Swamis who chose power over justice

 In Karnataka today, the credibility of some of our most venerated mutts is at stake. Not because outsiders have attacked them, but because their own pontiffs have spoken words that betray the very dharma they are sworn to uphold. The controversy surrounding the Soujanya rape and murder case in Dharmasthala — and the long trail of uninvestigated crimes that locals have alleged for decades — is now pulling down the masks of those who claim to guide society.

Take Udupi Puttige Swami Sugunendra. Once respected as a learned seer, he now finds himself ridiculed across social media. A video clip shows him dismissing the Justice for Soujanya agitation as the handiwork of “leftists,” even as he praised a controversial TV personality who has been accused of twisting facts in favour of the Dharmasthala administrators. What makes this appalling is that the very leaders spearheading the agitation — Mahesh Shetty Timrodi, Girish Mattannanavar, Somanth Nayak, Tammanna Shetty — are not leftists at all. They belong to the Sangh Parivar fold. Thousands who stand behind them are not driven by ideology but by humanism, demanding justice for girls and women raped and murdered. Even if some agitators subscribe to left thought, does that delegitimise their cry for justice? Of course not. But Sugunendra Swami, instead of showing compassion, chose to hurl labels and side with entrenched power.

If that were not enough, the Swami compounded the damage with another astonishing remark: that heaven’s doors are open only for Sanskrit scholars. At a time when people yearn for inclusiveness and equality, here was a pontiff resurrecting elitist notions of language and caste. Social media rightly lashed out: if heaven is closed for anyone, it is for those (like him) who divide people and degrade dharma by clinging to archaic stratifications. The Swami seemed to forget that our tradition honours paropakara — doing good to others — as the highest virtue, not linguistic scholarship. Did Adi Shankara not bow before a humble butcher for his wisdom? By speaking as he did, the Puttige Swami alienated people further from the Udupi mutts, already tainted by casteist practices like pankti bheda.

He is not alone. Shivarathri Deshikendra Swami of the mighty Suttur Mutt in Mysuru — otherwise known for his wisdom — also erred gravely. By openly expressing solidarity with Dharmasthala’s administrators while the SIT is still probing, he forfeited the prudence expected of a religious leader. He could have waited. He could have urged calm. Instead, he spoke early, giving the impression of shielding the powerful. Likewise, the Vajradehi and others have declared that criticising the “D gang” is equivalent to insulting Lord Manjunath himself. This is the most dangerous logic of all: wrapping alleged crimes in a divine cloak to silence questioning voices.

These missteps reveal a pattern. Instead of siding with truth-seekers, swamis are rushing to defend institutions of power. Instead of healing wounds, they are deepening divides. By doing so, they risk something far greater than ridicule — they risk losing the moral authority of the mutts themselves.

Justice for Soujanya is not a leftist cause, nor a rightist cause. It is a human cause. Any seer who cannot stand with that simple truth has no business preaching dharma to the people.