores of "budhvar peth" and "jangali maharaj road". Then he would deliver discourses pretending that he is a great intellectual. Dada has used works of Vinoba Bhave, Vrajlal Shroff, Ravi Shankar Maharaj, Dada Dharmadhikari, William James, Swami Sachchidanand of Madhya Pradesh, Mahant Vildasji of Manali, and Satya Prakashji of Gurukul Kangadi. The claims that Dada read all the books in Royal Asiatic Library is false as well. Dada worked there as an assistant librarian and you can verify the accounts which will show that Dada used to get salary from there. Dada also used to get salary from Madhav Bag till 1972. That is why Dada returned to Madhav Bag every Sunday to deliver "Discourses".
Now coming to the Aarti, everyone knows that it was written by Haribhai Kothari. Haribhai deserves a lot of credit for the growth of Swadhyay. This will come as a shock to many of you that the poetic name “Devotional Associates of Yogeshwar (D.A.Y)” was suggested by Haribhai. This is the name used in foreign countries for Swadhyay. Page 31 of 108
Haribhai explained to Dada that we are working with Yogeshwar and truly trying to be the devotees. Dada loved the name. However, when D.A.Y was established Haribhai was neither invited nor given credit for his suggestion.
Now Bhavgeets. As you are aware, initially Bhav Geets were written by those Swadhyayees who had poetic talent. In Shrimad Bhagvad Gita, Ch. 10 V. 37, Lord also describes himself as a poet. If you ask those poets, they will tell you that the inspiration of those Bhav Geets came from Lord Yogeshwar. Yes, may be Dada’s pravachans gave them some idea but words that flowed through were inspired by Yogeshwar. Now a days, professional lyricists are paid to write Bhav Geets. That is why we see Janab and other urdu words usually reserved for romantic mood used in Bhav Geets.
In short, none of those three unique things are creation of Dada. That is why on ethical and moral grounds, Swadhyay should stop using all three. If they do want to use it, then they must convince the general public of four things: 1. This is Lord Yogeshwar’s work not Dada’s 2. We are workers of god and while differences of opinion is acceptable differences of heart will not be accepted. 3. This is not Dada’s throne that can be passed from one family member to other. Nepotism must be abolished and "Amnay" must be brought into effect. 4. It has to be proven that Swadhyay is not a sect or a CULT.
I hope that my thoughts will inform general public and will help raise awareness.
Dada’s Bhav Pheri
Can any Swadhyayee tell me where actually did Dada go for Bhavpheri or Bhaktipheri?
No one has been able to answer that question so far. Dada only gave us inputs. Many of us old timers will remember to autobiographical lectures at the Vidyapeeth. This is where all those intellectuals who were brought in got together and Dada would lecture them. Dada always said that if there is anything that he has contributed to this work are his worries and his thoughts? In those Shibirs, no one was
Page 32 of 108 allowed to take notes. (In case someone wrote things down and figured out the fraud). Now we know that Dada basically lifted his discourses (thoughts) so what about his worries? So now I wonder, what was it that Dada was worried about? Was it Vedic Sanskriti, Swadhyay, or his ever growing daughter?
People say that Dada used to go to the jungles to be with Adivasis. Of course, can anyone tell me where and when did Dada go for Bhaktipheri? No one will be able to answer that. All they can say is that someone told us this.
Yes, but I do know this for fact. Dada loved going to Matheran and Lonavala. Now, that is on top of a hill but since the days of British rule, there aren't any Adivasis there. Do you know why Dada visited Matheran and Lonavala? These trips were organized as sort of a "Party" for Dada and his selected Lieutenants. This secret was confided to me by a very Senior Swadhyayee from Baroda who was very active in day to day running of Pathshala as he was part of those lucky few who was part of these outings. Dada used to enjoy "Kaju Bhajiya" there. Thats the first that I heard of "Kaju Bhajiya". Now there is a special method of preparation for this Bhajiyas. Cashew nuts are split in half and then they are dipped in Bhang and Saffron water then fried with Chick Pea flour. In Surat area, I have heard that there are peanut bhajiyas that are available. Another one of my friend from Godhara who is Kachhi also verified this for me. Now tell me where is the concept of Bhakti Pheri and where do you put these parties with "Kaju Bhajiya"?
Some Swadhyayees say that Dada walked miles to do Bhakti Pheri. I tell you thats not true as well. Dada, in those autobiographical lectures, confirmed that he had promised his father on deathbed that he would travel by first class and taxies and will wear Dhotis made in Arvind Mills. You can verify this on the audio/video lectures as well.
Think about it, when innocent Swadhyayees spending their own money to spread the message of Swadhyay and Dada in name of Bhakti Pheri, Dada would be sitting comfortably thousands of mile away delivering exaggerated/plagiarized discourses to the people at Vidyapeeth. The "Impersonal Wealth" was utilized to entertain Dada and his yes men.
If you want the truth, go visit neighbors of Dada, Tai and Didi. They
Page 33 of 108 will tell you the truth. Have you ever seen Dada's neighbor in Swadhyay? Those neighbors' will tell you about arrogant and jealous nature of Didi. They will also tell you how difficult it was to have Tai as a neighbor. You do not have to believe me. Go and verify. As Ronald Reagan once said: "Trust but verify."
Swadhyay: A Money Making Scam
I have gotten messages asking how Swadhyay made so much money. Some of the innocent people refuse to believe that this money can even be raised. So let me show you how money is earned by Dada and Didi:
(1) Bhav Samarpan: Every month on a particular day and time all Swadhyees come together to do “Bhav Samarpan”. This is the “Bhagvan no Bhag” from their income. Dada had explained that god is with us when we are making money therefore part of the income should be given to him. This is happening in India, USA, UK, Canada, and Australia. Think about it if every Swadhyayee family donated 10% of their income as Bhav Samarpan, what is the total amount?
(2) Tatvagyan Vidhyapith: Each year students are accepted in Tatvagyan Vidyapeeth for two year course in Indian Culture. Now, this is a hot spot for NRI parents. NRI Parents put their kids here in hopes of instilling good values in them. After 2 years, motabhai goes to these parents and says:”Your son/daughter studied for 2 years in one of the most expensive cities in world for free. They got “Sanskar” here. They will not marry BMW. We should give some amount to god’s work. Naturally, these parents agree and pay in the range of $10,000 - $15,000 per student. Dada and Didi make about 5 – 7 Crore each year just from this.
(3) Yogeshwar Krushi: 2/3 of the income earned from Yogeshwar Krushi is sent to Nirmal Niketan and 1/3 is supposed to be distributed among needy farmers. So Dada/Didi is taking 66% of the profit. Remaining 34%, well here is the story on that. Motabhais actually blackmail poor farmers saying:”Can we take God’s money? Is this what Dada has taught us?” And that money is sent to Nirmal Niketan as well. Remember, the labor is “Shram Bhakti” so that doesn’t cost anything. Seeds and fertilizer is the other expense. Guess what? The motabhais tell the innocent farmers that providing these is like doing Abhishek on god. So no expense, all profit.
(4) Matsyagandha: Same as Yogeshwar Krushi. Here labor is Shram Page 34 of 108
Bhakti. Boat is given for free and cost of diesel/petrol, well, that’s your abhishek. So again no expense, all profit. Also, Lord Yogeshwar is the trademark for selling sea products obtained from Matsya Gandha.
(5) Jayshree Cargo Ship: Not much is known about it but this is used to transport goods across Arabian Sea for Swadhyay Businessmen at high cost.
(6) Cash Money: Let us take this scenario to understand how Dada and Didi work. Mr. XYZ wants to meet Dada. Motabhai says to them:”Please contribute in god’s work.” Naturally, when presented in front of Dada, Dada would say:”Is your family in agreement about this donation? I would like to see you with your family.” This ensures two things: (1) It creates an image that Dada is not interested in money (2) Ensure that full family will continue to contribute in future as well. After that Dada would ask them to establish a trust, where Dada’s name is not even there technically. However, there is a body of elders which includes Dada and Didi and they reign supreme over the trust.
(7) Vruksh Mandir: Retired Swadhyaees stay in Vrukshmandir for maintaining and planting. Swadhyayees from nearby villages come for Shram Bhakti. Of course, no investment because in name of Abhishek all the required material is collected free and then the profits for Dada and Didi.
(8) Books: On this forum, the scam of books has already been exposed. But I want to add one more point to it. The profit margin is huge when you compare prices in Rupees vs. Dollars but at the same time, I want people to look at the prices charged by Gita Press for their publication vs. Swadhyay. You will realize that cheap production cost and high selling price creates huge profit margin. I have also been told that the Swadhyay books are printed in press owned by Mr. Shrinivas Nilkanth Talwalkar aka Rao Saheb. So, the income also stays within the family.
(9) Photos: Variety of photos depicting Dada in various poses with sentences and poems written by paid lyricist are sold at high cost. Of course, these photos are also prepared by devotee Swadhyayees at very low cost.
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(10) Cassette/CDs: Each and every Swadhyayee will have cassette and CDs of Swadhyay Bhav Geets. Now these Cassette and CDs are not good quality ones yet the selling price is high. They either get scratched or rip off so Swadhyayees have to keep buying them again and again.
(11) Memorabilia: Swadhyay has sold so many items under this that it is not even funny. They are of course sold at very high price as our blind followers would fall all over themselves to buy this stuff. Some examples include: a. Gold and Silver Coins b. Calendar c. Diaries d. Greeting Cards e. Tie f. Clocks g. Wall Pieces
(12) Parivar Stores: This is again on same lines as Yogeshwar Krushi, Matsya Gandha, Vruksha Mandir etc. The prices are kept higher then market but the blind followers will buy from there in name of god and profits go to Dada and Didi
(13) Madhav Vrund: Didi sold Madhav Vrund in Chicago, USA and earned profit of over Two Million US Dollars. Eventually, with Motabhais as partners she has invested that money in hotel and motel business.
(14) Fireworks: Crores of Rupees have been made by selling fireworks during Diwali time. Even sales tax was not paid on them. Hard work of making these fireworks was done by poor villagers and students of Rushi Krushi Vidyalay. Also, Students of Rushi Krushi Vidyalay make items like candles, paintings etc which are done in name of classes and then sold at very high price.
(15) Awards: The biggest prize money was collected from Templeton Foundation. The value of Templeton Prize was Rs. 4 Crore 22 Lacs. That entire amount has been pocketed by Dada.
(16) Shree Darshanam Land: I heard that the land of Shree Darshanam of Shinor is on sale. This land was donated by Ishwarbhai Patel, Father of Dilip Patel, motabhai of Houston. Since this fall out, Dilip bhai has been thrown out of Swadhyay and Ishwarbhai suffered a heart attack due to this.
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(17) Loans: Dada used to give loans to trusted Swadhyayees with very high interest rate.
(18) Investments: As you have seen on this website, trust money are invested in high interest accounts to make even more money.
(19) Functions: There is a brilliant post on this forum that shows the modus operandi of functions used to make money. It is post no. 2961 by ShahManavD. Based on rough estimates, Dada made over Rs. 1.5 crore at Tirthraj Milan and close to Rs. 5 Crore at Ashiti Vandana. One more point I’d like to add to that is that all local level functions’ expenses are paid by local swadhyayees as well so Dada saved that money as well.
(20) Earthquake Money: We all know that millions of dollars were collected in name of earthquake and has been pocketed by Dada and Didi
(21) Virdutt Bramhins: I had earlier mentioned about how salaried krutisheels were being paid by rich businessmen. Didi has stopped salaries of most of these “Bramhins” as their children are earning well.
(22) Nanded Tirth Yatra: I heard that Dada made a deal with trustee of Temple of Nanded that around 1 million Swadhyayes are going to visit and everyone is going to put “Bhet”. Now calculating that each swadhyayee at an average would put Rs. 11.00 as bhet, total amount would be about Rs. 1.1 Crore. Dada would get 50% of that bhet and the 50% bhet was to be given to the temple.
(23) Bhav Nirzar: The builder who did all the construction work for all the structures at Bhav Nirzar, in Ahmedabad, was not paid at all. The amount was close to Rs. 25 Lacs. This is in late 70s, cost adjust with inflation in today’s date and imagine.
(24) Guru Purnima: Dada and Didi get over Rs. 50 Lacs as Guru Dakshina on Guru Purnima days.
So this is how Dada, Didi and Swadhyay make money. Again, use your logic. Does it make sense? It does to me. Ask questions. Do not be fooled. Fool me once your fault, Fool me twice and its my fault.
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Jay Yogeshwar.
Honest Questions
My Divine Brothers and Sisters,
Jay Yogeshwar!!
After much consideration and thought, I am posing these questions to you. If you can answer these questions honestly, you would serve Lord Yogeshwar well.
(1) Can you think of grabbing Pathshala’s wealth or mission? If the answer is no, then how can those who have spent over four decades of their life doing this work think of such a thing?
(2) Why were all the neutral trustees removed from over 100 trusts of Pathshala? If all their intent was bad then how come Dada did not know about this? According to Didi, Dada is Bhagwan. He should have already known this then.
(3) If Dada is Bhagwan as Didi claims, then why did he care so much about allegations against Didi? Could he not have protected the work without so much of effort to spread hate, call for boycott, severe relationship with old swadhyayis and instigate violence?
(4) Would you ever think of defaming your Guruputri? If not, then how can people like Hemrajbhai, Ramdasbhai, Maheshbhai, Jagdishbhai etc who treated Didi like their own daughter think of such thing? Do you not think that based on their life experiences that their objections might be valid?
(5) If there was nothing wrong then, why did Dada call Sanghat fellows and so many other Swadhyayees to Bombay? What did he have to clarify? Why did Dada in his sick condition rushed to so many places and held so many meetings provoking people against Hemrajbhai, Ramdasbhai, Maheshbhai, Vinoobhai and Pankajbhai? Would a one line message from Dada not be sufficient?
(6) Why did Dada use language like “Bramha Hatya” and “Atatayees”? Dada had already clarified the definition of Atatayees in Gitamrutam. For clarification, I am putting it here again: Page 38 of 108 a. Someone who sets fire to places – Who set fire at Viredra Bhatt’s house? (A Jayas from Junagadh) b. Someone who feeds poison - We have already seen that Dada and Didi have been feeding a poison of extremism. c. Using weapons with sinful intent – Who attacked Vinoobhai, Maheshbhai? Who murdered Pankaj Bhai? d. Stealing Money – Who misappropriated Earthquake funds? e. Who grabs land that is not theirs - Who is illegally holding on to Bhav Nirzar? Who has grabbed Gochar lands for Yogeshwar Krushi? f. Who abducts women How would you deal with people who have done these terrible things in name of God?
(7) Isn’t our faith based on indwelling god? Haven’t we accepted that Lord resides in each heart? Then does that mean that lord does not reside in heart of those who object to these wrong doings? Did lord not reside in heart of Pankajbhai?
(8) Does it even sound reasonable or logical that person who was brutally beaten would name someone else instead of person who beat him?
(9) Aren’t we always told to have gratitude (Krutagyata) towards elder people, Rushis, Scriptures and un-seen god? Then, why no reverence for those who spent their life for “Karya? Why promote hate and vengence for those whom Dada called his “Manas Putras”?
(10) Aren’t we always told that God accepts only those with pure heart and mind? Then isn’t message of boycott and severing relationship with old swadhyayees amount to hate and vengeance? Could our heart be pure when we harbor such feelings? Will God accept the heart that has supported and justified murder?
(11) In Pathshala, we were taught that all creations are creations of God hence we should revere all creations. Will god approve ill feelings harbored for old swadhyayees (because of whom you all are in Swadhyay?
In Ram Charit Manas, Lord Ram says: "Nirmal Man Jan So Mohi Pava, Mohi Chhal Chhidra Kapat Nahi Bhava. Saral Subhau Na Man Kutlai, Yatha Labh Santosh Dridhai."
Bhav Samarpan: True Story
Swadhyaya movement inspired by Mr. Pandurang Shashtri Athavale started in very small groups in the early stages. These small groups Page 39 of 108 would meet once a week to hear “discourses” delivered by Dada. There were costs associated with holding these meetings. They included lights, loud speaker, microphones, carpets etc. The costs, in the early days, were paid by well to do Swadhyayees. Of course, the story fed to rest of us was that all this was being provided by Dada.
When we, the small people, heard this, we felt bad. At one meeting with Dada, we brought up this issue and said:”Dada, it is not appropriate that you bear the costs of our Kendra. You have taught u s not to take anything for free. We want to contribute to ensure that god’s work is getting done.”
Dada was very pleased at that moment. He said that if each Kendra managed its own expenses that would be fantastic. Here is how the process would work. Each month on a selected day, all the “Krutisheels” would get together and in one room there would be picture of Yogeshwar in front of which they would put in an envelope containing money with no name written on it. After an hour selected “Motabhai” will go inside that room and get the money and manage the expenses. Of course, the people who are called to contribute are also carefully selected by “Motabhais”. Everything about this process, as usual, was a top secret. This whole process was given term “Bhav Samarpan”. You are contributing your emotions to aid in work of god. What an emotional blackmail? Only those who have been actively doing “bhav pheri” for over five years were allowed to contribute. This is to ensure that the people’s ego were fed even when you are taking money from them and at the same time ensuring that only those who have completely been brainwashed will contribute so that no one can ask questions.
Of course, as the numbers grew, so did the amount being received in Bhav Samarpan. As Dada had hoped, Bhav Samarpan became a source of income. The conditions placed on Bhav Samarpan were relaxed. Now people were being told to think of our work at global level, think about the expenses of “Vimal Jyoti”, when they did “Bhav Samarpan”. Then part of Bhav Samarpan started going to Mumbai.
