Those who mock people for treating gurus as Gods are fools & barbarians: Madras HC Judge | India News
New Delhi: A sitting judge of the Madras High Court, has made an interesting claim that those who do not accept spiritual masters as divine are “barbarians”.Justice G R Swaminathan declared that those who dismiss reverence for gurus as unworthy (ayogya), foolish (muttal) and barbaric (kattumurandi) are in fact barbarians, reported Livel.“In Tamil Nadu, there are rationalists who call us incompetent (ayogya), stupid (muttal) and barbaric (kattumurandi) for treating gurus as God. But I say, those who say so are the real incompetent (ayogya), stupid (muttal) and barbaric (kattumurandi), he said.The remarks, made in Tamil during the “Guru Bandanam Festival” organized by Hosur’s Satsangha, followed an anecdote from the judge’s personal spiritual experience, which, he said, changed his understanding of faith.Recalling an incident during his daughter’s graduation trip to Punjab, he said he and his wife were warned against traveling at night, though they still went ahead with the journey. “The road was foggy, the visibility was poor, and then – the car got a flat tire,” he said.His wife knew how to change a tire; Thus, he, along with the driver, worked to fix it in the freezing fog while chanting “Gurunath” for about 30 minutes.“That song gave me strength,” he said, describing it as a moment of helplessness that brought him closer to his faith in the guiding power of a guru.Justice Swaminathan then built on this experience to make a larger spiritual point. “God is abstract,” he said. “But a guru is the living presence of God. You cannot touch the feet of God – but you can touch the feet of your guru.”It was only after this reflection that the judge observed what he described as the self-styled rationalists of Tamil Nadu and claimed that they were barbarians, incompetent and stupid.The judge recently made headlines for another comment – that he would “carry Sanatan Dharma close to his heart” for the rest of his term.
