Sanatan Sanstha

Sanatan Sanstha

Understand the science of Spirituality, do spiritual practice and attain Bliss
Motto Reinstatement of the Divine Kingdom
Formation 1990
Purpose Spirituality, Educational, Religious Studies
Region served
 Worldwide
Website Sanatan Sanstha

The Sanatan Sanstha is a non-profit organization registered in India.[1] It was founded in 1990 by Jayant Balaji Athavale with the blessings of Bhaktaraj Maharaj and is based on the study of spirituality[2] as a science. The stated main aim of the organization is to present spirituality in a scientific language for the curious (Jidnyasu) and to guide seekers.[1] The organization has a chain of centres in different parts of India and abroad.[3]

Athavale has worked in the field of spirituality to share with humanity the findings of his research into the deeper understanding of the spiritual dimension using a scientific approach. To this end, he has published more than 1.6 million copies of spiritual books in Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Gujarati, English and six other languages since 2002.[4] News Today columnist V. Sundaram describes Athavale as a "rare spirit who brings to ordinary men a realization of their own divinity and makes spiritual life seem adventurous and attractive, so that they may go forth into the world with a new interest and a new joy at heart."[3] He claims that Athavale's work has been recognized by Hindu saints and sages belonging to all denominations.[5]

Persons owing allegiance to Sanatan Sanstha have been arrested in four bombings in Vashi, Thane, Panvel (all in 2007) and Goa (in 2009) and in the murders of Narendra Dabholkar (in 2013), Govind Pansare and M. M. Kalburgi (both in 2015).[6][7] This has led to calls for Sanatan Sanstha to be banned.[8] However, Such claims are ruled out by Maharashtra Minister of state for Home,[9] Karnataka CID,[10] Goa chief minister [11] and Central Home Ministry.[12] On 2nd December 2015, Minister of state for home for Government of India informed in Rajya Sabha that, no links could be found among the murders of Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and M. M. Kalburgi and there is no proposal to ban Sanatan Sanstha.[13]

Founder

Under Athavale, Sanatan Sanstha has created mass awareness among the Hindus of India, through the following activities[5] organised in several parts of India:

  1. Discourses on various topics in spirituality
  2. Weekly spiritual meetings (satsangs)
  3. Child guidance classes (balsankarvarg)
  4. Workshops on spiritual practice (sadhana)
  5. Workshops on stress management
  6. Rallies
  7. Training in self-defense
  8. Relief measures in calamities, training in first aid and fire fighting
  9. Campaigns to create awareness of righteousness (dharma)[5]

Blessings

Jayendra Saraswathi (speaking in saffron cloths) guiding masses in Hindu Dharmajagruthi Sabha organised by HJS in Chennai, 19 April 2009

Jayendra Saraswathi

"Dharma has no birth and death. Intermittently when it is ruined then it marks the beginning of development. Sanatan Sanstha too has been promoting dharma by imbibing its importance of dharmacharan (righteous conduct), on the society with great efforts." According to the HJS website, Jayendra Saraswathi, the Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, made the above statement during his visit to the Panvel ashram of Sanatan Sanstha on 10 June 2009, and blessed the society saying that its mission would spread throughout the entire country.[14][15] Saraswathi attended the 117th Hindu Dharmajagruthi Sabha organised by HJS in Chennai on the 19 April 2009 and guided the masses.[16][17]

Taponidhi Nandgiri Maharaj

On 24 May 2009 Taponidhi Nandgiri Maharaj from the Shanaishwar devasthan in Solashi blessed Sanatan Sanstha, saying that Athavale's "mission of the establishment of righteousness is being undertaken throughout the entire Universe!"[18]

Path of the Guru's grace (Gurukrupayoga)

"Ramananda Maharaj, Athavale's spiritual counselor"

Individual spiritual practice

Individual practice is said to include chanting the Lord's name, attending spiritual meetings (Satsang), service unto the absolute truth (satseva), sacrifice for the absolute truth and spiritual love without expectations (Priti).[1][5][19]

In the organization, members of different religious groups are encouraged to use the name of their individual God. As an example of this tenet, Sharon Clarke Sequeira, (a 1985 contestant in both the Miss India and the Miss World beauty pageants, and an accomplished model), was guided by Jayant Balaji Athawale in a personal path of "synthesizing Christian thought and Indian spiritual practice."[2] With a background in Christianity, for the Sanatan Sanstha practice of chanting, Sequeira says she "chant[ed] Hail Mary for two years."[2]