If you ask questions related to Bhav Samarpan, usually you get no answer. This is the most you get out of the leadership of Swadhyay related to Bhav Samarpan: “Once you give money to the work, you have no right over it and you cannot inquire about what is being done with this money. If you invite a bramhin to come to your home and do a
Page 40 of 108 pooja and you give him Dakshina, do you ask what he plans to do with it? When you give money to the temple, do you ask what do they do with that money? Do you not trust Dada and Didi?” I am certain every Swadhyayee has heard these lines. Here is one question though. When it comes to boasting about their work, Dada and Didi leave no stone unturned to say that these temples etc are not as good as Swadhyay yet when it comes to accountability, they ask for same standards as temples or corrupt government. Is this not hypocrisy?
How many Swadhyayees have read “Gitamrutam”? I am going to use an example from this book to illustrate my point. A rich businessman in a small town builds a well in the town to ease the problems related to water scarcity. All expenses related to digging, building wall around the well, etc are paid for by this man. Now is this a good deed or bad? Next year, state elections come around and we find out that this businessman is running for a seat in the state legislature. He says on campaign trail that I care for you that’s why I built the well, you should vote for me. Now is building a well good deed or a bribe? I know many Swadhyayees will say that Dada has never said this as that’s what motabhai will tell them. However, if they have the courage and open “Gitamrutam”, they will find this in Chapter 12 where Dada has given this example to illustrate the significance of intent. In my book, this is on page 431. Just for everyone’s reference.
“Good actions done with bad motives are bad. Bad actions done with good motives are good .”
If we apply this principle and analyze the experiments of Swadhyay then we will know the truth. Are the experiments of Swadhyay done with self less interest? Or are they being done to satisfy the greed of Athavale famiy?
Each experiment was done to raise the dignity of man according to the self professed bards of Swadhyay. However, each one of them, have gone a long way in raising the balances in Swadhyay trusts.
An ex Swadhyayee ,who does not wish to be named, told me in confidence that while other sects like BAPS, Pushti Marg, Bramha Kumari etc go to public asking that we are doing work that benefits mankind so please help us. They are in Dada’s terms “Yachak”. Dada always portrayed himself as “Ayachak”. He boasted this and glorified
Page 41 of 108 this trait all over. Yet, the trusts controlled by him are filled with crores of rupees and millions of dollars. Is this not Hypocrisy?
Now many swadhyayees are fed this story that Dada and Didi are not listed as trustees in any of the trusts. However, let me assure you, as I have copies of those by laws, that Dada and Didi have an unchallenged authority under “Body of Elders” clause. Dada and Didi are listed as elders who guide the trust, have voting powers and authority to remove a trustee at will.
Dada has quoted: “Jealosy thy name is woman” many a times in discourses. What can we say about Dada and Swadhyay? “Hypocrisy thy name is Pandurang Shastri/Swadhyay?
In Chapter 13 of Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krisha discusses the qualities of a “Gyani”. These qualities are given in verses 8 – 12. The second quality mentioned is “Adambhitvam – meaning those who are not hypocrites”. Remember, hypocrisy according to gita is an “Asuri” quality. Any Yagna, Daan, Tapa, or Karma, done with hypocrisy bears no result.
Divine Traits of Swadhyay
Hello Everyone,
I hope you have been reading posts put up of brother Aditya. Also, the last two articles should at least give everyone some insight into how Swadhyaya has deceived people and betrayed the faith.
Swadhyayees take great pride in their knowledge of Bhagavad Gita. Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar has boosted their pride so much that they have become extremist. However, I urge them to read Gita carefully and see have they lived as god has asked them to.
In Chapter 16, the first three verses describe the transcendental qualities that belong to godly men endowed with divine nature. Let us take each one and see how it applies to Swadhyay.
1.Fearlessness – Dada and Didi constantly lived under shadow of fear. They removed everyone who posed threat to them. They humiliated each person who can challenge them. They used poor “Sagar Putra” as their security escort. They were afraid that their corruption and scam Page 42 of 108 would be exposed. So this trait is missing.
2. purification of one’s existence: Dada and Didi have spent so much time and focus in accumulating wealth and intimidating their opponents that they have never really focused on their existence. Remember, spiritual awakening only happens when one spends time in solitude. Dada and Didi’s need for attention kept them in spot light all the time.
3. cultivation of spiritual knowledge: Has Dada ever talked about the true form of Bramha? Has Dada addressed the questions related to creation of universe? Nothing.
4. charity: Can anyone tell me what charity has been done by Swadhyay. They pocketed money meant for earthquake victims. They do not help even their own followers. The trust coffers are loaded earning huge interest.
5. self-control: While I do no t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings, how is it that Didi has managed to gain so much weight and is in so poor health at such a young age. Ususally, those who have self control remain quite fit. Even Dada, suffered so much as he never really had controlled. If he had controlled his diabetes, heart failure, may be he would not have suffered so much.
6. performance of sacrifice: Swadhyaya has always opposed any type of rituals recommended in our scriptures. Can any Swadhyayee tell me what is the spiritual meaning of Satya Narayan Katha? Can any Swadhyayee tell me, what is reason behind many of our rituals and Yagnas.
7. study of the Vedas: Other then few selected Ved Mantras, has Dada or Didi given “discourses” on Vedas? Dada or Didi has not even authored a book. Each one is compiled. Has Dada written a “Prasthan Trayi”?
8. austerity: Dada and Didi fly first class, stay in five star resort, move around in cars worth 10 and 11 lakhs. Is this a sign of austerity?
9. simplicity: Look at the jewelry worn by Didi. Look at the watches worn by Dada. Look at the palatial house in Roha. Where is the
Page 43 of 108 simplicity?
10. nonviolence: Now this is a no brainer. Violence and intimidation has become a core part of practice of Swadhyay.
11. truthfulness: Again, entire phenomenon of Swadhyay is based on a lie. Few examples like Japan Visit, Meeting with Vinoba, Dada getting a UN Job, Vajpayee asking Dada’s permission before going to Kargil War, Dada lied about Amnay, houses in Kutch, the list is endless.
12. freedom from anger: Ask any Swadhyayee at top level and they will tell you that both Dada and Didi had very bad tempers. They got angry easily.
13. renunciation: Even after realizing that Didi was not good for Swadhyay, Dada could not give up his Moha. Dada did not retire and let Swadhyaya function without him. Dada never gave up anything except those who he had no use for any more.
14. tranquility : Look at the life led by Dada or Didi. Do you find that they are peaceful? Look at their faces and you will notice that it is always covered by anxiety.
15. aversion to faultfinding: When it comes to fault finding, Dada and Didi take the cake. They have found faults with politicians, other saints, everyone else except themselves.
16. compassion for all living entities: If they had compassion or encouraged compassion, Pankajbhai would still be alive.
17. freedom from covetousness: if Dada and Didi were free from covetousness, how do you explain the wealth accumulation in trusts? How is it that each of their experiments involved only one of two things either gather more followers or bring in more money?
18. gentleness: Dada and Didi were anything but gentle. Ask any of those who disagreed with them. Haribhai Kothari, Vinoo Sachania even intellectuals like Gunvant Shah, Swami Sachhidanand, Suresh Dalal etc have been at receiving end of Dada and Didi’s fury.
19. modesty: Who can say with confidence that Dada and Didi lived in modesty? They boasted about their greatness, they lived luxurious
Page 44 of 108 lifestyle. Look at their functions. They have Kritgyata Samaroh, Ashiti Vandana, Namastubhyam, all dedicated to Dada. Have they celebrated birthdays of Ram, Krishna, Parshuram, Ganesh etc with such gusto? Many others have won Templeton and Magsaysay but no one has really bragged about it as much as Dada and Didi.
20. steady determination: Now that is present. Didi is determined to earn more money and have people worship her and Dada is incarnation of God.
21. vigor : Anyone who has seen Dada and Didi know that they lack this. They never spent time exercising or watching their diet. Didi runs out of breath easily and it was visible even at Dada’s funeral.
22. forgiveness: Dada and Didi never heard of this one. They hold grudges till their last breath.
23. fortitude: If fortitude was present, Didi would have made herself available to the authority for questioning. Didi would visit Gujarat. She has been running away from the whole thing and placing blame on her minions.
24. cleanliness: Dada and Didi stole money from hard working people, they misappropriated wealth meant for victims of earthquake, Their hygiene is clean but their attitude and their behavior certainly is questionable.
25 and 26. .freedom from envy and from the passion for honor – If envy was not present, why did Dada get scared of Haribhai? Everyone knows that Didi’s jealousy knows no bounds. The way they chased awards and brag about the awards they have won shows their passion for honor.
So when these divine traits are missing, what right do Swadhyay have to tell people about God?
Wake up people and use logic. You are being taken for a ride.
Dada & Morarji Desai
Recently I got an email as a response to one my post. The person (whom I shall not name) wrote this: “When you mailed me first, I agreed to you and your intentions but doing this last mail you Page 45 of 108 shattered few things shaping up in my mind. You have quoted GITA many places as if you are the master of the terminology but same GITA tells us about ADWESTA as well.”
This is not an unusual response from a typical Swadhyayees. This matter has been discussed earlier as well about how Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar have been feeding this poison of extremism to their followers. I ask each and every Swadhyayee to look in their heart. There is only one person who truly knew Gita and that was Lord Shri Krishna. He delivered this discourse twice in his life in two different settings to two different types of devotees. Even then, Lord Krishna has said that this is not my own information. I have directly taken this from Vedas and Upanishads. If you truly study Gita along with other Upanishads, you will find that some of the “shlokas” are exact replicas taken from various Upanishads.
I say all of this to awaken the conscious of Swadhyayees. You may take great pride in your practice of Swadhyay and you are entitled to it. I have never claimed that Swadhyay or Swadhyayees are bad. We have a fundamental problem with the vision behind it. There is an air of extremism, arrogance, greed and blindness in it. On Dec. 12, 2010, Mumbai Samachar had a brilliant article titled “True Differences between a thinker and a canvasser”. I urge each and every one of you to read this. See if Swadhyaya in its current form has made you a thinker or a canvasser.
You are constantly asked: “Haju Dada na Vicharo Sthir Nathi Thaya?” This statement is prohibitive to thinking. When you are in high school, you may have selected text books but once you go in college, your professors expect you to read more than one book to get your information. Same is here. Why is it that Dada and Didi, never want you to read other authors? Have you all thought about it? Why restrict? Why is it so important to have an individual worshipped so much? Vishwamitra gave us Gayatri Mantra, Valimiki gave us Ramayan, Vashisth gave us Yogavashisth, Ved Vyas gave us Mahabharat, Puranas, Bhagvad Gita, have they ever asked for such fanatic devotion? Did Shukdevji ask Parikshit, what if Ved Vyas wasn’t there, what would have happened to you? True saints don’t need such marketing. Just for your information. Now coming back to the other part regarding Adwesta. Dear Brother, I do not claim to be an expert in Gita. I am just a student. Gandhiji also admitted that after practicing the principles of Gita for 38 Page 46 of 108 years, that he has not fully understood everything that each day each moment it feels new. My goal for quoting Gita was to point out the obvious hypocrisy in Swadhyay leadership.
Now that you have mentioned Adwesta, have you ever wondered as to why Mr. Athavale or Mrs. Talwalkar never collaborated with other organizations to serve man kind? What is it that prevents Swadhyay from teaming up with other groups? I will share an incident shared with me by one of the Swadhyayee motabhai who is no more. However, I now truly understand the meaning of the event.
Once, Shri Morarji Desai had been invited to Tatvagyan Vidhyapeeth. At that time, Dada tried to boast in front of everyone regarding his greatness of inspiring people and tried to tell Morarjibhai that he had not been a good Prime Minister. Morarji Desai started giving fitting reply to questions posed by Dada. Didi, who was present at that time, could not take this lightly and interrupted Morarji Desai and said: “IF you completely involve yourself in our work then you will realize our Modus Operandi. This is your chance of regaining your reputation.” Morarji Desai replied to her saying: “I am older in age compared to your father and you. I have fought for independence of this country along side Mahatma Gandhi. I have been a Prime Minister of this great nation. I received practical knowledge of Gita from Mahatma Gandhi itself. Based on this information known to you, if you truly practiced Gita, then you would be more respectful. So I see that there is an imbalance there. However, you should atleast have the courtesy of not to interrupt when two elders are talking.” He also told Dada:”Your Swadhyay will drown in pages of history however our story will survive.” Since then, Morarji Desai was never invited to any of the Swadhyay functions.
Dada criticized politicians and democracy in many of his “pravachans”. I am sure you have heard that in his “discourses”. However, Dada also kept boasting about how close he was to Chavans and Patils and Pawars of political world. One of the Swadhyayee leader in USA was heard telling people that before Kargil War, Vajpayee had sought Dada’s opinion on course of action and Dada told Vajpayee:”Defending the nation is government’s first responsibility. You must send troops to fight.” That is why Vajpayee decided to send troops to Kargil. Why didn’t Dada say, let us go to Kashmir and see if we can do “Bhav Vriddhi” there and solve this crisis for our nation? Have you ever thought about it? In time of Crisis, Swadhyay
Page 47 of 108 is always absent.
These are my thoughts. Please feel free to share your insights with me. If I am wrong, I will gladly correct myself.
Unfit
No Swadhyayee need to fear this post. This is being discussed everywhere. Majority of Swadhyayee in private will admit this as well. Not only that, both Dada and Didi publicized this matter by holding meetings, shibirs etc.
I had an opportunity to visit one of the Swadhyayee motabhai recently. There were many ex Swadhyayee and Swadhyayee present. This was the discussion that took place there which happened right in front me. No one really had issue with Didi being appointed head of Swadhyay. Had Dada chosen someone else, it might have created friction in the Parivar. If Mr. ABC was selected, Mr. XYZ may have a problem. Dada was afraid that Swadhyay would face “Yadavasthali” like situation. (This also shows Dada’s god complex).
So, Didi being a perfect choice because of this is still UNFIT and therefore has been Unsuccessful. Here are my reasons for believing this:
1. Didi is physically unfit. Leader of Spiritual movement must maintain healthy lifestyle. See other leaders of Spiritual movement. They are in comparatively better state of health. The reason of her poor health and morbid obesity is her love for food. She loves French fries, Pizza, and Coca Cola. When Pizzas were not available in India, Swadhyayees from UK and USA would bring Pizza and Coca Cola for her. Didi used to have accounts as preferred customer in Ahmedabad Law Garden area. This has been noticed and written about as well. Padma Vibhushan Purnima ben also noticed this and wrote:” When I see photos of Jayhsree in News paper, it hurts me tremendously that the cadet trained under me has fallen so low level. I was very proud that person who took training under me becomes Didi. However it pained me that she has become fat and overweight? And to move around with such heavy weight is wrong. It is sin and crime/disgrace to God. Because God gifted you beautiful body and who spoiled that? You yourself?”
2. Didi’s lavish life style is in contrast to requirement for those who lead a spiritual movement. It is Swadhyay’s wealth being used for Page 48 of 108 this yet even if I accept the explanation that this is Rao Saheb’s money, still I don’t think it is appropriate for a leader of spiritual movement to have such lavish life style. I am aware that Didi loved the film “Lamhe” and watched it several times. When she visited UK, she took time to visit places where movie was shot. This does not befit a person who heads a spiritual movement.
3. Didi’s nature is contrary to that suggested of devotee or Gyani in Gita. There is a brilliant post on this website listing the qualities of Gyanis. People should read that. Didi is rude, proud, ungrateful and violent. Her anger knows no bounds. Her greed is insatiable. All this has magnified the problems in Swadhyay.
4. Didi has not spent time in solitude or experienced spiritual bliss. Didi’s discourses are based on teachings of Haribhai Kothari or even match the CDs of Osho Rajnish. I know many Swadhyayees will disagree with me, but this is due to the fact that they have not heard these people. If they do, then they will realize the source of this information. The sad part is that Didi does not even have manners enough to acknowledge their contribution.
These are some of the reasons that I think Didi is UNFIT. There are more but I will post them in bits and pieces. Didi’s leadership will drive legacy of Mr. Athavale and Swadhyay Parivar in ground.
Jay Yogeshwar
Practice of Swadhyay
Dear Vijay Uncle,
Thank you for posting this letter. Time and again we have seen that in name of religion, Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar have only promoted intolerance, extremism, and aggression. The claims of human dignity, indwelling god and universal brotherhood of man under fatherhood of god are nothing but a facade.
Lately, I have been also receiving abusive emails rather then answers to our queries that have been posted on this website.
Though, I am no expert, I have been studying our scriptures. I urge each and every Swadhyayee to refer to these points when they react to our queries: Page 49 of 108
(1) From anger delusions occur, from delusions bewilderment of memory, after forgetfulness of memory the loss of spiritual intelligence and loosing spiritual intelligence one perishes. (Ch. 2, V. 63). It appears that Swadhyayees have forgotten this important teaching of Gita. That is why violence, intimidation, and abuse takes place. True follower of Gita does not rely on such things.
(2) According to Gita Ch. 12, the true devotee: s never disturbed by anyone, is free from anger, is free from agitation, is equal to enemy and friend, is equipoised in praise or repute, is compassionate with no sense of proprietorship, is forgiving. Swadhyayees rant and rave, have aggressively abused their critics and take pride in claims that their work is unique. This is directly against the teachings of Gita.
