New Delhi: The shankaracharya of the Dwarka-Sharda peeth, Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati, today clarified his remarks about ‘unholy’ worship of Shirdi Sai Baba and the 2013 Kedarnath tragedy being caused by ‘honeymooners’ saying “whatever he has said is written in religious texts”.
The 94-year-old quoted scriptures to corroborate his stand. “I am not blaming anyone. I have just said that calamity strikes where the unworthy are worshipped and the revered, mortified. Whatever I have said is written in religious texts,” he explained.
Recently, the seer waded into a string of controversies when he said that the 2013 flash floods in Kedarnath were caused by the “unholy things done by honeymooners and picnickers”. He had also warned of more such incidents in the future if such ‘unholy’ activities are not stopped immediately.
“People coming from different parts of the country to holy places of Devbhoomi (Uttarakhand) for enjoyment, picnic and honeymoon led to the Kedarnath disaster. Similar incidents could happen if unholy activities are not stopped,” he said.
Just before this, Swami Swaroopanand had held worship of the ‘unworthy’ Shirdi Sai Baba responsible for a drought-like situation in Maharashtra. He had also termed worship of Sai Baba, who was a ‘fakir’ and not a God, as inauspicious.
The seer, who is on a 15-day visit to Haridwar, also condemned the entry of women into the sanctum sanctorum of the Shani Shingnapur temple, saying “Shani is paap grah (planet of sins). Worshipping him will lead to rise in crime against women.”