Spiritual practice for the sake of society

According to the Sanatan Sanstha organization, the spiritual practice for the sake of society includes propagating spirituality, undertaking the mission of "social upliftment", national security, rekinding righteousness (dharma), protecting "seekers" and destroying "evildoers" (Kshatradharma).[1][5]

Creating awareness of righteousness (dharma)

"Hindu Awakening" conferences (Dharma Jagruti Sabha)

According to promoters, the main objective of these conferences is to create a feeling of unity and fraternal solidarity amongst all Hindus, cutting across different sects and sub-sects and to create a new sense of awareness of the relevance, greatness and significance of Sanatan Dharma. In order to achieve this objective, the focus will be on specially designed programmes to raise the levels of public enlightenment relating to the Vedas, Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, Bhagawad Gita and other Hindu scriptures. As of April 2009, 117 such conferences had been conducted by HJS in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Thousands of Hindus were said to have participated in these "Hindu Awakening" conferences with commitment, conviction, gusto and enthusiasm.[16]

One of the men from the media who attended the Hindu Dharmajagruti Sabha at Barshi wrote: "HJS has been organizing 'Hindu Dharmajagruti Sabhas' in various places in the State for creating awareness among Hindus about the importance of 'Dharma-shikshan' and 'Dharmacharan', for uniting Hindus and re-establishing the supremacy of Hindu Dharma. Today’s meeting, which was a unification of 'kshatra-teja' and 'Brahma-teja', was a memorable experience for people from Barshi".[16]

Spiritual television channel (Sree Sankara)

From 15 December 2008, the Dharmasatsang and Dharmashikshanvarga (educating people in society regarding Dharma) presented by the Sanatan Sanstha and the HJS started being telecast 5 days a week on the spiritual television channel Sree Sankara. This channel was inaugurated by Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham on 21 December 2008. The Governor of Karnataka, Rameshwar Thakur was the chief guest at the function. During this function Saraswati blessed the mission of Sanatan and felicitated Pruthviraj Hazare, the group editor of Sanatan Prabhat periodicals.[20]

Awards

Shanaishwar Devasthan, Solashi, Satara District, Maharashtra has honored Athavale with a Shanaishwar Krutadnyata Dharma Award on 24 May 2009. It was presented by Taponidhi Nandgiri Maharaj. As stated by Maharaj the award was presented to Athavale for giving people a treasure-trove of spiritual knowledge presenting a scientific viewpoint on various religious acts performed by Hindus and has taken thousands of seekers to the pinnacle of spiritual progress.[18]

Sanatan's seeker, Chandrahas Changdev Gavand from Vasheni, Uran District, was presented the 21st Century Role-Model Award 2009 by Samaj Vikas Academy in Colombo, at the hands of the Vice-President of the Academy, Shri Tilak on 28 May 2009.[21]

Violent criminal activities

Panvel, Thane and Vashi bomb blast

Allegations

In 2008, six persons owing allegiance to Sanatan Sanstha were arrested for planting bombs auditoriums in Thane and Vashi and a movie theater in Panvel.[22][23] In 2011, two of the accused were found guilty and sentenced to ten years incarceration.[24] Ramesh Gadkari and Vikram Bhave were acquitted of the terror charges under the stringent UAPA,[25][26] however, the state government's appeal against the removal of UAPA is still pending in the High Court.[27] The Maharashtra government has sought to ban the organization,[28] and has pressed the case for a ban to the central government as well.[29] A central government investigation of the group was ongoing. On 2nd December 2015, Minister of state for home informed in Rajya Sabha that, there is no proposal to ban Sanatan Sanstha.[13]

Sanatan sanstha’s image in society is sullied due to allegations of involvement in unlawful activities. Hence, Sanatan Sanstha has started series of public meetings in different Cities in Maharashtra to dispel off "misunderstanding" about the organization.[30][31]

Convictions

On 30 August 2011, Ramesh Gadkari and Vikram Bhave were found guilty in sessions court of the Thane blasts and received the maximum sentence of ten years rigorous imprisonment.[32][33][34] Judgment of trail court is further challenged in the Bombay(Mumbai) High Court and on 2 May 2013 court ordered to release the accused on bail.[35][36]

Goa blast

Six members of the Sanstha arrested in the Goa blast case under UAPA were acquitted by the Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court for want of evidence, while UAPA remains in force against three Sanstha members who are absconding.[27][37][38] Rudra Patil and Sandeep Arolkar or Sarang Akolkar alias Kulkarni have been declared absconders by the National Investigation Agency, with a red corner notice issued against Patil.[39]