(3) Swadhyayees always claim that they are soldiers of god. Well, according to our scriptures, this is the true chariot of soldier of god: alor and Fortitude are the wheels, truthfulness and good conduct are its banners, Strength, Discretion, Self Control and Benevolence are the horses, forgiveness, compassion and evenness of mind are cords that attach the horses to the charioteer, Adoration of God is Chariot, Dispassion is Shield, Contentment is the Sword, charity is the axe, reason is the fierce lance and wisdom is the unbreakable bow, A pure and steady mind the container of bow while self restraint are the arrows and homage to Bramhins is the armor.Swadhyayees are devoted to Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar. They have hoarded money rather then being charitable and have murdered a Bramhin.
I urge all Swadhyayees to look inside and do introspection. See what you have been told is really the truth.
I have no malice towards anyone. As Adi Shankrachraya says:"na me dve şar āgau na me lobhamohau mado naiva me naiva m ātsaryabh āva ḥ"
Jay Yogeshwar
What is Happening?
Hello Everyone,
Belated Happy Makar Sankranti. Page 50 of 108
I am posting after a long while. It appears that this website is getting more popular and in order to ensure that everyone gets a chance to read the posts, I was asked to post less frequently. Considering that request, I stayed away for few days.
After all the controversy erupted in Swadhyay, the study circles were closed. In US, thanks giving shibirs and youth camps were cancelled. The reason behind this is that no one should gossip. No other reason but to prevent the spread of information. Now a days, Swadhyayees are told to meet in smaller groups so that there is “Bhav Vriddhi”. But the reason this is being done is that smaller group are easier to manager and watch.
Now everyone knows the truth. No one really talks about Didi as she does not command the respect of Swadhyayees. People also realize that Dada was the mastermind behind this whole mess. Once upon a time Swadhyay was seen through an aura of respect but now it is down in gutter with rest of the crooks. Many of the greats have left. Those loyal few have also lost control. There is infighting between the top leaders of Swadhyay. That is why these smaller groups are being formed. How much do you know? Who do you support? Top leadership must know that. As it is, swadhyayees had little freedom before and now that is also being taken away. If you notice, in each group there is one person who is nosey and will be reporting everything back to the leaders. He would also try to control the meetings. Is this really a spiritual, philosophical or devotional activity?
Our scriptures say that “Sa Vidya Ya Vimuktaye – Knowledge that liberates” and here Swadhyay has become closed well. Now a days that “Atmiyta” is missing. There is competition and jealousy even between the motabhais. People are told not keep any relationship with those who are no longer part of Swadhyay. (Somehow the Indwelling god only resides in those who are in Swadhyay. That is why they can place a copyright on Yogeshwar’s image). One ambitious couple bluntly told me that if we speak to people like you, Didi would blacklist us and we would lose everything that we’ve worked for.
Now why is it that top leadership of Swadhyay is so afraid of those of us who have left? Why is Swadhyay threatening and intimidating ex- swadhyayees? If Didi truly is right and has guts, why not have a dialogue? Why run away?
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It is my open declaration that truth will come out. Satya Mev Jayate. This is the time for each swadhyayee to decide whether he/she will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.
Jay Yogeshwar
Exaggerated Claim
Before I begin the post I'd like to quote Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels once said: " If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State ".
This quote puts things in context. We have heard many a times about how Mr. Athavale had read every book in Royal Asiatic Library. Now this library has over 100,000 books. Out of which over 3,000 are ancient manuscripts in Persian, Sanskrit and Prakrit, mostly on paper but some on palm leaf. Let us say that if Mr. Athavale read one book a day. Which in itself is impossible considering the time spent in Shibirs, Travelling, etc, it would take Mr. Athavale 279 years to read all the books in this library. Is it possible that Mr. Athavale was a voracious reader? Sure. But to go all out and exaggerate the claim to say all the books in the library is bit too much.
You may ask so what if he didn't read all the books? The point is not whether he read the books or not. The point is amount of effort put into propaganda about Mr. Athavale. We have seen the false claims regarding Japan conference, meeting with the pope, meeting with Vinoba Bhave, getting offers from UN, 100,000 villages completely transformed. Well it matters because it gives you an insight as to how at each step of the way Dada twisted the truth to suit his needs. Which is becoming more evident with each passing day. Does a real saint need to resort to deceit?
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Also, the second part of the quote regarding state protecting the lie also very important. Look at the events that happened. Violence, Murder, Copyright of Lord, misappropriations of funds. Without State protection, this is not possible. Many of you have claimed that Swadhyay Trusts are audited by Charity Commissioner and if they had done anything illegal, it would be caught. Just because things are not illegal doesn't mean that they are not immoral also. Copyright of Lord is legal but is it ethical? Remember, by German Laws everything done by Hitler was legal too.
Just food for your thought.
Flaw in Explanation
As previously discussed, followers of Mr. Athavale consider him to be a world class philosopher. However, when we study his works, we find serious flaws and deviations in his explanations. When asked for clarification, no one seems to have an answer. We have already seen previously about flaws in Valmiki Ramayan Darshan, Shraddh Stories, and Gitamrutam. I have found another serious flaw here which I think actually misleads people. The flaw is found in Gitamrutam regarding Ch. 18, V. 14 & 15. Let us take a look at it logically: adhisthanam tatha karta karanam ca prithag-vidham vividhas ca prithak cesta daivam caivatra pancamam (14)
"The place of action [the body], the performer, the various senses, the many different kinds of endeavor, and ultimately the Supersoul— these are the five factors of action. " sarira-van-manobhir yat karma prarabhate narah nyayyam va viparitam va pancaite tasya hetavah
"Whatever right or wrong action a man performs by body, mind or speech is caused by these five factors. "
Now the focus here is the word daivam in this verse. Mr. Athavale has taken this word completely out of context . His explanation also goes against the explanations given by Adi Shankaracharya and Sant Gyaneshwar.
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Mr. Athavale on page 721 of Gitamrutam explains that the word Daivam means either (1) Destiny (Prarabdh), (2) Venerable (Pujya), or (3) Heavenly/Divine (Svargiya).Pages after pages have been filled on this point. However, Mr. Athavale does not explain how he derived these meanings which are in direct opposition to understanding of greats that I have mentioned above.
Sant Gyaneshwar translates Daivam as lord of senses. Shri Chinmayanand translates it as lord of the body.
The translation as destiny, heavenly or venerable is misleading , for in Gita’s presentation nothing is foreordained and nothing happens by chance. We choose our own destiny, because consequences are a part of every action. So is the volition behind it, in the way that a seed, its nutrients, the soil it is in, and the climate are all part of the environment that makes the seed grow into a tree. Our scriptures have repeatedly emphasized that karma is actually contained in the action itself, and only needs time and proper condition to become manifest. None of this, Lord Krishna says, involves the Self, who belongs to higher order of being. Unitl we realize the Self, however, we can’t go through life doing what we like and saying, “I am not the doer; I am not responsible.” To live is to be responsible.
If we again review it in simpler terms, every Karma has five components: (1) Body, (2) Ego, (3) Gyan Indriya - Means the one with whom you are related to by your sense. These are: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. (4) Karm Indriya - Means the one with whom you are related for what you do physically. These are: your arms, legs and tongue and (5) Pancha Maha Bhoot – The five prime elements (space, air, heat (fire), water and earth). The verse means that no Karma can take place without these 5 components. In Adi Shankaracharya’s explanations word Ego is referred to as Bhokta.( for those scholarly who might wonder).
When we look at verse 15 again lord clarifies that it whatever right or wrong action a man performs by body, mind or speech is caused by these five factors which are (1) Body (2) Ego (3) Sensory Senses (4) Motor Senses and (5) Five prime elements.
So tell me, how these words heavenly, divine or venerable fit in this explanation. Gita has taught us all along that we make our own destiny.
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Let me give even further illustrations of why words destiny, heavenly or venerable don’t fit in. When we read Mahabharat, we see many characters. Sage Vyas has gone in great lengths to describe the positive traits of Yudhisthir even calling him Dharma Raj yet Sage Vyas does not shy away from criticizing Yudhishthir for his addiction to gambling. Sage Vyas again praises Karna for his generosity and bravery but does not shy away from pointing out his flaws. The same is the case for Duryodhan. Sage Ved Vyas does not say that the negative traits were destined. No excuses. When Sage Valmiki talks of Ravan, he goes in great details of how Ravan was brave, knower of all Vedas, devotee of Shiva but does not say that because he was cursed Jaya Vijaya that this happened. So when we look at the message of our scriptures, word Destiny or heavenly does not fit in.
In Chapter 6, Lord Krishna says uddhared atmanatmanam - One must deliver himself. We have to take responsibility for our actions. Not to accept them and say that (1) Social conditions were responsible (like Karl Marx) (2) Superiority/Inferiority Complex (like Freud) or (3) To say that this is pre ordained (Superstition) is a weakness and a pathology according to Gita.
So if we think about it logically, Mr. Athavale who teaches the importance of Karma does not mention why he deviated so much from the real meaning and his message.
There are many more flaws like these that need further clarification. I will present more later.
Jay Yogeshwar.
Crime or Sin?
There has been a growing debate in the world regarding these two words. Archbishop of Canterbury defines sin as an offence against God. Its measurements do not vary from age to age as man's laws do. On the other hand crime is a different matter, a sin against society and social order of such a kind that the law has to take note of it.
Let us take a look at the acts of Swadhyay and see where they fit in:
(1) In name of Kruti Bhakti, Swadhyay Parivar conducts experiments which yield great financial returns. As we have already seen, the Page 55 of 108 balances in each trust have been rising every year. The money is collected in name of God for serving his children. Yet, this divine wealth sits in charitable trusts earning crores of rupees in interest without benefitting anyone. Is this not a sin?
(2) During 2001 earthquake, Swadhyay Parivar collected millions of dollars to help the victim. This money was meant for those who had suffered the wrath of nature. This was supposed to be divine help. Yet, the money has disappeared. Those who needed help, those who deserved the help, did not get it. Is this not a sin?
(3) In 1979, Mr. Athavale conducted “Pran Pratishtha” ceremony at Bhav Nirzar. The temple containing life size idols of Lord Yogeshwar, Mother Parvati, Lord Ganesh, and Lord Shiva has been a place of devotion and faith for so many people. In blatant disregard of the vedic rites and faith of thousands, Swadhyay Parivar filed an affidavit under oath that Bhav Nirzar is just a glass show case. Is this not a sin?
(4) In 1984, Mr. Athavale placed a copy right on image of Lord Yogeshwar. In 1998, using this patent, Mr. Athavale placed the idol of Lord Yogeshwar at Sant Gyaneshwar temple in police custody. The image of Lord Yogeshwar is inspired from the temple in Pandharpur. Swadhyay Parviar claims to spread the message of Gita and Yogeshwar, using legal tricks it has prevented people of Jalgaon from worshipping in peace. Is this not a sin?
(5) When members like Hemraj Asher, Ramdas Gandhi, Mahesh Shah, Vinoo Sachania etc questioned these irregularities, they were violently attacked and wounded. Attacking members of your own family, nearly destroying their lives because their assertions displeased an individual, is this not a sin?
(6) In June 2006, innocent people were incited to commit murder. While murder is both a crime and a sin and justice will be done, what about those people who incited and aggravated these innocent people? They sit in comforts of luxury while their innocent followers take the blame and suffer. Many who are aware of these facts and yet sit silently without caring, is that not sin?
Every Swadhyayee should look at the facts and examine the evidence. Your inaction, your indifference, and your selfish motives have given
Page 56 of 108 some people the much needed encouragement to not only brake the human law but to defy the law of God. Do you want that on your conscious? Can you face god knowing you have provided support to someone who has shown such disregard for God himself?
You can love the sinner but you must stand up to the Sin.
Holy Gita
Many people have had a difficult time reading the previous post, I am retyping the post so that Everyone can read easily and understand for themselves that Mr. Athavale was no authority on Gita and there are many flaws that have remained unexplained.
Dear Friends,
I apologize for the delay in my posts. I have gotten many encouraging and supportive message from this forum. I am happy to hear that my insights and views have been helpful and are being seen by many. My aim is as always to expose the deception in Swadhyay.
Earlier I had spoken about the flawed explanation given by Mr. Athavale regarding Ch. 18, V. 14. No one from Swadhyay has attempted to correct me or provide any explanations to me as such.
Few years back, a trend had been started in Swadhyay. Swadhyayees were discouraged from reading material published by other thinkers, sages, etc. The only books and thoughts Swadhyayees should focus on and understand are those that have been given by Mr. Athavale. If you dared to attend, Gita Discourses or any other discourses conducted by anyone, those people were labeled as traitors and were thrown out of Swadhyay. But this is a secondary point.
Today I want to discuss a flaw that is in Chapter 5, Verse 15. Let us take a look at the verse then see what Mr. Athavale has to say about it and then see what Adi Shankaracharya and Sant Gyaneshwar etc say about this. People can draw their own conclusions afterwards. nadatte kasyacit papam na caiva sukritam vibhuh ajnanenavrtam jnanam tena muhyanti jantavah
"Nor does the Supreme Lord assume anyone’s sinful or pious activities. Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance which covers their real knowledge"
All our great Mr. Athavale says in explanation of this verse is that Lord does not accept any deed done under the influence of pride or Page 57 of 108 ego. Missionaries have not understood this and that is why they are not successful.
Let us take a look at what others say about this. The first line is very beautifully explained by Shri Ram Krishna. He says that when you light a lamp all it does is removes darkness. In that light, you may write hymn to praise lord, you may write a note to your lover, you may cook or you may forge documents to steal money. None of that has any impact on the light. In that sense, lord does not accept anything from anyone whether it is pious or sinful. Pride/Ego has nothing to do with it.
The second line talks about ignorance. This is our ignorance. We are like prisms. When light passes through prisms, we see seven different colors. Although at the source of light it is only one ray. In the same manner, when we pass through the body, mind and intellect, we see the world, various god etc. as divided even thought they are one and the same.
So the true Sanyasin like god does not take credit for his deeds, rather he considers himself an instrument of God and therefore he is detached from the world and manages to remain calm and relax.
So can anyone tell me why Mr. Athavale did not explain this and associated Ego/Pride in this explanation? What led him to associate ego/pride in this verse when it is not at all mentioned? So does god accept deeds that are done without ego/pride? bhoktaram yajna-tapasam sarva-loka-maheshvaram suhridam sarva-bhutanam jnatva mam shantim rcchati
"A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries"
Now typical understanding in our Purana is that Lord resides somewhere above the clouds in heaven and based on the accounts provided by Chitragupta, he does justice to the soul after they are departed. Again, Mr. Athavale just speaks that Lord does not accept any deed done under the influence of ego/pride. He does not really explain or clarify anything.
Here Shri Krishna is talking about the pure Brahma that resides in everyone. When lord says that he is the bhoktaram of everything what
Page 58 of 108 does that mean? According to luminaries like Shankracharya and Sant Gyaneshwar, it means that Lord (not his incarnations) is the source of everything. Lord Illuminates everyone and everything. To give an analogy, when electricity enters air conditioner, it gives cold air. When it enters heater, it gives warm air. When it goes in radio, it sings. But none of those are true traits of electricity yet electricity seems to be part of those effects. In the same way, lord illuminates everyone and everything in this universe. That is the true form of Brahma. And this is the Brahma that we must seek to realize and experience, in order to attain peace.
Mr. Athavale, unfortunately, runs away from the true meaning of this and talks about Christian missionaries and somehow associates ego and pride. He does not even give an explanation as to where he derived such meanings from.
I am also aware that Late Prof Anand Shankar Dhruv, who was the head for Dept. of Philosophy at Gujarat University , had written a letter to Mr. Athavale seeking clarifications on many of such flaws in his work. If anyone working there, they may still have access to that letter. It would be beneficial if someone can get us that copy.
I am attaching few pages from Swami Chinmayanand’s The Holy Gita for your reference as well.
I urge everyone to explore the world. It is great to be devout, it is great to be loyal but one must judge the capabilities of those whom we are loyal to.
Jay Yogeshwar.
Hypocrisy, Thy Name
Dear Friends,
It has been a while since I have put a post on this forum. Actually, this post has been inspired by an acquaintance who happened to be a Swadhyayee. When I questioned him regarding elevation of Mrs. Talwalkar and abandoning of Amnay, he responded by stating:"Fakt Didi j Jane ne ke Dadaji ni Vyatha shu hati." I laughed so hard at that statement. I pointed out the hypocrisy in the sentence he had just spoken. Just to be clear, dictionary definition of hypocrisy is, the state of pretending to have beliefs, opinions, virtues, feelings, Page 59 of 108 qualities, or standards that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie.
Now coming to my main point. Every Swadhyayee claims that Mr. Athavale spent his life spreading the message of Gita. If that is the case, in Ch. 12, Verse 16 Lord Krishna gives us some of the traits that devotees should have. Lord says:" anapeksah sucir daksha, udasino gata-vyathah, sarvarambha-parityagi, yo mad-bhaktah sa me priyah "In other words," My devotee who is not dependent on the ordinary course of activities, who is pure, expert, without cares, free from all pains, and not striving for some result, is very dear to Me ." So if Mr. Athavale practiced what he preached then he would not have any Vyatha and he wouldn't be so attached to Swadhyay Karya as the true devotee is suppose to be "Sarva Rambha Parityagi". Of course, he did not have any reply but a meek defense saying all those things are mumbo jumbo.
If any Swadhyayee has an insight that clarify this then please do share this, otherwise ask yourself, why did Mr. Athavale fail in following what he preached?
Remember what Lord Ramchandra says: "Nirmal Man Jan So Mohi Bhava, Mohi Chhal Chhidra Kapat Nahi Bhava" (Sundar Kand).
Jay Yogeshwar
Gita Learning
Dear Friends,
I have received messages from many people requesting more details on Gitamrutam. I do apologize for my irregular posting habits. However, I hope you realize that writing these thoughts require lot of time and research. So, please excuse the delay. I also urge everyone to follow up and read the material they have so that we can have a genuine discussion exposing the flaws in Gitamrutam.
