Sanatan Sanstha – All attacking a poor underdog

A so called spiritual organisation; Sanatan Sanstha, appeared to be harmless, everyone was attacking this underdog. In fact, their preaching appealed to my spiritual nature. I was drawn to them, I was attracted to them, I felt that I belonged there. They could do no wrong, they were right. Yet, people were opposing them, day in and day out. Why was this sanstha so hated? Dr. Jayant Athavale only had the good of people on his mind yet people and media were out to malign him. Why do good people have to suffer?

Yes, I am talking about a tactic of Sanatan Sanstha. We all have protective feelings, we like to protect the underdogs, the people who are innocent but are being prosecuted. Have you ever observed a pack of dogs? They all attack the weakest one. This dog is defenceless; it is not even harming anyone. It is sitting silently on one side, minding its own business. Yet, other dogs harass it, attack it and prosecute it. Just for the fun of it, so that they get a few pleasurable moments. This dog is called an underdog. We, human beings, also do the same thing.

Is Sanatan Sanstha really an underdog?

Sanatan Sanstha projects an image of being an underdog. This was drummed into my mind in countless ways, day in and day out. Till any negative reference to Sanatan Sanstha made me think of only the underdog.

It started with very small things. The initial references were attacks on Hindu Dharma and the Hindu way of life. It can be seen everywhere. Hindutva is on the rise and people oppose even small things. Most of such protests are needed, we are being prosecuted. All our festivals are being administered. During Holi, we are told not to burn wood as trees are cut and pollution increases. During Rang Panchami, we are told about the harmful effects of colours and the wastage of water. Even during Diwali, we are advised that bursting of crackers leads to noise and air pollution and lakhs of rupees are spent on a few seconds of enjoyment.

Sanatan Sanstha highlights these issues on a larger platform and then turns our attention towards persecution of the sanstha. Let us look at some of these issues:

1.       Their main ashram is at Ramnathi, Ponda, Goa. The locals; villagers staying there, have been protesting about Sanatan Sanstha for quite some years. The sanstha says that these people hate the sanstha, they should visit the ashram as people from across the world are flocking to the ashram.

2.       There is already a movement to ban Sanatan Sanstha. Several political parties are seeking a ban, Congress and AAP are supporting the ban. The matter has been taken up by the Bombay High Court and they are asking both Central and State governments to place on record the various communications. Sanatan Sanstha says that these are misguided people.

3.       Incidents like incessant honking outside the Ashram premises are made out to as attempt to harass it. Inmates living there are always warned that they may be attacked, though no such incident took place during my stay there.

4.       There are 28 pages of search results on Sanatan Sanstha’s website if we search for “harassment of Sanatan Sanstha”. With 10 articles per search page, there are more than 280 articles on this topic alone.

5.       All their satsangs and dharmavarg sabhas have this common topic and incidents on such issues are highlighted.

The mentality is to project Sanatan Sanstha as an underdog. Why should a spiritual organization be so bothered about this? Are they hiding something; are they afraid of something? Why are they spending more time defending themselves than in the pursuit of spirituality?