Govind Pansare murder

A member of the Sanatan Sanstha was arrested for the murder of Govind Pansare.[27] The Special Investigation Team investigating the murder, arrested Sanstha member Sameer Gaikwad and was on the lookout for another member Rudra Patil, who is absconding since the 2009 Goa blast.[40] The prosecution stated in the court that Sameer Gaikwad was in different city (Thane) around the time of the murder of Govind Pansare.[41] Minister of state for home, Ranjit Patil claimed that the arrest of Sameer Gaikwad was based only on suspicion, and that the only proof is a cellphone conversation about killing Pansare.[9]

Narendra Dabholkar murder

Indian investigative agencies believe that the Sanatan Sanstha is implicated in the murder of Narendra Dabholkar.[7]

Kalburgi murder

MLA Vishnu Wagh has said that there is evidence of the Sanstha's involvement in the murder of Kannada scholar M. M. Kalburgi.[40] On 16th oct 2015, Karnataka CID team shared that they don't see involvement of Sanatan's activist Sameer Gaikwad in M. M. Kalburgi murder. Hence, they are not going to seek his custody for any further investigation.[10]

Ericksonian Hypnosis

Public interest litigations have been filed in the Bombay High Court seeking ban on Sanatan Sanstha stating that the organisation uses a technique called Ericksonian hypnosis (a technique whereby individuals as well as masses in the society can be hypnotised), to lure people into joining it and carry out acts of violence.[42][43] Such claims are rejected by Dr. Hamid Dabholkar, son of slain rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar. According to him, hypnotism could not provoke a person to cause violence.[44]