Followers of Mr. Athavale portray him to be a supreme authority on Bhagavad Gita. The only source of Mr. Athavale’s thoughts on Gita is the compilation of his lectures known as Gitamrutam. I have repeatedly said that Mr. Athavale has failed to provide crucial explanations and understandings to the people. If Mr. Athavale had understood and explained such concepts, may be many of the unfortunate events could have been prevented.
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Today, I will talk about Ch. 5 V. 18 and show you how Mr. Athavale avoids the whole issue in his work. vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmane gavi hastini suni caiva sva-pake capanditah sama-darsinah
The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal vision a learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog- eater [outcaste] .
Mr. Athavale says only two things about this verse in Gitamrutam. (1) This verse is an important verse and is the soul of the whole chapter (2) This verse shows how the “gyani” person acts. This is a very limited understanding of the verse. Let us see what Adi Shankracharya and others have said about this verse.
This verse actually talks about how an individual who has acquired the “Atma Gyan” sees the world around him. The goldsmith does not see rings, bangles or necklace, he only sees and evaluated in terms of the gold. Potter does not see pot, plate etc he only values the clay. In the same fashion, true Bramhin will see this entire universe as the pure consciousness and welcomes that consciousness (brahma). He does not differentiate based on caste, creed, color, age, appearance etc. Every individual is different yet the Brahma in them is the same at any given time. A very good example of this is “Manisha Panchak” by Adi Shankaracharya.
Once upon a time, when Adi Shankaracharya was residing in Kashi, he was returning after bathing on the Holy Ganga. At that time, he saw an outcaste (chandal) with four dogs. Immediately, Adi Shankaracharya told him to go away. The outcaste asked Adi Shankaracharya, “O Revered Bramhin, who goes away? What goes away? Do you want my physical body to be away from you? By doing that, would the Brahma in and around us be separated? Does it make any difference to the water if it is contained in a clay pot or gold pot? Does the sun differentiate between the water flowing through Ganga and gutter? Then how did you develop this attitude of discrimination between a bramhin and an outcaste? We both are made by the same creator and energized by the same consciousness?
Hearing these words, Adi Shankaracharya realized his error. He recognized that the lord himself was preaching him in form of the Page 61 of 108 outcaste. Adi Shankaracharya wrote five verses in praise of this even which is known as Manisha Panchak in which he has asserted that Brahma is above visible duality and the illusion of the world and whether it is in a Bramhin or an outcaste, they are my Guru.
Another aspect of this verse has been addressed by Adi Shankaracharya in “Gautam Smriti”, where he asserts that, “When we do not respect those who deserve our respect then we are committing a sin. At the same time, when we honor those who have no honor, is also a sin” (Gautam Smriti 18.20).
Are we all not guilty of this sin? That is why in today’s world it has become a fashion to criticize Gandhi and praise Godse.
Mr. Athavale has failed to clearly explain such concepts. Not only are that Swadhyayees told all the time that Swadhyay is unique and great. No other activity has been done based on Bhagavad Gita in last 500 years that can rival Swadhyay. So by saying that, they are not honoring people such as Vallabhacharya, Shankaracharya, Gandhi and Vinoba. Of course, the works of Vinoba has been heavily copied by Mr. Athavale. Yet, the average Swadhyayee is unaware of any of this information. Had they known and understood such concepts, they would have recognized the Lord residing in Pankajbhai and may be the unfortunate incidents would not have happened.
Shrimad Bhagavad Gita is a guide for true devotees and sadhaks. It is a combination of Bramha VIdya and Yoga Shashtra. True understanding of this scripture removes doubts and aids in uniting man with his creator. Misunderstanding of this scripture leads to superstitions and intolerance.
Thank you.
Krishnam Vande Jagat Gurum
Dear Friends,
I am writing this post with very disturbed and disappointed heart. As I was going through the website, I came across a post by “soldierofgod” (post # 2954). In this post this person says, “Krishnamvande JagatGuru (My Guru is one who had performed a number of murders in his childhood ... only to sustain the truth.)Pankaj Bhai is an example.”
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I do not know how prevalent this attitude and understanding is in members of Swadhyay Parivar but this shows what I have been saying for a long time that Mr. Athavale never really understood scriptures and therefore failed to explain them properly to his followers. End result is what we are seeing today.
This hymn is used by Swadhyayees everyday yet no one really understands the symbolism and true meaning behind this hymn. If people truly understood this hymn, they would not support Swadhyay.
Vasudeva sutam devam Kamsa-Chanoora mardanam Devaki parama-anandam Krishnam vande Jagatgurum
I do vandana (glorification) of Lord Krishna, the resplendent son of Vasudev, who killed the great tormentors like Kamsa and Chanoora, who is a source of greatest joy to Devaki, and who is indeed a world teacher.
This hymn is sung in praise of Lord Krishna as a manifested form of the pure consciousness (Brahma). In other words for a true devotee, this is in praise of that supreme soul who is lord of this entire universe.
If we see this as a prayer to incarnate Krishna then this is hymn reminds us of Lord Krishna relieving miseries of his parents, eliminating evil people such as Kansa and Chanur, and due to his valour and courage reminds us of his stature as the universal teacher.
However, when we closely look at it, this meaning does not really make sense entirely. Just because a person is courageous, serves his parents and eliminates evil does not automatically give the title of universal teacher (Jagatguru) to anyone. This hymn describes Lord Krishna as our soul and when we see it in those terms, it makes sense.
Mythologically, Vasus are eight demigods who control the seasons. The cycle of these eight Vasus forms one earth year. These eight demigods manage “kaal – time”. Dev means the one that illuminates. So the true meaning of the word Vasudev is the one that illuminates Kaal.
The understanding of time is based on space between the experiences of human mind. Each incidence, each experience highlights particular Page 63 of 108 tendencies and particular traits of an individual. This proves that the consciousness that is within us (our atma) illuminates our tendencies and our experiences. So the true meaning of Vasudev is conscious atma.
Kans and Chanur represent our pitfalls greed, lust, ego, who can be defeated and eliminated by our soul. Our pride and greed take away our inner joy and holds us hostage to its needs. This is represented by Mathura being suppressed by Kansa and his associate Chanur. Manifestation of Krishna can eliminate Kansa and Chanur and restore joy in Mathura. In the same fashion, realization of Atma can free us from our sorrows and restore our sense of being and help us grow.
In Samkhya Philosphy, Prakriti and Purush are the adjectives used to describe inanimate and animate objects in this universe. Prakriti represents inanimate objects. Our body mind and intellect reacts to the outer world and believes that we can get our joys out of the inanimate objects of the world. But without our animate selves we cannot enjoy the inanimate objects. That is why we give so much attention to life. The life force makes us who we are and body is just an instrument.
So, the prakriti is represented by Devaki. Until the purush unites with prakriti, the world cannot be generated. As an example, music is inherent in a musician yet it needs an instrument to make that music audible. So lord is the musician and Devaki is the instrument through which music is made audible.
In short, Shri Krishna is the pure consciousness. By coming in close proximity to this consciousness, our inanimate bodies are illuminated with our personality and give us true joy and learning.
This is the true meaning of this verse.
I hope that people realize the true meaning of our scriptures.
Walk away from extremism and violence.
I urge every Swadhyayee to introspect. If you truly do, you will realize that you are on the wrong side of Dharma. You have intentionally or unintentionally supported murder, violence, theft and adharma.
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Asato ma sat gamaya (From illusion lead me to the Truth); Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya (From darkness lead me to Light); Mrityur ma amritam gamaya (From death lead me to Immortality)".
Vedic Sanskriti & Swadhyay
We have always heard from defenders of Swadhyay that they are defending Vedic Sanskriti. These slogans and claims are not consistent with their actions. Let us take few examples to understand:
(1) Swadhyay members are repeatedly told to avoid reading materials other than the ones published by Swadhyay. Not to listen to anyone else but Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar. Rigved says, “Aano bhadra krtavo yantu vishwatah” meaning let noble thoughts come to all from all sides. Even though Ravan is considered an epitome of evil, we still recite the Shiv Tandav Stotra written by him. Vedic culture has never believed in limiting one to one teacher or one school of thoughts. When Lord Ram had gone with Sage Vishwamitra, did Sage Vasisth object? Then why this typical campaign of, “Haju Dada Na Vicharo Sthir Nathi Thaya?”
(2) In Ramayan, there are beautiful description of Sages and their Ashrams. It is said that in the Ashram of Sage Yagnyavalkya, even animals forgot their violent tendencies and Lion and Deer sat together. The similar description is present in Ramayan describing Sage Gautam’s Ashram. In presence of true Sage, even animals lose their violent tendencies. Yet in Swadhyay, violence and extremism is an acceptable form of expression of their emotions. How is that Vedic Sanskriti?
(3) In Chapter 18 of Bhagavad Gita Lord describes the qualities of Siddh Gyani where he says that true Siddh Gyan is giving up the objects of sense gratification, being freed from attachment and hatred, one who lives in a secluded place, who eats little, who controls his body, mind and power of speech, who is always in trance and who is detached, free from false ego, false strength, false pride, lust, anger, and acceptance of material things, free from false proprietorship, and peaceful. Can we truly say that about Mr. Athavale or Mrs. Talwalkar? Isn’t their slogan “I said and I did’? Isn’t that ego? How many times has Mrs. Talwalkar said Dadaji’s work? Is that not sign of false proprietorship? We already know the trail Page 65 of 108 of violence, then how is that Swadhyay can say that it is peaceful? By looking at Mrs. Talwalkar, can we say that she eats little? The lavish home in Roha, is that a secluded place?
(4) Swadhyay has consistently spoken about Asmita Jagruti. It is a slogan that they chant million times. I am not even sure if they truly know the meaning of the word. Also, no one really seems to care that Yoga Patanjali Sutra names Asmita as one of the 5 “kleshas”. Yoga Patanjali Sutra says, “Avidy āsmit ārāgadve ṣābhinive śā ḥ pañca kle śā ḥ” meaning that Avidya, Asmita, Rag, Dvesha, and Abhinivesh are five afflictions. Can anyone explain this contradiction?
(5) According to Gita Chapter 12, true devotee is equipoised in honor and dishonor. Yet, each time Mr. Athavale is mentioned, the words Templeton and Magsaysay award winner is always present.
Preaching has no meaning if it is not backed by practice. Gandhiji when he wrote his commentary on Gita has said that this analysis is based on my 38 years of practice of these principles. Unfortunately, Mr. Athavale can not claim that.
I urge everyone to examine the facts. Ask questions. Observe. You will see that this whole thing is nothing more than a scheme to make money for one family and have the members of the family worshipped as god.
Ravan & Pandurang
My Divine Brothers & Sisters,
Jay Yogeshwar!!
Almost all of us are familiar with Ramayan. When Lord Ram built the bridge on the ocean, he built a temple of Lord Shiva known as Rameshwaram. There was a political reason behind installing a Shiv Ling at the start of the bridge. Lord Ram knew that Ravan was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. As a matter of fact, Ravan had composed "Shiv Tandav Stotra", which is still being sung to praise Lord Shiva. Despite knowing that the army crossing that bridge can spell his doom, Ravan did not attack the temple or made an attempt to destroy the bridge. Also, there are folklores in South that state that when Lord Ram wanted to perform a havan before the start of the war, it was Ravan who served as the priest as no other priest was more Page 66 of 108 qualified.
Let us compare that to Swadhyay. Swadhyay placed a copyright on an image of Lord Yogeshwar so that they can sell Fish, Meat, Meat Extracts, Boots, Shoes, Slippers etc. Then using that trademark, they placed an idol of Lord Yogeshwar in prison in Jalgaon.
Ravan with all his flaws still respected devotion. Swadhyay in name of devotion conducts business and will stoop to placing a Lord in prison to meet its objectives. Yet, people claim they are doing god's work.
Lord Krishna took birth in jail so that he can free us all yet today's devotees are so great that they sent him right back in prison because they love being enslaved by these fake babas, dadas, didis and gurus. What an irony of life?
Isa Upanishad says of such people, " Into blinding darkness enter those who worship ignorance and those who delight in knowledge inter into still greater darkness. " V. 9
I do not know what it will take to wake these people up but I pray to Lord that, " The face of truth is covered with a golden disc. Unveil it, O Pushan, so that I who love the truth may see it. " Isa Upanishad V. 15.
Jay Yogeshwar!!!
Dada vs. Anna
Jay Yogeshwar!!!
I have read an article titled “ Turmoil, Hope an Swadhyay” written by Dr. Rukmini and found it to be far from the truth and meant to glorify Mr. Athvale. Nothing cab be more befitting reply to your propaganda paper than the recent successful movement by a prominent Gandhian Mr. Anna Hazare against corruption in India. It is indeed unprecedented achievement, within just 4 days of agitation, thanks to selfless work and determination of Mr. Hazare. If this is not true “selfless work” and “God’s work”, than what is it?
Recently, India experienced great success of Gandhian principles one more time. Mr. Anna Hazare effectively energized people and revived Page 67 of 108 the national spirit for a noble cause. This should be an eye opener for all of us who were blinded by the tall tales and ego boosting by Mr. Athavale.
Mr. Anna Hazare fought in 1965 war. Mr. Athavale did not participate in freedom struggle at all.
Mr. Anna Hazare has truly transformed the village of Ralegan Siddhi. This village has become a self-sustaining village with no poverty. Mr. Athavale has repeatedly claimed that 100,000 villages have completely been transformed due to Swadhyay yet not a single village can come close to accomplishments of Ralegan Siddhi.
Mr. Hazare also effectively uprooted alcoholism from the area, removed the stigma of untouchability. Thanks to his efforts there was an increase in milk production, water conservation, and rain water harvesting. The village got its first formal school in 1962 and today illiteracy has disappeared from that village.
Mr. Anna Hazare does not seek donations from anyone. On the other hand, the trusts controlled by Swadhyay has over Rs. 700 crores earning interest each year. This money is collected from poor and innocent people in the name of impersonal wealth and spent of welfare of Athavale/Talwalkar Family.
Mr. Hazare has repeatedly stood up for people. Thanks to his efforts in 1991 corrupt forest officers were suspended, in 1997 Mr. Hazare raised voice against corrupt minister Mr. Gholap, and in 2003 he again raised his voice against corrupt ministers and had them successfully indicted in court of law. On the other hand, Mr. Athavale repeatedly criticized politicians yet on each of his major functions politicians were invited, honored and shared dais with him.
Unlike Mr. Athvale, whose family members were always present on dais with him, none of Mr. Hazare’s relatives were seen on dias.
Mr. Hazare has been following examples of Gandhiji and yet remains humble and claims that he is nothing when compared to Gandhiji. On the other hand, Mr. Athavale encourages his supporters to denigrate Gandhi in order to promote him. The book Darshan Mari Bari E Thi and the articles written by Prof. Rukmini come to mind. Mr. Athavale and his followers did not hesitate to place him at par with Lord
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Yogeshwar.
Mr. Hazare has been honored with Magsaysay, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, etc yet he is always introduced as Anna Hazare and unlike Swadhyayis, none of his supporters bragged about this award during this movement in last few weeks. On the other hand, Mr. Athavale always has the tag of Magsaysay and Templeton Award winner in front of his name.
Mr. Hazare has played an effective role in shaping India by supporting Right to Information Act and the Lokpal bill. No politician was allowed to share dais with him at all. Yet, Mr. Hazare gives credit to the people. Mr. Athavale on the other hand spent his entire life preaching people without practicing and yet his followers are told that they’d be lost without Mr. Athavale.
Mr. Hazare was recently offered Rs. One Crore and he declined stating people's love is enough. Has Mr. Athavale declined any awards due to his principles? Mr. Athavale lied about Templeton Award and pocketed the money. See the story below for yourselves.
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Preaching without practice is hypocrisy and has no spiritual value. Like Gandhiji, Mr. Hazare can say “My Life is my message”. Can any of Mr. Athvale’s followers say that for him?
Think about it my friends, who is the true reformer. Who has truly seen indwelling God? Rejection of Truth is a guaranteed failure on your path to spirituality.
Again the lines of Goswami Tulasidasji come to the mind, “Nirmal Man Jan So Mohi Pava, Mohi Chhal Chhidra Kapat Nahi Bhava. Saral Subahu Na Man Kutlaai, Jatha Laabh Santosh Dridhaii”.
False Propaganda
My sincere appeal to my dear fellow swadhyayis: First and foremost, please try to put aside any emotional attachment, any reverence you may have for Dada and Didi. Then read the content of this email with an open mind and judge for yourself where truth lies.
We all have repeatedly heard this claim that Swadhyay Parivar had transformed 100,000 villages in India. But we never bothered to verify this, as in Swadhyay, we are NEVER, I repeat NEVER given any proofs, documents in writing. All we get is verbal and that too from a non-reliable source like our khotabhai, who can not speak the truth as they are sucking on the lollipop of “khotabhai” given to them by Didi and their job is to promote propaganda and hide the truth. This why they are called, “Nathi Kehta”.
One of the reasons why many Swadhyayis don’t dare to question anything is the fear of intimidation. Khotabhais are trained to silence vocal swadhyayis by using techniques of Intimidation in front of other swadhyayis so next time they don’t dare to ask questions which can expose the true face of Swadhyay leadership.
So, let’s look at this claim of transforming 100,000 villages in India, which was made on the application for Templeton Award. See a press release from Templeton Foundation as well as a newspaper article in Kalamazoon, Michigan Newspaper by Dr. Jayantilal Bathani, who is known as Didi’s close and confident person. Not to mention that he had to surrender his medical licence as he was facing sexual abuse charges.
