Shourie: 2 saints left mark
Former Union minister and author Arun Shourie termed Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Ramana Maharshi as the greatest mystics of the country in the last 200 years. He said that through their life and teachings they have brought solace to millions of people and had an influence on course of the nation.
Mr Shourie was speaking during the Hyderabad release of his book Two Saints — Speculations around and about Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Ramana Maharshi hosted by Manthan here. Former RBI governor Dr Y.V. Reddy released the book.
Mr Shourie spoke about the extent to which neuroscience could explain the visions the two saints had experienced 200 years ago, and what visions they have in common with explorers and mountaineers.
“Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a simple, illiterate priest in a temple, reversed that by the virtue of his goodness and insight, his purity and mystic attainment. Similarly, in the case of Ramana Maharshi, if anyone in Gandhiji’s circle was in distress, he would tell them to go spend a month in the Ramana ashram. So you can see their direct and indirect influence. ”
“In Ramakrishna’s case, he identified Vivekananda and a small group of youngsters who then formed the Ramakrishna Mission which took the teachings of the Veda all over the world. So these were contributions to the making of India,” he said.
The former journalist was highly critical of so-called gurus of present days who add prefixes like Sri Sri or Baba before their names and run pharmaceutical empires, real estate empires etc. and move in Rolls-Royce in the name of religion.”
Dr Reddy said the book was not just about saints but the connection between saints and science and rituals. Even before a toddler learns to speak the alphabets, he recites words like ‘Om’ which shows that connection to religious beliefs from the beginning of our lives.