Ban demands

On 2nd December 2015, Minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju, Informed that, there is no proposal for imposing ban on Sanatan Sanstha.[13] [45] In September 2015, Goa BJP MLA, Vishnu Wagh demanded that Sanatan Sanstha be banned, stating that there was evidence of the involvement of Sanatan Sanstha in the Pansare and Karburgi murders.[40][46] Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has stated that he would not hesitate to ban Sanatan Sanstha.[47] Residents of Goa have been agitating for a ban on the organisation since 2009.[39][48] This demand of the people for a ban also reflected online and on social media, with a petition on Change.org and a page on Facebook.[49] The daughter of Govind Pansare also called for the organisation to be banned.[50] In Maharashtra, the Congress and NCP demanded that Sanatan Sanstha be banned.[51] On 22 September 2015, Former Home Secretary RK Singh told that Home Ministry under the previous UPA government concluded that there was no evidence against Sanatan Sanstha so they couldn't ban the organization[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 (official website of Sanatan Sanstha)
  2. 1 2 3 Suma Varughese, Interviews. "Sharon Clarke Sequeria, a former model spoke to Suma Varughese" April 1997, lifepositive.com
  3. 1 2 V. Sundaram "Guru Poornima and Guru – Sishya parampara", 06 July, 2009 newstodaynet.com
  4. ↑ Sanatan Publications , 26 June 2009, sanatan.org
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 V. Sundaram "Sanatan Sanstha and Guru Poornima" 26 June 2009, News Today
  6. ↑ http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/history-background-of-sanatan-sansthas-war-on-evildoers/
  7. 1 2 http://www.dailyo.in/politics/sanatan-sanstha-narendra-dabholkar-govind-pansare-anti-superstition-hindutva-maharashtra/story/1/2492.html
  8. ↑ http://www.heraldgoa.in/Goa/Unanimous-demand-at-Ramnathi-to-impose-ban-on-Sanatan-Sanstha/94505.html
  9. 1 2 "MoS Ranjit Patil refuses to blame Sameer Gaikwad". The Asian Age. 8 Oct 2015.
  10. 1 2 http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/CID-Officer-Dont-See-Gaikwad-Link-in-Kalburgi-Case-Wont-Seek-Custody/2015/10/16/article3082534.ece
  11. ↑ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Goa-chief-minister-Laxmikant-Parsekar-rules-our-Sanatan-Sanstha-ban/articleshow/49083302.cms
  12. 1 2 http://www.ibnlive.com/news/politics/no-strong-evidence-against-sanatan-sanstha-says-bjp-leader-rk-singh-1108360.html
  13. 1 2 3 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Murders-of-Pansare-Kalburgi-Dabholkar-not-linked-Govt/articleshow/50020210.cms
  14. ↑ "Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati’s visit to Sanatan Ashram, Panvel", Hindu Jagruti, 27 June 2009
  15. ↑ "Shri. Shivaji Vatkar explaining about Sanatan's Holy texts to Sree Shankaracharya", 27 June 2009, Hindu Jagruti
  16. 1 2 3 "The historic significance of Hindu Dharma Jagruti Sabha", 17 April 2009, News Today
  17. ↑ "Chennai: Hindu Dharmajagruti Sabha", 21 April 2009, Hindu Jagruti
  18. 1 2 "Shanaishwar krutadnyata dharma award", Forum for Hindu Awakening, 26 June 2009
  19. ↑ "Path Of Guru's Grace", retrieved 28 June 2009, Spiritual Research Foundation
  20. ↑ "Sree Sankara a spiritual TV channel launched", December 2008, bharathagnana.com, accessed 26 June 2009 Archived June 13, 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ↑ "Role-Model Award 2009", 5 June 2009, Forum for Hindu Awakening Archived June 18, 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ↑ Mateen Hafeez (20 September 2011). "ATS will appeal in blasts case". The Times of India.
  23. ↑ "Court accepts charges in Thane blast case". The Indian Express. 18 Jan 2009.
  24. ↑ "Theatre blast convicts get 10 years in jail". The Hindu. 30 August 2011.
  25. ↑ "Thane blast: Terror charge falls flat". The Times Of India. 10 Sep 2011.
  26. ↑ "Court clears '08 blast convicts of terror charges". The Indian Express. 10 Sep 2011.
  27. 1 2 3 http://www.ndtv.com/opinion/why-the-debate-over-the-sanatan-sanstha-ban-diverts-from-the-real-questions-1222491
  28. ↑ Singh, Vijay (12 March 2011). "Sanatan Sanstha to fight state ban". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  29. ↑ "Ban Sanatan Sanstha: Maharashtra to Centre". The Indian Express. 13 September 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  30. ↑ http://www.mid-day.com/articles/sanatan-sanstha-to-go-among-people-to-allay-misunderstanding/16629177
  31. ↑ http://bharatpress.com/2015/10/23/sanatan-sanstha-to-go-among-people-to-allay-misunderstanding/
  32. ↑ "Theatre blast convicts get 10 years in jail". The Hindu. 31 August 2011.
  33. ↑ "Two get 10 years in jail for Thane blasts". Hindustan Times.
  34. ↑ Rebecca Samervel (31 August 2011). "10-yr jail term for 2 Thane blast convicts". Times of India.
  35. ↑ "Bombay HC grants bail to accused in Thane theatre blast case". www.indlawnews.com. 2 May 2013.
  36. ↑ "Right wing member gets bail in 2008 Thane blasts case". www.tehelka.com. 8 May 2013.
  37. ↑ "Court acquits Sanatan Sanstha members in 2009 Goa blast". Deccan Herald. 1 Jan 2014.
  38. ↑ "2009 Goa blast: court acquits Sanatan Sanstha members". The Hindu. 1 Jan 2014.
  39. 1 2 http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/goa-ramnathi-villagers-seek-ban-on-sanatan-sanstha/articleshow/49181166.cms
  40. 1 2 3 http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/ban-sanatan-sanstha-demands-goa-bjp-lawmaker-vishnu-wagh-1220555
  41. ↑ "Pansare killing- Gaikwad was in Thane around time of murder, phone records suggest complicity: Prosecution". The Indian Express. 24 Sep 2015.
  42. ↑ "PIL seeks ban on Sanatan Sanstha". Mumbai: Dnaindia.com. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
  43. ↑ "Move to ban Sanatan Sanstha pending with Centre: ATS". Indian Express. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
  44. ↑ http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/sanatan-sanstha-in-crosshairs-dabholkar-aides-want-no-misfire/
  45. ↑ "Goa Chief Minister Rules Out Banning Sanatan Sanstha". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2015-12-05.
  46. ↑ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Like-SIMI-ban-Sanatan-Sanstha-for-creating-terror-says-Goa-BJP-MLA/articleshow/49065729.cms
  47. ↑ http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/if-proof-will-act-on-sanstha-devendra-fadnavis/
  48. ↑ http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/goa-village-where-sanatan-sanstha-is-headquartered-want-a-ban-on-it.-give-cm-a-week/1/487802.html
  49. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/Ban.Sanatan.Sanstha
  50. ↑ http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/Ban-Sanatan-Sanstha-Govind-Pansares-Daughter/2015/09/23/article3043644.ece
  51. ↑ http://www.oneindia.com/india/pansare-case-cong-ncp-demand-ban-on-sanatan-sanstha-1876639.html
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