Here is the proof given by Didi herself that this claim of 100,000 Page 70 of 108 villages is a LIE. In her affidavit made to High Court of Gujarat on July 16th, 2004, she had stated that “in the state of Gujarat, this activity has been going on in more than 10,000 villages for the last many years.” (Please see page # 193, post # 2885 for the affidavit). So if this claim is true then as per Didi Swadhyay has transformed more than half of State of Gujarat as there are only 18,618 villages in the state. We all know this is not true.
Even if Didi’s affidavit is accurate, then the question is, in which other states in India are the remaining 90,000 villages, which were supposedly transformed by Swadhyay?
Between Gujarat and Maharashtra, there are total of no more than 60,000 villages. So even if Swadhyay Parivar had transformed entire Gujarat and Maharashtra, their CLAIM of transforming 100,000 villages in India is FALSE and it is a LIE.
From Govt of Gujarat website: http://www.gujaratindia.com/state- profile/demography.htm
The state currently has 26 districts (231 talukas, 18,618 villages,242 towns)
From Govt of Maharashtra website: http://maharashtra.gov.in/english/ecoSurvey/EcoSurvey2009- 10/FINAL_ENGLISH_At_a_Glance.pdf
Inhabited villages- 41,095, Un-Inhabited villages- 2,616
I hope that the picture should be clear in your mind that this was a big LIE, which was told to Templeton Award committee so that Dada can get this award and Dada also knew about this LIE and most likely he is the one who initiated it.
So, here is my challenge to Swadhyay leaders; can you ask Didi to publish in tatvagyan magazine, the names of 100,000 villages which are claimed to be transformed by this silent and secret revolution of making money by using religion as a tool?
Please tell me which sanskruti teaches you to ignore murder,
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Please tell me which sanskruti teaches you to call liars pujaniya?
Which sanskruti teaches you to accept Gadi pratha and Napotism?
You will be answerable to God for refusing to use the precious gift of intellect that he has only given to humans.
Lessons from Mahabharat
Dear Friends,
Jay Yogeshwar!!
There are many similarities between Swadhyay Parivar leadership and the Kauravas from Mahabharata. I am going to try and illustrate these similarities in hopes that you will realize how Swadhyay has systematically undermined faith, devotion, scriptures and law.
In spite of his disability, Dhritrashtra believed that the throne of Hastinapur was his and should be passed on to Duryodhan. Mr. Athavale believed that the Vyas Peeth was his and he could pass it on to Mrs. Talwalkar. It is symbolic that Dhrutrashtra was blind. The significance of his blindness relates to his blind love for his son, Duryodhana. Mr. Athvale also did not see anything else but what was in the best interest of his daughter.
Dhritrasthra used the knowledge of scriptures to defend his greed. Mr. Athavale twisted the meanings of scriptures to suit his needs.
Dhritrashtra had publically accepted that the true heir was Yudhishthir and yet quietly supported Duryodhan’s every ploy to usurp the throne. In similar fashion, Mr. Athavale promised “Aamnay” and quietly proceeded with his plan to install Mrs. Talwalkar as his successor in true dynastic fashion disregarding his promise and overlooking the fact that Mrs. Talwalkar was not qualified.
Duryodhan was arrogant, power hungry, and used every mean necessary to usurp Pandava’s kingdom. Mrs. Talwalkar is also arrogant, power hungry and has utilized every legal loophole to consolidate her power.
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Duryodhan attempted to murder Bheem by feeding him poison as Bheem would stand up to Duryodhan. Mrs. Talwalkar attacked Vinoo Sachania, Mahesh Shah, Shankarlal Thakkar etc. because they stood up to her.
Duryodhan was surrounded by coterie of friends who were driven by their personal ego. No one really cared about Duryodhan, everyone was interested in their own status. The same can be said about coterie of khotabhai that surrounds Mrs. Talwalkar, as they are all interested in being “motabhai”. Every Swadhyayee knows about the politicking that goes on at that level.
Honest and neutral people like Vidur and Duryodhan’s own brother, who did not support Adhrama, left him. Justice B.J.Diwan, Prof S.K.Joshi and late shri Haribhai Kothari also did the same.
Under Dhritrashtra and Duryodhan, powerful people like Bhishma, Drona and Kripacharya were subdued and forced to fight on the side of Adharma. The same can be said of those old Swadhyayees who have learned the truth yet continue to support Mrs. Talwalkar.
Duryodhan attempted to imprison Lord Yogeshwar. Mrs. Talwalkar has successfully imprisoned Lord Yogeshwar in Jalgaon.
Duryodhan had no respect for priests and insulted them many times. Swadhyayis also insulted Swami Satchidanandji and harassed him.
Duryodhan was an autocratic leader. Didi is also an autocratic leader.
Duryodhan did not want to give even 5 villages to Pandavas. Didi also does not want to give back anything that belongs to the society.
Duryodhana was proud of his huge military build up and believed he was invincible. Didi is also betting on her blind followers and thinks she is also invincible.
Jayadrath (Duryodhan’s Brother in Law) attempted to molest Draupadi in jungle and was punished by Yudhisthir. Dr. Bathani was caught for inappropriate behavior with his patients and lost his medical license.
Duryodhan tricked Shalya to fight on his side and also got Lord
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Krishna to give him Narayani Sena. Swadhyay Parivar tricked Professors like Dr. Unterberger to help them win Magsaysay and Templeton awards.
Last but not least, many warriors got together and killed unarmed Abhimanyu. Same way many armed Swadhyayees got together and killed Mr. Pankaj Trivedi.
I urge every Swadhyayee to see what is happening and ask your heart if you are on the side of Dharma or Adharma.
Thank you.
Implications of Asmita
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Jay Yogeshwar and Salient Salutations!!!
On 25th March 2011, brother ManushyaGaurav wrote a very brilliant post on www.vijayuncle.com forum. The heading of the post was Vedic Sanskriti and Swadhyay (post # 3054). In that post, he has substantially demonstrated how Swadhyay Parivar’s actions are in contradiction with our rich heritage.
My post today focuses on the point made by brother ManushyaGaurav in that post. If I had learnt this in my early days of Swadhyay, may be things around me would have been different. Brother ManushyaGaurav says, “Swadhyay has consistently spoken about Asmita Jagruti. It is a slogan that they chant million times. I am not even sure if they truly know the meaning of the word. Also, no one really seems to care that Yoga Patanjali Sutra names Asmita as one of the 5 “kleshas”. Yoga Patanjali Sutra says, “Avidy āsmit ārāgadve ṣābhinive śā ḥ pañca kle śā ḥ” meaning that Avidya, Asmita, Rag, Dvesha, and Abhinivesh are five afflictions. Can anyone explain this contradiction?”
The word Asmita is one of the slogans for the Swadhyay business. Somehow everything that is done by them is justified because in part they are raising people’s asmita (self esteem). Before I get in the details of my thoughts of this topic, I am urging each Swadhyayee to look around their group. How many Swadhyayees have noticed problems in their home or homes of people they know, love and respect? True devotion should create harmony not divisions. I do not want to name any names as this matter is not personal but the motabhais of the early days had problems in their lives. Two brothers who were very high up in the hierarchy of Swadhyay did not get along due to the message of Swadhyay. One very respected Swadhyayee has seen his Page 74 of 108 parents separated at very tender age in days when such things were taboo. This also occurred due to incomplete understanding they got from Mr. Athavale. Currently, a very respected lady in Ahmedabad area in the evening years of her life is having discord in her home with her husband and son. All of this is due to not understanding Asmita and its limitations.
Let us look at the history of Asmita Jaagruti first. Asmita means Self Esteem and Jaagruti means awakening. Historically, the first person to use this concept in Gujarat was Shri Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi. Shri Munshi was a member of Prime Minster Nehru’s cabinet, he was a member of the committee that drafted the constitution of India, an author whose work is glory of Gujarati literature, and vice chancellor of Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan. Mr. Athavale copied his concept to propogate his work. So the concept of Asmita Jaagruti is not an original idea of Mr. Athavale or Swadhyay Parivar.
Second point is something that brother ManushyaGaurav pointed out. That along with Avidya, Rag, Dvesha, and Abhinivesh, Sage Patanjali lists Asmita as a Klesh. While Mr. Athavale mentions this fact, he conveniently has forgotten to explain why Asmita is a Klesh (See attachment pages 767-769 of Gitamrutam). Mr. Athavale mentions the verse from Patanjali Yog Sutra then goes on to talk about “Nindra” without explaining the reasoning of Sage Patanjali.
Self Esteem is a great moral conduct to build a man and a society. However, excess of this is very harmful as excess of this leads to pride and boosting of ego. In my earlier post, I had discussed how Mr. Athavale boosted egos of his followers. There is a thin line between self esteem and arrogance just like the one between self respect and pride. Due to lack of discretion, Swadhyayees never realized that they crossed into territory of arrogance and pride. That is why each Swadhyayee is interested in furthering his/her position rather than looking at their development or serving Lord. They have forgotten the important lesson of, “Atmavat Sarva Bhuteshu - an educated person sees other living creatures as he sees himself.”
I believe Mr. Athavale either did not truly understand the concept or if he did, he never bothered to explain it to his followers as this missing piece of the puzzle suited his needs. Many Swadhyayees say that their family was more united and harmonious before they get involved in Swadhyay. On this forum, there is a letter written by Dr. Amin stating this way back in 1980. Unfortunately, in Swadhyay you never get the training of interospection. I can say this after my experiences in life. Please wake up and notice that you are being taken for a ride. You are not in service of lord, you are slaves of Athavale/Talwalkar family.
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I am going to use the same line that Lord Krishna says to Arjun in Shrimad Bhagavad Gita: iti te jnanam akhyatam guhyad guhyataram maya vimrsyaitad asesena yathecchasi tatha kuru
I give you this precious words of wisdom; reflect on them and then choose what is best .
Again, I say you can disagree with me on anything and your Didi says you cannot disagree with me on anything. This is the difference between true swadhyayee and a person interested in furthering his/her selfish desires.
Thank you
Daily Gita Learning
My Divine Brothers and Sisters,
Jay Yogeshwar!!
I read brother Aditya’s post titled “Implications of Asmita” with great interest.
My post today is on matter that is little different. I read the pages attached to the post from “Gitamrutam” to see what brother Aditya was saying. However, when I read the pages, I realized that the explanation given in this work lacks clarity and focuses so much more on tangents. This is actually a typical pattern of Mr. Athavale. His lectures begin with the traditional prayer of “Vasudev Vasutam Devam” then the recitation of verse he will be speaking on. After that for few minutes he will talk on the verse and then his talk goes on a tangent. He returns to the subject matter just a few minutes before the end of his lecture. He never seems to get to the point. How many of you guys have noticed this?
The verse mentioned in the attachment is v. 61 of chapter 18 of Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. Here I will be sharing how other luminaries have explained this verse to show you the contrast. ishvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese ’rjuna tishthati bhramayan sarva-bhutani yantrarudhani mayaya
"The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on
Page 76 of 108 a machine, made of the material energy."
Shri Mahadevbhai Desai says in Gita according to Gandhi, “We are sitting on this ball of earth, which does not stop from rotating or revolving even for a moment. It keeps rotating and revolving all the twenty-four hours. The stars and the sun do the same. Thus, nothing in the world is motionless. But things do not move through their own power. It is God’s power which keeps everything in motion. Just as we keep a machine in motion only as long as we choose and it has no power of its own to move, so also does God keep us in motion as He wills. We should not, therefore, be proud that we have done something. We shed should shed our egotism, become as a machine in God’s hand and carry out His will—look upon Him as our all and obey His plan.” See how simple, straight forward and unambiguous this is.
Goswami Tulasidasji explains this verse in Kishkindhakand in two lines, “Nat Markat Iv Sabahi Nachavat, Ramu Khages Bed As Gavat – Kakbhushundi says O Garuda!! Lord Shri Ram makes us dance like juggler would make his monkey dance”. He further clarifies, “Uma Daru Joshit Ki Naee, Sabahi Nachavat Ramu Gosai – Lord Shiva says O Uma! It is our Lord Shri Ram who makes all of dance like puppet master makes his puppet dance.”
Ramkrishna Paramhans explains it in this way, “Arjun represents Jeevatma and the chariot he is mounted on represents the body. The chariot moved and the warrior waged the war. The former was unconscious of its movements, while the latter was conscious of the part he played in war. That hero who first felt that he was the author of his karma was later obliged to learn that all karma belonged to Iswara. Shri Krishna drove the chariot but never took weapons and did not fight. In the same way, while the presence of the Lord causes all work to take place systematically, he remains actionless. He, the lord who resides as witness in the hearts of all does no wok; but his presence propels the beings to do their duty.”
Swami Chinmayanand goes in detail of the use of word heart as well. What does heart represents? It represents those who love, have compassion, are tender to human suffering, can forgive, and are transparent and satisfied. Lord resides there. Arjun is a perfect representative of those traits.
Now see how these people who understood the message explained it so
Page 77 of 108 clearly, simply and without any ambiguity. Whereas Mr. Athavale says that his talks are abstract therefore he will not go in detail then spends time talking about Ouspensky’s thoughts on sleep, he mentions the five klesha per Yog Patanjali Sutra without providing proper explanations and then talks about 5 Vrittis. In the end, the true meaning is never explained.
Many Swadhyayees go around claiming that Mr. Athavale is world renowned philosopher. This is pure propaganda. Not a single philosopher or philosophical group has cited Mr. Athavale’s work. The awards Mr. Athavale got were for either leadership or progress in religion. Religion and Philosophy are two different subject matters. While they overlap there are significant differences. Philosophy tends to emphasize just the use of reason and critical thinking whereas religions may make use of reason, but at the very least they also rely on faith, or even use faith to the exclusion of reason.
What is Mr. Athavale's philosophy? Please do not say that indwelling god is the philosophy of Mr. Athavale. Indwelling god is a principle belief of Hinduism. It is universally accepted truth.
Just think about these issues. Ask questions. I assure you that you will realize what path you should take.
Hinduism or Christianity
My Divine Brothers and Sisters,
Jay Yogeshwar!!!
When I was a young, I was thoroughly influenced by Mr. Athavale. His words were "Brahma Vakya" for me. I spent my life doing Bhakti Pheri in Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Chhota Udaipur and Vadodara area. I used to attend Mr. Athavale's pravachans every Sunday at the "Bhav Nirzar Temple". Today as the cloud of propaganda is wearing off, I am even more disturbed by what I had been doing during those years and not realizing its impact. Some members on this forum have dedicated themselves to exposing financial irregularities of Swadhyay. While the impact of those exposes is great, not much is discussed about the impact of misinformation provided by Mr. Athavale and his coterie.
In our scriptures, worship of Lord has been suggested using three basic techniques. They are the mantra, the tantra and the yantra. Be Page 78 of 108 it a Yagna (Fire Ritual) or Puja of a particular deity. Mantra is for invocation of Lord. Tantra is not some art of black magic and astrologers but it is a systematic use of body and mind as an instrument for divine realization. Yantra is use of external objects, symbols or means to worship divine. That is why we have idols. In everyday prayers also, these rituals have been given lot of significance. We are to do atleast panchopachar poojan of the idols at home everyday according to scriptures. Panchopachar means five things to be offered to the manifested form of the supreme Lord. We are to bathe them, offer them either Kumkum or Chandan, Light a lamp, light an incense and offer food. Argyam, Gandham, Deepam, Dhoopam and Naivadyam.
The reason I provide this background information is to illustrate what Swadhyay Parivar has done. No one has idols made up of either metal or clay of Lord Yogeshwar in their homes. Each day you light lamp and recite verses. Or on Sundays, you go to a small hut that has portraits of Lord Yogeshwar, Lord Shiva, Mother Parvati, Lord Ganesh and Mr. Athavale, light a lamp and listen to sermons. Now these methods of worshipping are common in Christianity. Hindu worship is interactive, colorful and ritualistic.
By eliminating such practices Swadhyay has done a lot of damage to the vedic cultures. Show me a Swadhyay function when a yagna takes place to realize the divine. The only thing that happens in Swadhyay in name of Yagna is marketing of Mr. Athavale. Only thing that happens in name of rituals fills the pockets of Mr. Athavale and now Mrs. Talwalkar. The haldi kumkum ceremony also celebrates the birthday of Mrs. Nirmala Athavale.
Swadhyay Parivar's motto is that, "Murti Pooja is a perfect science." Yet what they do is a far cry from methods prescribed by scriptures.
Think about this with an open mind people. What is it that makes you say that you are not doing Vyakti Pooja? What is that makes you say that you are not aiding and abetting in exploitation of devotion?
Just a food for your thoughts......
Which Philosophy?
Dear All,
Page 79 of 108
Jay Yogeshwar!!
I read the letter written by Shri Hemrajbhai Asher with great dismay. As someone who has worked with Mr. Asher, I can vouch for Mr. Asher's impeccable integrity. Mr. Asher is a very humble and down to earth person. He is unassuming and dedicated. He was truly dedicated to the Swadhyay cause and Mr. Athavale. You will have an easier time convincing me of an Unidentified Flying Object then convincing me in believing that Mr. Asher was after Swadhyaya wealth or power or that he tried to assault Mr. Athavale.
The letter is significant for demonstrating the changing attitude in Swadhyay. Even though Mr. Athavale's intent were not pious, he was surrounded by men/women who were pious. Therefore, the work flourished. However, as the power struggle grew, the men who came in power did not have the moral compass or the ethical integrity. Character (or sheel as Mr. Athavale would say) was missing in those people. Mahadev Mangela, Ishwar Tandel, Bharat Bhatt etc. That shows why creating fake documents, lying, arm twisting could be done so easily and it caused great deal of suffocation to us.
