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The Sankaracharya Affair - 3
The 'Business of
Loukikam'
 For a long time now, there has been a debate on in Tamil Nadu and beyond its boundaries over the role of Loukikam, espoused by the Sankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, Jayendra
Saraswathi.
While other sages had kept away from what is considered worldly-wise practices or mere earthly stuff practices and programmes to strengthen the cause of religion or taking it to the masses, Jayendrar had been an advocate of mass-based movements for the propagation of religion, particularly Hinduism.
Worried by the work of the Christian missionaries and their impact particularly on the weaker sections of the society, and stung by reports of mass conversions at Meenakshipuram and other places in southern Tamil Nadu to Islam, Jayendrar launched a movement to reach out to the Dalits in particular. A series of 'Samabhandi Bhojanams' (community feasts) were launched over two decades ago, most of them under the auspices of the temples in southern Tamil Nadu, where the Dalits were given pride of place. Likewise, pro-Hindutva organisations including political outfits, sent out a clear message to Hindus belonging to the backward classes and the Dalits by giving them posts and positions in their
organisations.
Similarly, a number of dispensaries, clinics and hospitals were launched with the 'Hindu' label, many of them with the blessings of Jayendrar, some with his funding too.
This high-profile activity of Jayendrar, (he was constantly seen in the print and visual media) and the Public Relations exercise that he undertook directly on issues like the Ayodhya tangle, projected him as the tallest leader among the Hindu seers in south India, and even in the country. Much of this was to the dislike of other seers and political adversaries on the other side of society. For most of them, Jayendrar was seen as a publicity-monger, someone who wanted to be seen and heard all the time, and that this was not expected of a seer.
There were also allegations that he was getting too close to certain business houses and that he was acting as a trouble-shooter for some of them. Needless to add, the Math was a recipient of large donations from several industrial houses. The reported donation of Rs 15 lakh each by two leading industrialists from Tamil Nadu (for charitable purposes), which sums, the police charged, were diverted to criminal gangs for certain operations, has thrown light on the reach and ability of the Math to tap funds.
This again was viewed by the Math's critics as the seers being lured by money and greed Could Jayendrar draw a line between raising funds from industrialists for charitable purposes of the Math or could he ensure there was no diversion to private coffers? Only time and a thorough investigation can reveal.
What had angered political parties from time to time was the Jayendrar's statements, remarks on politics. That, most of all, probably proved his undoing. In 1988, just before the Assembly elections after the death of M G Ramachandran, Jayendrar asked the people not to be misled by glamour. This was seen as an attempt to tell the voters not to vote for Jayalalithaa's party. She is not someone who forgets such things in a hurry.
 After the BJP came to power at the Centre in 1998, Jayendrar was again seen as too close to the BJP camp. Jayalalithaa's return to power in the state in 2001 saw the Math move closer to the Chief Minister. Schemes of the Tamil Nadu government like the Annadanam programme (whereby the poor are served a noon meal by designated temples all over the State every day) and the bill against forcible conversions were seen as Jayendrar's pet projects.
However, Jayendrar is said to have irked the AIADMK on two counts -- firstly, his reported off-the-record quote that Jayalalitha's party was trounced in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls due to her "arrogance" (Jayalalithaa herself has said that she was not aware of the remark), and secondly, he made known his displeasure over the denial of permission to set up a medical college. In fact, Jayendrar publicly put up and supported a Dalit candidate, 'Tada' Periyasamy in one of the Assembly constituencies in the 2004 elections.
Besides his political entanglement, the Jayendrar's decision to encourage a real estate business, wherein his name was freely used by its organisers, and it was even projected as his outfit, was the most disastrous of all his activities in the name of 'Loukikam'. Earthly-wise may be, but the 'ground' essentially brings in enormous riches and also an association with the underworld -- the kattapanchayat gangs who use force and coercion to evict people from certain properties or who force people to sell at pre-determined prices or demand royalty to conduct businesses. The nature of the real estate business entails some practices that are under the table, whether it is pay-offs to procure land, quick money to agencies for clearances at various levels. It requires enormous courage and a sense of honesty to stay above corrupt practices in this world. The kind of success associated with the real estate business of Jayendrar's men showed that they lived as Romans do. Charges cropped up of threats, coercion and deal-making.
If the charges of Jayendrar's links with some notorious gangs are true, then it could well be said that it was the needless entry into the real estate business and its murky world that was largely responsible.
Jayendrar should use the period of judicial custody, not to count the bars but to search his soul. Intense soul-searching alone can save him, not his lawyers. A return to the seer's primary duty of a life of penance, abstinence and dedication to prayer and service to God and humanity alone can salvage some of his pride, some of his credibility and more importantly the credibility of the Math.
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