On a different note, sister Pushpa raised an interesting question on this forum. What is Mr. Athavale's philosophy? Just to be clear, there six schools of Indian Philosophy. They are:
(1) Nyaya: Which is based on Nyaya sutra and it tries prove existence of God, based on Vedas and can be compared to western philosophy based on Aristotelian Logic.
(2) Vaisesika: This philosophy espouses a form of atomism and postulates that all objects in the physical universe are reducible to a finite number of atoms. Originally proposed by the sage Kanada.
(3) Samkhya: This school was thought be first founded by Sage Kapila (Please read Shrimad Bhagavat Puran for details). This philosophy denies the existence of Ishvara (God) or any other exterior influence.Samkhya philosophy regards the universe as consisting of two realities: Purusha (consciousness) and Prakriti (phenomenal realm of matter). They are the experiencer and the experienced, not unlike the res cogitans and res extensa of René Descartes. Prakriti further bifurcates into animate and inanimate realms. On the other hand, Purusha separates out into countless Jivas or individual units of
Page 80 of 108 consciousness as souls which fuse into the mind and body of the animate branch of Prakriti.
(4) Yoga Philosophy: This refers to traditional physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines, whose goal is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility.
(5)Purva Mimamsa: This is primary enquiry is into the nature of dharma based on close hermeneutics of the Vedas.Mimamsa strongly concerned with textual exegesis, and consequently gave rise to the study of philology and the philosophy of language. Its notion of shabda "speech" as indivisible unity of sound and meaning (signifier and signified) is due to Bhartrhari.
(6) Vedanta: This describe a group of philosophical traditions concerned with the self-realisation by which one understands the ultimate nature of reality.
I give you this information so that you can think. Can anyone tell me, what philosophy has Mr. Athavale preached? On what basis can we say that he was a philosopher? He was a businessman in guise of a preacher or Kathakar. Thats it.
I hope this will help you realize how much you are being misguided by the leaders of Swadhyay.
May god grant you wisdom to see the truth!!!
Gorakh Dhandha
My Divine Brothers and Sisters,
Jay Yogeshwar!!
Since 2004, I have been sharing information with you that exposed the true intent of Mr. Athavale masked under his “Swadhyaya” work. Today, I am sharing information with you which will leave no doubt in anyone’s mind about this fact.
Before you read the document attached in this email, I would like for you to recollect the propaganda that was told to you regarding Mr. Athavale:
Page 81 of 108
(1) Mr. Athavale only accepts donation on “Guru Poornima”. (2) Mr. Athavale returns the remaining amount after his annual expenses to Swadhyay Trust. (3)Mr. Athavale lives in a modest two room flat in Mumbai which is rented?
How many times have we heard these propaganda stories?
Also, think about what Mr. Athavale used to say in his pravachans? He repeatedly said that people, who go on holy pilgrimage and deduct those expenses from their income to get tax benefits, do not derive the spiritual benefit of the holy pilgrimage. (What he meant was if you get a tax deduction than you will need the receipt and documents which in turn will make it impossible for me to steal the money! - VM) Do you all recall Mr. Athavale saying this?
So now you can go and read the document attached to the email. This document is released by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal of Mumbai. According to this document:
(1) Mr. Athavale received gifts of Rs. 1 Crore 22 Lac 70 Thousand 7 hundred and 95 (approximately $279,000.00) on his 80th birthday. (2) Mr. Athavale declared this amount as his personal income. (3) Mr. Athavale also claimed that this amount was received on his birthday function so it does not represent income from profession/vocation. (4) Then Mr. Athavale claims that he is aggrieved by Income Tax Officer’s decision of accounting this amount as an income which is taxable. (5) And finally, Mr. Athavale asks that this amount be exempted from being taxed by the tax department. Mr. Athavale points out that similar event took place in 1975-1976 as well. (7) Mr. Athavale lost the initial case. Upon his demise Mrs. Athavale filed an appeal and in 2008 that appeal was granted by the Court.
Now this document raises several questions:
(1) My wife attended Ashiti Vandana program. No one was told about giving Birthday gift to Mr. Athavale. So who are these people that gave this gift to Mr. Athavale? Why did Mr. Athavale break his rule of not accepting any amount
Page 82 of 108 except of “Guru Poornima”? (2) What happened to money received in 1975-1976? (3) Why did Mr. Athavale claim this amount as personal income rather than depositing the amount in Swadhyaya trust as he often claimed to do? (4) On one hand Mr. Athavale claims that this was a gift from his followers and in the same breath he says that this gift had nothing to do with his Swadhyaya work. Do you really think that this is possible? This is a LIE (5) If Mr. Athavale was comfortable in saying that this was an income, what problem did he have in paying taxes on it? (6) Mr. Athavale in Gitamrutam pg 754, very clearly states that we should only have wealth accumulated that will cover our expenses for 12 years. Mr. Athavale further adds that concentration of wealth, concentration of political power and concentration of administrative power is evil. Yet, Mr. Athavale did just that in Swadhyay.
Concentration of Wealth : Have you seen the balances in Swadhyay Trusts? That is a prime example of Concentration of Wealth. The money is not in the villages where Swadhyay takes place but in Mumbai under direct control of Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar.
Concentration of Political Power : Politics is art of gaining and maintaining control of the governing body. I am sure you must have seen the letter written by Shri Hemrajbhai Asher circulated a while back. In that letter, Mr. Asher states that there are no positions in Swadhyay other than Dada. If this is not concentration of Political Power, then what could be?
Concentration of Administrative Power : I am sure the motabhais must have told you that Swadhyay trusts are administered by trustees and the names of Mr. Athavale or Mrs. Talwalkar are not even there. However, did you know that there is a special clause called “Body of Revered Persons”. This body has the total authority over management of the trust. Also, some other trust have a clause that the trust will function as per advice and guidance of Tatvagyan vidhypeeth. And Tatvagyan Vidhyapeeth is solely controlled by Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar.
I hope through this you will realize that wealth is the driving point for Swadhyay Leadership and Human Dignity, Vedic Sanskriti are just slogans for them. Both Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar’s actions are
Page 83 of 108 contradictory to what they have been preaching all these years.
For long time, we believed we were doing god’s work and that is why we dedicated ourselves to it. Our scriptures say that, “KaaraNaa Paaye Karyaa Paayah – When the object reason is lost, the work is destroyed.”
With these facts, I hope you realize that the object reason driving Swadhyay is accumulation of wealth. I urge you to stand up to your leaders and ask them tough questions. Make sure that god’s work is carried out. The “motabhais” know everything. It is impossible to believe that one individual can do all of these by himself/herself. This is a team work. What Mr. Athavale did and what Mrs. Talwalkar is doing is unethical and is in direct conflict with our Vedic Sanskriti. Each time we point out the immorality of the acts, they say that it is legal. Everything that is legal is not morally correct.
Facts are laid out in front of you. Choice is clear. It is for you to decide because as Lord says, “You shall reap what you sow.”
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal - Mumbai Equivalent citations: (2008) 117 TTJ Mum 353 Bench: R Gupta, V Gupta Nirmala P. Athavale vs Income Tax Officer on 29/2/2008
ORDER
V.K. Gupta, A.M.
1. This appeal is filed by the assessee and directed against the order of CIT(A)-XVII, Mumbai dt. 8th Dec., 2004 for asst. yr. 2001- 02.
2. We have heard both the sides and have also perused the materials placed on record and applicable legal position.
3. In this appeal, the assessee is aggrieved by the decision of learned CIT(A) in confirming the gifts of Rs. 1,22,70,795 received by the assessee on his 80th birthday as his income from business and profession.
4. Ground No. 2 is argumentative in nature in support of ground No. Page 84 of 108
1, hence, no specific decision thereon would be given as the same would be dealt with ground No. 1.
5. The facts, in brief, are that the assessee is an individual who filed return of income showing income from other sources. As borne out from the assessment order, it is noted that assessee is a well known social reformer and philosopher and lacs of followers are spread all over the world. The AO from the note enclosed with the computation of income chart (found) that assessee had received voluntary gifts of Rs. 1,22,70,795 on his 80th birthday from his admirers and well wishers in recognition of his personal qualities and noble thoughts. The said amount had been claimed as exempt. The AO after taking cognizance of the decision of Hon'ble Allahabad High Court in the case of Addl. CIT v. Ram Kripal Tripathi held that conducting spiritual discourses amounted to a vocation. The assessee replied that the impugned sums had been received at his birthday function and these payments were not paid to him in the course of practice of any profession or vocation, hence, the same did not represent any income. The assessee also relied on the decision of Hon'ble Bombay High Court in the case of Dilip Kumar Roy v. CIT and also on the decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Mahesh Anantrai Pattani v. CIT . The AO, however, held that the facts of this case were different from the case of Dilip Kumar Roy (supra) hence there was not much substance in the contentions of the assessee. Thereafter, the AO held that the Hon'ble High Court in the case of Ram Kripal Tripathi (supra), the decision had got strong support from the decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of P. Krishna Menon v. CIT wherein it was held that the teaching of Vedanta was in the nature of carrying of vocation and in that process purchase of car by his disciples for him could be treated as value of any benefit or perquisite whether convertible into money or not arising from business or profession under Clause 28(iv) of the Act. The AO, thereafter, held that the facts of this case were comparable to the case of Ram Kripal Tripathi (supra) as well as that of case of P. Krishna Menon (supra), hence, the provisions of Section 28(iv) of the Act were squarely applicable. Accordingly, he treated the gifts received by the assessee as his income from profession.
6. Aggrieved by this, the assessee carried the matter in appeal before the learned CIT(A) wherein the assessee pointed out that the assessee was working tirelessly and restlessly over 50 years for the upliftment of the masses both on economic as well as spiritual front.
Page 85 of 108
It was also submitted that the occasion of his 80th birthday, several disciples proposed to make gift on this auspicious occasion and these gifts were received at different centres at different dates. It was also brought to the notice of the learned CIT(A) that prior to this in asst. yr. 1975-76 similar gifts were received and which were held as exempt by the Department in the hands of the assessee. The learned CIT(A), however, confirmed the decision of the AO agreeing with his findings. Aggrieved by this, the assessee has carried the matter before us.
7. The learned Counsel for the assessee narrated the facts of the case and, thereafter, he described the personality of the assessee and the work done by him by spreading the ideology of Swadhyaya for the upliftment of masses. It was also contended that assessee's philosophy and work had been applauded at various international forums at various points of time. Thereafter he gave brief account the various awards by him by his contribution for his efforts included G.D. Birla International Award for Humanism for Community Leadership and Padma Vibhushan title given by the Government of India. The learned Counsel referred to paras 31 to 63 of the paper book to support the above contentions. Thereafter the learned Counsel contended that it was a movement and not a vocation, hence, consideration of the same as vocation was not a proper tribute to such person rather it was a discredit to him. The learned Counsel also contended that on earlier occasion only once in the life of the assessee such gifts were received and which were accepted by the Department, hence, it was not a case where the assessee was engaged in vocation and was receiving fees from disciples or followers in the form of gifts in a regular manner. The learned Counsel also referred to the composition of income in various years to show the nature thereof and also referred to the assessment order passed under Section 143(3) of the Act for asst. yr. 1975-76 wherein the persons who had gifted at that time had stated that the present given to him had nothing to do with discourses or lectures they attended and they presented gifts to him due to the personal qualities of the assessee whom they held in high esteem and regard. Thereafter, the learned Counsel contended that he could also rely on the decision of P. Krishna Menon's case (supra) strongly relied upon by the Revenue authorities and referred to the observations of Justice Rowlatt in the case of Reed v. Seymour (1926) 1 KB 588 reproduced by Hon'ble Supreme Court wherein it was held that when amount received was in the nature of personal gift, then, it was not taxable and when it was
Page 86 of 108 in the nature of remuneration, then, it was taxable. Thus, according to the learned Counsel, every receipt in such circumstances was not to be treated as income rather there was a presumption of personal gift in such cases. The learned Counsel, thereafter, referred to the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Parimisetti Seetharamamma v. CIT to contend that in all cases in which the receipt was sought to be taxed as income, then, the burden lied upon the Department to prove that it was within the taxing provisions and where, however, a receipt was of the nature of income, the burden of proving that it was not taxable because it fell within an exemption provided by the Act, lied upon the assessee. The learned Counsel contended that in the present case, gifts received by the assessee on earlier occasion had been accepted by the Department, hence, it was incumbent upon the Department to prove the difference of fact between both these occasions and also to investigate further to prove the real nature of these receipts. The learned Counsel also placed reliance on the decision of Hon'ble Madras High Court in the case of CIT v. S.A. Rajamanickam in support of his contention that the onus was upon the Revenue to prove that the amount constituted as income and failing which the amount was not taxable as income from profession. The learned Counsel also placed reliance on the decision of Hon'ble Madras High Court in the case of S.A. Ramakrishnan v. CIT wherein it was held that cash gifts presented on the occasion of birthday could not be treated as income in the absence of any material to establish the fact that such presentations were in the nature of remuneration for past performance and in the present case no such facts were brought on record; hence, for this reason also the impugned sums could not be treated as income of the assessee. The learned Counsel, thereafter, contended that in the case of P. Krishna Menon (supra) the assessee, after retirement from Government services, engaged himself in teaching of Vedanta philosophy whereas in the present case the assessee established this movement as a cause of his life and devoted himself to that cause, hence, this vital fact was different in the case of the assessee from that case, hence, the ratio of that decision could not be applied to the present case.
8. The learned Departmental Representative, on the other hand, placed strong reliance on the order of learned CIT(A).
9. We have considered the submissions made by both sides, material on
Page 87 of 108 record and orders of authorities below. It is noted that the assessee is a social reformer who established a movement called 'Swadhyaya' for the upliftment of masses which was joined by great number of followers. It is also noted that the assessee has devoted his whole life to the cause of this movement. It is also noted that assessee has never charged any fee or remuneration from his followers or the persons who attended his lectures at any point of time. In this background, we find sufficient force in the contention of the assessee that it was movement or campaign and not a vocation. Having stated so, however, even if it is treated as vocation then, having regard to the fact that assessee never charged any fee or remuneration for his imparting of knowledge and practicing of values based on "Shrimad Bhagawat Gita" and also the fact that the assessee did not have any vested right to receive any kind of payment for these activities from his disciples/followers, hence, the gift made by the followers, without being under any contractual or legal or customary obligations, cannot be treated as a consideration arising out of carrying of vocation. We would further like to add that as far as provisions of IT Act is concerned every receipt is not income though the term 'income' has been defined in an inclusive manner, hence, such receipt must necessarily fall under the specific charging provisions. The Revenue authorities have applied the provisions of Section 28(iv) of the Act wherein it is provided that any benefit or perquisite arising out of exercise of business or profession would be treated as income. These two words have been used in this provision, i.e. 'benefit' or 'perquisite' and other condition is that such benefit or perquisite should arise out of exercise of business or profession. In the facts of the case, the Revenue has not established conclusively that the amount of gift arose to the assessee as a consequence of exercise of vocation because such gifts have got no element of consideration being paid for services obtained by the followers/disciples. It is also noted that both the words 'benefit' and 'perquisite' refer to specific situations wherein, generally receipt of revenue nature having attributes of income would be covered and such attribute should exist from very beginning. To illustrate this aspect, we state that where a gift is made in lieu of paying consideration for services obtained and this fact is established, then, such amount of gift can fall within the provisions of Section 28(iv) of the Act. We would also like to add that these two words used in this section would arrive colour from each other and in this regard we deem it fit to reproduce the findings of the order of the Tribunal in the case of Helios Food Improvers (P) Ltd.
Page 88 of 108 v. Dy. CIT (2007) 14 SOT 546 (Mumbai) wherein provisions of Section 28(iv) have been explained as under:
Now the question for consideration arose as to whether the receipt in question could be said to have arisen from the business of the assessee as contemplated under Section 28(iv). Sec. 28 is a charging section for profits and gains of business or profession and it takes into account the receipts of specified categories as of income as well as the receipts which can be generally construed as income in the ordinary sense. But the fact remains that all the receipts mentioned in Section 28 are inherently of income nature except in case of receipt under a Key Man Insurance Policy which is a recovery of expenditure already allowed as deduction. Hence, prima facie the loan received by an assessee in the course of business is not envisaged as income. Now, coming to specific provisions of Sub- section (iv) of Section 28 it is also in connection with the value of any benefit or perquisite arising from business, which means that such benefit or perquisite should be in the nature of income from the very beginning or it must have characteristics of income before it becomes chargeable at a later stage, if the original transaction is completed as designed. No material had been brought on record to show that the loan agreement provided for such waiver at subsequent stages. Hence, this receipt could not be construed as a benefit within the meaning of Section 28(iv). Further, the words 'benefit' or 'perquisite' have been used in this sub-section, which have to be read together and would draw colour from each other. Normally, the term 'perquisite' denotes meeting out of an obligation of one person by another person either directly or indirectly or provision of some facility or amenity by one person to another person and from the very beginning, the person providing such facilities or concessions knows that whatever is being done is irretrievable to him as it has been granted to a person as a privilege or right of that person. Therefore, the word 'benefit' has also to be interpreted in the same manner, i.e., at the time of execution of the business transaction, the one party should give to the other party some irretrievable benefit or advantage. In the instant case, the assessee had no such special right or privilege. The only privilege which it enjoyed was regarding no liability to pay any interest as the funds were interest-free. Hence, the assessee derived benefit to this extent only and had it been a case of interest being payable by the assessee originally which was waived subsequently, in part or toto, the same would have been a benefit under Section 28(iv) surely. Further, the
Page 89 of 108 provisions of Section 28(iv) can be applied in a number of situations but the bottom-line or crucial fact would always be circumvention of income by taking or receiving income in other forms. Therefore, the loan amount waived by the lender was not chargeable to tax as the income of the assessee.
10. From the perusal of above, it is clear that in the present case there is no intention of circumvention of income on the part of assessee or receiving income in other forms, hence, provisions of Section 28(iv) of the Act cannot be applied. We would further like to add that the term 'perquisite' as per Black's Law Dictionary means "privilege or benefit given in addition to one's salary or regular wages" which means that it is an additional benefit and not a complete substitution of one's income. As stated earlier that assessee has never charged any consideration from his followers, hence, on the basis of above meaning it cannot be termed as 'benefit' or 'perquisite' within the meaning of Section 28(iv) of the Act. There is one more reason which we would like to specifically mention i.e., that the assessee has taken gift earlier only once and that too some 25 years back and at that time, the Department has not charged the same to tax in completing the assessment proceedings under Section 143(3) of the Act and during those assessment proceedings, the then followers who made the gifts clearly stated that those gifts had been given out of personal regard and respect to the qualities of the assessee. In this year also, the same is the position and the Revenue has not brought on record any material to prove otherwise. Thus, in view of above discussion, we hold that these gifts are not of the nature of any benefit or perquisite as contemplated under Section 28(iv) of the Act. Accordingly, we delete the addition made by the AO.
11. In the result, appeal filed by the assessee stands allowed.
This is another example of master manipulator - Dada! He claimed that One Crore 22 Lac 70 Thousands 7 Hundred 95 Rupees that were collected on his 80th birthday was a gift to him and therefore no need to pay income tax on it. Poor Swadhyayees paying from their meager budget eneded up giving up the biggest tax free birthday gift to DADA.
I think if you had contributed thinking that was donation was for Swadhyay activities please contact the income tax department and let
Page 90 of 108 them know. No one was told that this was for Dada's Tax Free Birthday Gift!
May be all the money collected for 2001 earthquake was for a birthday gift to Didi, that is why all the 4534 houses are built only in her dreams.
Dada had systemically exploited devoted followers and used them for singular purpose to collect personal wealth under the name of Gita. Please spread the word to those who still have functioning brain to see the truth. ~Vijay Mehta
Recollection of an Old Timer
Hello!!
My friend Aditya79 has been encouraging me to contribute on this website for a while. Due to my age, it has taken me some time to get acquainted with this new technology. Members of this site have compiled a large collection of evidence that proves the ill intent of Dada and Didi. I congratulate those who have worked so hard to gather this information and I do hope that they have kept this record in a physical form as well.
Person posting as "TheTruth" points out that the wealth accumulated is spent on functions. I would like to inform him that the functions organized by Swadhyaya parivar do not cost any money to the trusts as such. Through each of these functions, Dada and Swadhyay have profited. I was part of a meeting where dedicated Swadhyayees met honorable justice B J Diwan. He informed us that the function in 2005 in Ahmedabad (this is where the conspiracy to assassinate Pankaj was chalked out) brought in Rs. 1 Crore 40 Lac while the expense was close to 20 Lacs. What happened to rest of the money?
Shri Paramanandbhai write in the biography of Dada that Dada was very disturbed that the wealth collected in temple is wasted on worldly affairs rather than spent on god’s work. When I asked him how the functions organized by Swadhyay served Lord when the functions keep glorifying Dada? He had no answer. If anyone of you can answer it, you are smarter than me. It took me a long time to figure this out. Had these functions not been organized, the image of Dada would not have been consolidated? As the saying goes, “Kehta bhi Diwana, Sunata bhi Diwana”. Dada said he is great and we all said Dada is great. Page 91 of 108
In Vivekchudamani, Adi Shankracharya says, “The guru should be one who knows the scriptures, is blameless, not overcome by sensuality, and supreme knower of God. He should be at peace in God, tranquil as a fire that has run out of fuel. He should be a boundless ocean of compassion and the friend of those who seek his protection” (V. 33). Can anyone say Dada possessed even one of those qualities?
(1) My friend Aditya has already shown Dada’s lack of understanding of the scriptures.
(2) I will not address the second point as Dada has passed away and I do not believe in indulging in such cheap theatrics. However, for those who are curious, the evidence is already on this website.
(3) Dada was never at peace. Had he been at peace, he would not have abandoned “Amnay”.
(4) He was not fire without fuel He was always on fire as he admitted that he constantly worried about “karya” and kept adding fuel to the fire known as Jayashree.
(5) If he had the compassion, Haribhai, S K Joshi would have been treated much differently.
(6) Dada encouraged destruction of those who sought his protection. The letter written by Hemrajbhai is the proof that he sought Dada’s aid but nothing was done.
Any powerful thought process survives for generations. Dada’s work and image both were destroyed in his presence due to his stubbornness and wrong choices.
Just few thoughts that came to my mind.
Lessons from Ramayan
Dear Vijaybhai,
First and foremost, thank you so much. I cannot believe that it has been five years since Pankaj’s assassination. You and the contributors on this forum have continued the struggle that Pankaj started. It is unfortunate that it took a murder of an innocent man Page 92 of 108 to expose the true face of Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar. May he rest in peace.
Member InDwellingGod has very brilliantly summarized the whole conflict. Swadhyayees have always prided in saying that they are following Vedic Sanskriti. I’d like to remind them of words of Sita said to Lord Rama in Valmiki Ramayan, “triiNi eva vyasanaani atra kaamajaani bhavanti uta | mithyaa vaakyam tu paramam tasmaat gurutaraa ubhau || 3-9-3 para daara abhigamanam vinaa vairam ca raudrataa |3-9-4a - Only three self-gratifications, the definite products of desire, are there: one is speaking fallacious utterances, which itself is worse, and worst than the other two malefic self- gratifications, where the other two are the fascination for other's wife, and the cruelness without enmity” Both Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar are guilty of all three.
In Vivekchudamani Adi Shankracharya says, “Lust, anger, avarice, arrogance, spite, egoism, envy, jealousy, etc., -- these are the dire attributes of Rajas, from which the worldly tendency of man is produced.” V. 112
Therefore, it is prudent that people do not support such an activity. In Ramayana Vibishan says following words, “dharmaatprachyutashiilaM hi puruShaM paapanishchayam || tvaktvaa sukhamavaapnoti hastaadaashiiviShaM yathaa | parasvaharaNe yuktaM paradaaraabhimarshaam || tyaajyamaahurduraatmaanaM veshma prajvalitaM yathaa ||- Renouncing a man of sinful resolve hose conduct has deviated from righteousness, one attains happiness, as one shakes off a venomous serpent from his hand. The wise men say that an evil- natured fellow, who is intent on taking away other's property and lustfully touches another's wife, is worth shunning, as one abandons a house in flames.” Swadhyaya is a house in flames. Anyone who still stands by it, will not only cause damage to him/herself and the family but society at large. These are not words of an individual. They are the principles given in our scriptures.
May Lord guide us all on the right path.
Jay Yogeshwar!!
Chanakya Says:
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My Divine Brothers & Sisters,
Jay Yogeshwar!!
The information I provide today is a matter of great shame for the leaders of Swadhyay Parivar. I urge you to look at this information with an open mind, intellectual honesty and pure devotion.
Deceit leads to destruction and the truth leads to salvation.
In describing Kali Yuga in Shrimad Bhagavat Mahapurana, Sage Ved Vyas says, “ In this dark age, wealth alone will be the criterion of pedigree, morality and merit. External Markers will be the only means of knowing the stage in life of an individual (Ashram) and the only guide in determining the mode of greeting which people should adopt when meeting one another. Want of riches will be the sole test of impiety and hypocrisy will be the cornerstone of goodness. ” (12.3)Leadership of Swadhyay Parivar is a living proof that Sage Ved Vyas’ words are coming true. You have been presented with multiple documents showing wealth accumulation, impure intentions and sheer greed of Swadhyay leaders. However, none are more offensive to a Hindu than what I am about to share with you today.
In 1984, Mr. Athavale placed 9 COPYRIGHTS on the image of Lord Yogeshwar to carry out his business activity in guise of spreading the words of Bhagavad Gita. Even when our sages had realized the image of God (saakSaatkaara), they did not make those images their personal property. Surprisingly, Mr. Athavale duplicated this image from the Pandharpur Temple and then made Lord his private property. Is this ethical? Is this consistent with values of Vedic Sanskriti? Mr. Athavale registered this copyright so he can sellmeat, poultry , fish, meat extracts and eggs .
Now our vedic sanskriti has opposed the consumption of meat products because of the belief of Pancha Kosha regarding the Jeeva. So the question is why is a movement that claims to revive vedic culture getting in the business of selling meat and meat extracts in contradiction to the vedic belief? Also, what is purpose of using Lord’s image as a trademark for such products? Mr. Athavale claimed that he was a chittapavan bramhin and that all of us will become bramhin by following the path that he is showing. While Mr. Athavale was showing us one path, he was walking on another. You may disagree with what I have to say but I would like quote an individual whose understanding and vision cannot be questioned. That individual is Chanakya. Chanakya says,
Lakshaditail neelanam kusumbhamadhusarpishaam vikreta madyamansanam s vipraha shudra uchyate
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The bramhin who engages in trading sealing wax, oil, indigo, color, honey, butter, alcohol or meat is actually a shudra.
Chanakya further adds,
Devdravyam gururdravyam pardharaabhimarshanam niravaha sarva bhuteshu viprashchandala uchyate
A bramhin who steals god’s wealth, guru’s material, has relationship outside marriage and associates with good and evil equally is a despicable fellow
Swadhyay leadership does not believe in purity of means. Their only goal is to satisfy their own greed and the vast wealth accumulated in various Swadhyay trusts is indelible proof of their greed. Not only that, this wealth accumulation is still in progress. People, who have developed a blind faith for Mr. Athavale as a result of years of brainwashing, may object to my opinion but how can one disagree with words of Sage Vedvyas and Chanakya? None of our sages ever indulged in the trading business of any kind let alone Meat, Fish, Eggs etc but Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar have broken all the records.
Look inside your heart and ask yourself, (1) Is it appropriate to treat Lord Yogeshwar as a personal property? (2) Is it consistent with Dharma that we are using Lord Yogeshwar’s name and image to sell meat and meat products? (3) Where is the purity of means?
By knowing this information, you have to decide what is true Dharma? All I can say is that if your devotion is purely towards Lord Yogeshwar and your aim is revive our ancient culture then you cannot support the activities being conducted by Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar to make money in the name of "spreading vedic culture".
Bramha Hatya
Jay Yogeshwar!!
My message is to those who assassinated Pankajbhai and those who support this assassination. Pankajbhai was a Bramhin. You have stated many times and many places that the assassination was done to PROTECT "Vedic Sanskriti". However, you can not protect any "Sanskriti" by going against its founding tenets. Manusmriti regards killing of Page 95 of 108
Bramhin as Mahapataka (9.235) and Vishnusmriti says, "Bramhin murderer, even if his victim was another bramhin, should not be killed" (5.2)
Do you really believe that by murdering a Bramhin, by stealing god's and poor people's wealth, by claiming that God is your property, you will actually revive a culture? History books are filled with stories of tyrants who have used the principle of "Ends justifies the means" philosophy and their fate.
There is still time. Think about what is happening. Be honest to yourselves. I am going to narrate a story of what happens to those who follow a fake Guru believing that it is their salvation.
There is a kingdom called Kaikay where Satyaketu is king. He has two sons, Pratapbhanu and Arimardana and rules his kingdom with his prime minister Dharamaruchi. Satyaketu abdicates and hands the reign to Pratapbhanu, who becomes conqueror of the world.
Once Pratapbhanu goes into the forest to hunt and sees a wild boar. The boar is actually the demon Kalaketu in disguise who runs away from the king. Pratapbhanu gives chase deeper into the forest. Pratapbhanu chases for many miles and becomes thirsty. He approaches a fake saints ashram, where the resident fake saint wants to hurt and insult Pratapbhanu due to a previous incident. Pratapbhanu doesn't recognise the saint, who begins to sweet talk the king and says that by pure love, he wishes to impart boons onto the king. The king asks to be invincible and never ageing, which the fake saint grants, but with the condition that he needs to win favor of all Brahmans. The fake saint advises that the king arrange the cooking of holy food (prasadam) to feed the bramanas, who would surely be in his favour for such an act of kindness. The fake saint's real intention is to trap the king and repay him for his old grievances.
The fake saint asks the king to go rest, and that he would arrange the feast for the bramanas using his mystic powers. Pratapbhanu waits for three days for the fake saint. Kalaketu, now disguised as a priest, approaches the King in his court and says that he has been sent to cook the holy food. The entire brahmana community is invited. A heavenly voice from above warns the brahmanas that the food is unpure and they should run away immediately. They curse the king that he, his kingdom and entire family are wiped from the face of earth.
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They also curse that he be born a demon in his next life. The heavenly voice says that the brahmana's curse is ill thought, as Pratapbhanu is not to blame. Since their curse cannot be taken back, the voice says that it is the Brahmana community that will bare the brunt of the evil of his next life.
Pratapbhanu is distraught and quickly goes to his kitchen to find Kalaketu. The king is pained and cries as he realises Kalaketu has vanished. The brahmanas feel sorry for Pratapbhanu and tell him that his evil next life will be ended by Lord Supreme Vishnu himself. As per the curse, Pratapbhanu, Arimardam and Dharmaruchi are all killed as other neighbouring kings invade Kaikay.
Pratapbhanu is reborn as Ravan, Arimardam is reborn as Kumbhkarna and Dharmaruchi as Vibhishan.
So choose your guru wisely, otherwise all of you will have to come back to this earth as "Ravan".
Bhagawan or Chor?
My Divine Brothers & Sisters,
Jay Yogeshwar!!
The debate of Swadhyay is a battle for the soul of the moral fabric of the society. In name of devotion, leaders of Swadhyay indulge in Vyakti Puja, Self Promotion and exploitation of faith and devotion of innocent people. I oppose that. I believe that the facts should be laid out for everyone to see then and only then can we have an honest discussion. No member from Swadhyay parivar has been able to indulge in substantive discussion. This forum has published several evidences proving Swadhyay's guilt but the response from the members of Swadhyay is petty name calling and empty threats. They worship Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar. They go as far as saying Mr. Athavale is "Bhagavan". (Tu Hi Ram, Tu Hi Krishna, Tu Hi Parmeshwar Ka Rup Hai, Pandurang Pandurang Pandurang - Swadhyay Geet Mala).
So, let us try and understand what does word Bhagavan mean. According to Vishnu Puran 6.5.74 - Those who possess abundant greatness, Dharma, Fame, Shree (Pure Wealth), Gyan and Vairagya are Bhagavan.
(1) In order for one to be great, one has to be generous. Mr. Page 97 of 108
Athavale could not part with money that did not even belong to him. How can he be called great in the sense of Vedic Sanskriti? He spent is entire life hoarding money.
(2) Mr. Athavale placed a copyright on Lord Yogeshwar and made a business out of it. He used every dirty trick in the book including violence and intimidation. His daughter went a step further and plotted a murder. They practice Adharma not Dharma.
(3) Leaders of Swadhyay are known today as murderers, theives, liars and carpetbaggers. This is not fame. People are avoiding Swadhyay like a plague now. During her recent world tour, Mrs. Talwalkar could hardly attract couple of hundred people. Each program started several hours late. This is a matter of Shame.
(4) Swadhyay's wealth has been accumulated through immoral and illegal means. It has come to sit in Swadhyay Trust due to exploitation of poor people's faith. This is not Shree - This is black money.
(5) What Mr. Athavale and Mrs. Talwalkar have is information, it can not be called Gyan. There is a huge difference between information and knowledge. So, leaders of Swadhyay can not be called Gyani either.
(6) Mr. Athavale's putri moha lead to this civil war in Swadhyay. Mrs. Talwalkar's life style shows how much her senses and desires control her. So they can not be called Vairagi either.
So, on what basis are these people being treated is Bhagavan? If you are so certain that you want to follow the principles of Vedic Sanskriti, then the scriptures of that Sanskriti are telling you that your leaders are not Bhagavan but Shaitans.
My job is to lay out the facts in front of you. You can choose your path. I have no ill will towards anyone. My only concern is this ongoing exploitation.
Asato Ma Sat Gamaya....Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya...
Astu!!
Impact of Swadhyay Page 98 of 108
Leaders of Swadhyay have claimed that by following the path shown by Mr. Athavale, they have transformed millions of lives and turned Swadhyayee households into divine households. Let us examine that claim with facts and scriptures.
Let us first try to see the factors that make household divine as per scriptures. Describing divine and blessed household Sage Bhartuhari says,
Saanandam Sadanam Sutaascha Sudhiyah Kanta Priyam Bhasini Sanmitram Sadhanam Svayositi Rati Scha Agnya Paraha Sevaka Atithyam Shiva Pujanam Pratidinam Mistaanna Paanam Gruhe Sadho Sangam Upasate Hi Satatam Dhany Gruhsthashramah
(1) The first component of Divine household is that there should be an atmosphere of joy and harmony in the house. On this forum and everyday lives we have met so many people whose family lives have been torn a part due to Swadhyay. If one sibling is Swadhyayee and another is not, then those siblings don’t interact as much. Even within the household, Swadhyay has put so many pressures that it has actually been cause of disharmony in many households.
(2) The second component according to the Sage is intelligent children. In Swadhyay, Children are brainwashed in worshipping false gods and taught intolerance of such extreme nature that they are lost. Think about parents of those participated in assassination of Pankajbhai. What must those parents be going through?
(3) The third requirement of divine household is that husband and wife speak to each other with mutual admiration. However, in Swadhyay the ego boosting has gone to such an extreme that many couples have had to separate due to that. I will not name any names as that is not my nature but people know that there have been genuine cases where Swadhyay was the sole reason for marriage falling apart.
Also, the annual Shibirs for youth has become dating shibirs and green signal has been given by Didi and her followers, so that love marriages have increased. This being done so a group can maintain its strength within the sect.
(4) The fourth component is having good friends. Swadhyayees have limited interaction with anyone who is not part of Swadhyay. Also, in Swadhyay , the politics is of extreme nature. People pull down others Page 99 of 108 to become Motabhai and Motaben all the time. If you are not like by the leadership, you will be isolated. How can you say that Swadhyay gives you true friends?
(5) The fifth component of divine household is wealth earned through honest means. Most Swadhyayees are decent and honest people and earn their living by honest hard work. However, the wealth accumulated in Swadhyay trusts has been amassed through immoral and illegal means.
(6) The sixth component is that both husband and wife are loving and romantic towards each other. In Swadhyay, couples are so busy with Lavpheri, Dirgh Milan, Namastubhyam etc that they do not really get time for each other at all. All their time is dedicated to Swadhyay. As Mrs. Talwalkar keeps repeatedly saying, “Dadaji, Yogeshwar aur Karya se badh kar jeevan main kuch bhi nahi hai.”
(7) The seventh factor described by the sage is that one has honest and dedicated employees, coworkers and advisors.
(8) The eighth factor is having guests at home. Due to the limited interaction with anyone outside Swadhyay, they do not have that great numbers of family or friends visit them except during Lavpheris. So even this component is lost due to Swadhyay.
(9) The ninth factor is worshipping of Lord every day. In our scriptures, worship of Lord has been suggested using three basic techniques. They are the mantra, the tantra and the yantra. Be it a Yagna (Fire Ritual) or Puja of a particular deity. Mantra is for invocation of Lord. Tantra is not some art of black magic and astrologers but it is a systematic use of body and mind as an instrument for divine realization. Yantra is use of external objects, symbols or means to worship divine. That is why we have idols. In everyday prayers also, these rituals have been given lot of significance. We are to do atleast panchopachar poojan of the idols at home everyday according to scriptures. Panchopachar means five things to be offered to the manifested form of the supreme Lord. We are to bathe them, offer them either Kumkum or Chandan, Light a lamp, light an incense and offer food. Argyam, Gandham, Deepam, Dhoopam and Naivadyam.
The reason I provide this background information is to illustrate what Swadhyay Parivar has done. No one has idols made up of either
Page 100 of 108 metal or clay of Lord Yogeshwar in their homes. Each day you light lamp and recite verses. Or on Sundays, you go to a small hut that has portraits of Lord Yogeshwar, Lord Shiva, Mother Parvati, Lord Ganesh and Mr. Athavale, light a lamp and listen to sermons. Now these methods of worshipping are common in Christianity. Hindu worship is interactive, colorful and ritualistic.
By eliminating such practices Swadhyay has done a lot of damage to the vedic cultures. Show me a Swadhyay function when a yagna takes place to realize the divine. The only thing that happens in Swadhyay in name of Yagna is marketing of Mr. Athavale. Only thing that happens in name of rituals fills the pockets of Mr. Athavale and now Mrs. Talwalkar. The haldi kumkum ceremony also celebrates the birthday of Mrs. Nirmala Athavale.
(10) The tenth factor is that there should be nutritious and delicious food be made each day at home. However, may poor Swadhyayees do not have the resources while the Swadhyay coffers earn 8% interest each day.
(11) The last factor according to Sage is having company of Sages. In Swadhyay, one is not allowed to go and hear any other person. Woship only Mr. Athavale, that is the motto. So as the saying goes, “Kehta bhi Divana, Sunta bhi Divana” and therefore Swadhyayees are deprived of knowledge and wisdom of many other divine personalities.
So my friends, Swadhyay has not really been able to give the Dhanya Gruhasthashram as described in scriptures.
This activity is cult dedicated to turn a mortal man into god and making money for his family. Please wake up and see the facts.
Jay Yogeshwar!!
Scriptures and Mr. Athavale
Mr. Athavale, popularly known as “Dada”, has been credited with spreading the message of Shrimad Bhagavad Gita amongst the masses. While that claim in itself is highly exaggerated, his actions are in direct conflict with teachings of Shrimad Bhagavad Gita.
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Swadhyay sells a photograph of Mr. Athavale with these words quoted on it, “I Said and I did.” Mrs. Talwalkar, the current head & adopted daughter of Mr. Athavale, goes around the world proclaiming that Mr. Athavale did everything. We owe everything to him. The followers pledge, “Karishye Vachanam Tava – We will do what you said” to Mr. Athavale. (Please tell me if any of the above statements are inaccurate.)
Mr. Athavale, a proponent of Gita, forgot the basic “Theory of Karma”. God says in Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, “ A person in the divine consciousness, although engaged in seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving about, sleeping and breathing, always knows within himself that he actually does nothing at all. Because while speaking, evacuating, receiving, or opening or closing his eyes, he always knows that only the material senses are engaged with their objects and that he is aloof from them ” (5.8-9). This is further clarified, “ The demoniac person thinks so much wealth do I have today, and I will gain more according to my schemes. So much is mine now, and it will increase in the future, more and more. He is my enemy, and I have killed him, and my other enemies will also be killed. I am the lord of everything. I am the enjoyer. I am perfect, powerful and happy. I am the richest man, surrounded by aristocratic relatives. There is none so powerful and happy as I am. I shall perform sacrifices, I shall give some charity, and thus I shall rejoice.” In this way, such persons are deluded by ignorance. Thus perplexed by various anxieties and bound by a network of illusions, they become too strongly attached to sense enjoyment and fall down into hell. Self-complacent and always impudent, deluded by wealth and false prestige, they sometimes proudly perform sacrifices in name only, without following any rules or regulations. Bewildered by false ego, strength, pride, lust and anger, the demons become envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in their own bodies and in the bodies of others, and blaspheme against the real religion. ” (13.13-18). Now this is exactly the cause of Mr. Athavale and Swadhyay’s downfall. Lord Yogeshwar was forgotten and an individual was being worshipped. Any person who does the actions with feeling that he is doing it is bound to face the consequences of his actions. Goswami Tulsidasji says in Ram Charit Manas, “ Karma Pradhan Biswa Kari Rakha, Jo Jas Karai So Tasu Phal Chakha – He has made Karma the ruling factor in this world, so that one reaps as one sows .” Mr. Athavale imposed unqualified Mrs. Talwalkar as a head of this organization. He hoarded money all his life and he suffered
Page 102 of 108 during the last years of his life.
Mrs. Talwalkar, you should really pay attention to this. Remember the story of King Parikshit. Parikshit entered the hut of a sage named Samika while he was hunting as he was thirsty. He found the sage in deep meditation. He bowed to him several times but as there was no response he took a dead snake and threw it around the sage's neck. When he realized his folly he said, “ Alas, it was uncivilized and evil what I did to the faultless, grave and powerful brahmin. I will no doubt because of going against the injunctions very soon meet with a very troublesome calamity. I certainly hope that that will happen as soon as possible so that I'll be relieved of my sins and never do something like that again. May I, on this very day, burn with my kingdom, strength and wealth of riches in the fire ignited by the brahmin community, so that the inauspiciousness of sinning against the Lord, the culture and the cows may not return to me .” (Shrimad Bhagavtam 1.19.2-3) King Parikshit could not avert his death despite being fact that he was grand nephew of Lord Krishna. However, because he admitted his sin and sought refuge in Sage Shukdevji his soul was salvaged.
So, Mrs. Talwalkar and those who knowingly support her immoral and illegal acts, you only have one option if you wish to salvage your souls. Admit your sins and seek refuge in Lord. Otherwise, this ego will ensure a place in hell for you.
The words I have said are based on Shrimad Bhagavad Gita and Shrimad Bhagavat Mahapuran. Anyone can verify these.
One may disagree with my opinions but words of scriptures are not up for debate.
Jay Yogeshwar!!!
Lessons from Ramayan
My friend Aditya has given some wonderful insights. I would like add few more observations of mine for everyone.
Mrs. Talawalkar, popularly known as “Didi” amongst her followers, had declared that since she was appointed by her father to head the “movement”, that she would build her own team. People like Shri Page 103 of 108
Haribhai Kothari, Hon. Justice Diwan, Ramdas Gandhi, Hemraj Asher, SK Joshi etc. were thrown out of Swadhyay. She is surrounded by people like Mahadev Mangela, Asmita Patel, Dr. Jay Bathani, Bharat Bhatt etc. Administration of any organization requires able advisors. In Ramayan Lord Shri Ram tells Bharat which type of advisors to avoid. Lord Ram says, “ Murkham Vyasaninam Lubdham Pragallabham Bhayakulam, Krurmanyaaykartaram nadhipatye niyojayet – Foolish, Addict, Unintelligent, Fearful, Cruel, and those who do not believe in Just behaviour can not be appointed as advisors .” (Ayodhya Kand, Sarga 100). Based on Lord Ram’s advice, do you think any of these deserve to stay as advisors in a movement claiming to be dedicated to God’s work? Compare these people to S K Joshi, B J Diwan, Hemrajbhai Asher or Haribhai Kothari. Your own conscience will answer the question.
Furthermore, Mother Sita says to Lord Ram, “ There are three types of gratification filled vices in the world: (1) Giving discourses on morality when one indulges in Moha of body, women, child property etc. (2) Indulging in extra marital relationship and (3) Having animosity with someone for selfish needs .”(Arnya Kand – Sarga 9) The first one applies greatly to Dada. His Putrimoha and greed for wealth are the root cause of all the troubles that are plaguing Swadhyay. Add Mrs. Talwalkar’s actions against anyone who disagreed with her. You can see that the actions of Swadhyay leaders is exactly opposite of what our scriptures teach us to do.
Describing the difference between Sant and Asant Goswami Tulasidasji says, “ santa sahahi dukha parahita lagi, paradukha hetu asanta abhagi. bhµurja tarµu sama santa krpala, parahita niti saha bipati bisala. sana iva khala para bandhana karai, khala kaRhai bipati sahi marai. khala binu svaratha para apakari, ahi mµsaka iva sunu uragari. para sampada binasi nashai, jimi sasi hati hima upala bilahi. dusta udaya jaga arati hetµ, jatha prasiddha adhama graha ketµ. santa udaya samtata sukhakari, bisva sukhada jimi imdu tumhari. parama dharma sruti bidita ahimsa, para nindd sama agha na garisa. - The saints undergo suffering in the interest of others while impious wretches do so with a view to tormenting others. Tender-hearted saints, like the birch tree, submit to the greatest torture (even allow their skin to be peeled off) for the good of others; while the wicked, like the hemp, have their skin flayed off and perish in agony in order to be able to bind others (in the form of cords). Listen, O enemy of serpents: like the rat and the serpent, the wicked injure others without any gain to themselves. Having destroyed others’ prosperity
Page 104 of 108 they perish themselves, even as the hail dissolves after destroying the crops. The elevation of the wicked, like the rising of a comet- which is a detestable heavenly body - is a source of calamity to the world. The advancement of a saint, on the other hand, is ever conducive to joy, even as the rising of the sun and the moon brings delight to the whole universe. A vow of non-violence is the highest religious merit known to the Vedas; and there is no sin as grievous as speaking ill of others .” (Uttarakand – Ram Charit Manas).
Based on scriptures, it is up to the people with open mind to decide whether Swadhyay leaders are staying true to the values that they claim to be preaching. The rumors being spread about people like Pankajbhai and SK Joshi, the treatment given to Ramdasbhai and Hemrajbhai, are they not the very example Goswamiji says are against Vedas. And the worst was the murder of Pankajbhai. This is a battle for what is right. I hold no ill will against anyone. I only urge people to examine the facts with an open mind and be fair. As Goswami Tulasidasji says, “ uma santa kai ihai badai, mamda karata jo karai bhalai - UmŒa, here lies the greatness of a saint, who returns good for evil .” Remember, despite being treated in the worst manner possible, Pankajbhai continue to fight for you. He wanted to ensure that everyone who wanted can pray at Bhavnirzar. The money meant for victims of earthquake should be given to them. S K Joshi continues to fight for your rights and sentiments. Haribhai spent lifetime enlightening people about our culture without any expectations.
Jay Yogeshwar!!
Happy Independence Day
My Fellow Indians,
Happy Independence Day!!
This day reminds us of our struggle for freedom and how foreign invaders conquered India and how they looted Mother India. The long list of these barbaric rulers includes Mahmud of Ghazni, Firuz Shah Tughlak, Aurangzeb, Alexander and lastly Britishers. The Moghuls invaded India and established sultanates in Delhi. East India Company opened permanent trading stations as a part of a big scheme of conquering India. By the 1850s, the East India Company controlled most of the Indian sub-continent.
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After centuries of struggle India gained freedom from the foreign rule and atrocities. Yet, today we are being exploited and robbed by our own people. While the politicians sitting in post of power have done unspeakable crimes against our nations, some of them get caught and face the music. However, there is an entire breed of so called Swamis, Dadas, and Gurus who continue to exploit people in name of religion and get away with it.
Swadhyay Parivar claims to be a movement that trying to revive “Vaidic Sanskriti” and “Bhartiya Asmita”. Yet, their actions are not only unpatriotic but in true definition are treason for every proud Indian. Let us look at some of their actions against our mother land:
(1) Swadhyay occupies a very expensive piece of land in heart of Ahmedabad. This land was given to Swadhyay on a lease. Government has not renewed the lease since 2001. Government asked the group to return the land. Instead of honoring government’s request and gratitude, Swadhyay goes to court claiming they own the land. When an honest man rents a house or property, he returns it when the lease is over. Who is better, the common man or these so called Guru?
Swadhyay also promised the government that they would build a temple on this property. Swadhyay’s own website says, “Bhav Nirzar" is an educational institution located in Ahmedabad, founded by Pujya Pandurang Shastri (Dadaji). Within the institution, there is a prayer hall containing life-size idols of Lord Yogeshwar, Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati, Lord Ganesh, and a Shivlinga. Every year, a pious occasion known as Sanvatotsav is celebrated at Bhav Nirzar. This event marks the anniversary of the sanctification of all the afore- mentioned idols with the prescribed Vedic rites. These holy rituals symbolize the spiritual process by which God is called to reside within the idols, transforming them from mere stone idols into a physical embodiment of God Himself.” Yet, they file an affidavit in court stating that this is not a temple but a prayer hall?
Government provides these facilities so its citizen can get benefit out of it. These gurus use the government to exploit the people.
(2) Swadhyay parivar has enjoyed every benefit that a democratic government has to offer yet when it comes to the civic duty, their leader rush for cover. Mr. Athavale got a gift of Rs. 1 Crore 22 Lacs on his birthday. Instead of doing his civic duty of paying taxes, Mr.
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Athavale went to court and refused to pay the taxes. Yet, he expects that government should provide facilities for his movement to carry out his activities.
(3) In Swadhyay, we see Mr. Athavale’s birthday celebrated as “Human Dignity Day”, his wife’s brithday celebrated as “Haldi Kumkum Day” and his adopted daughter’s birthday as “Youth Day”. But do we see Swadhyay taking part in “Independence Day” celebration? Do we see Swadhyay taking part in “Republic Day” celebration? Does Swadhyay honor modern day fathers of India like Gandhiji, Sardar Patel and others? No.
(4) In Swadhyay, we always see their flag being hoisted but have we seen flag of India being hoisted? No. They have no respect for India’s achievements or sense of national pride.
Swadhyay is a cult centered around one family. They have lied, cheated, exploited and murdered. On this day let us vow to not let any one use faith to exploit our people. Mother India needs to save her spiritual heritage from greedy, money hungry gurus who try to turn religion into their own, personal cash cows.
This story nicely describes the situation.
Once, a yogi was giving a talk at the Kumbha Mela in India. As he was talking, a snake came out in front of everyone. This snake had red ants crawling all over him, and the red ants were biting him. The snake's skin was hanging off its body. Upon seeing this, the yogi laughed, and some of the audience members were surprised. "Why are you laughing at this poor creature?” they asked. Don't you have any compassion?" The yogi replied, "You don't understand. In his last life, this snake was a guru, but he accepted his disciple's service for his own sense gratification. Now his disciples are getting back at him."
Mohammed Ghazani looted India several times using his sword. Had he known that India can be robbed this way, he would have come to India dressed in white pretending to be a Guru.
ARISE AGAIN O INDIA AND REMEMBER KRISHNA’S MESSAGE TO ARJUNA: TRUTH IS THE FOUNDATION OF REAL SPIRITUALITY AND COURAGE ITS SOUL.
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Signs of Kalyug
Sage Kakbhushundi says in Manas Ramayan, " bahu dama savarahi dhama jati, bisaya hari linhi na rahi birati.tapasi dhanavamta dadaridra grhi, kali kautuka tata na jata kahi - The so-called recluses build themselves houses and furnish them at considerable expense; dispassion is no more to be seen in them, the same having been wiped out by their sensuality. The so-called ascetics grow wealthy and householders go penniless: the freaks of the Kali age, dear Garuda, are beyond all telling " (Uttar Kand)
Aren't the words of Sage Kakbhushundi setting off the alarm? Dada built palatial house in Roha, Dada/Didi have luxurious residential complexes on each of the Vruksha Mandir and Shree Darshanam. They travel first class and splurge on the wealth while poor people suffer.
Thank you for trying to high light this issue. Unfortunately, it takes long time for our people to wake up. It is sad to know that even blood of pious bramhin does not awaken their conscience.
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