Fake Saints?

The recent spate of men becoming shankaracharyas seem to creating a fad!
With more and more self proclaimed saints calling themselves "shankaracharya", it seems a quicker way to make headlines and catch a moment of glory on the news channels. Whether done for limelight or the legions of devoteesthat would be expected post this "ordained holiness" still remains a question, but most would think surely the success rate of such imposters would defer them from even wanting them to try their fate here!

The basic premise of being a Shankaracharya -
1. Only 4 Peeths - Adi Shankaracharya (788-820 AD) founded four seats about 1200 years ago for the spread of Hindu culture -- Jyotishpeeth in Badrinath (North), Shringeripeeth in Chikmagalur district of Karnataka (South), Shardapeeth at Dwarka (West) and Govardhanpeeth at Puri (East)
2. A foolproof process - The tradition is that shankaracharyas anoint their successors during their lifetime;following which the anointed person is granted recognition by the Kashi Vidvat Parishad. This is a 150-year-old organisation with 35 living members -- most of them eminent Sankrit scholars
3.Among other honors this candidate needs to be a bachelor and cannot be a family man EVER. Also needs to be wellversed and learned with reference to the Vedas, Upanishads and other Indian scriptures.

How can a man so ensconsed with the material world teach immateriality to the masses of the country for spiritual upliftment!So how come things have gone so horribly wrong? For, barring minor disputes over posts and perks, there seems nothing much wrong with the KVP’s activities. The rot that has set in is entirely due to various vested interests, which have raised at least three similar sounding committees like the Varanasi Vidvat Parisgad, the Varanaseya Vidvat Parishad and the Akhil Bhartiya Vidvat Parishad. And bodies like these have been covertly selling degrees and posts – with the result that dozens of self-styled shankaracharyas have sprung up in different parts of the country.
The Shankaracharya is the Indian equivalent of the Pope. The keeper and protector of Hinduism. While the office commands a high respect and glory in the eyes of law in Modern India as well, the religious sentiment with the sameseems limited to just the glamour quotient attached therein. How many look alikes of Rajnikant, Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and these days, even Shahid Kapoor have tried their luck in tinsel town?

An abysmally low success rate - Gauri Shankar shukla of Allahabad (1990) who proclaimed to be ordained by the Kashi Shankaracharya of Prayag Peeth (???); Sudhakar Dwivedi,a non-commissioned officer of the Indian Air Force,took to become “shankaracharya” of the Sharada Sarvadnya Peeth in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and was exploited through a series of phone calls!!! Swami Amritanand Devtirtha Maharaj – lately reduced to being just Dayanand Pandey -- is currently in the custody of the Mumbai Anti-terror Squad (ATS) on the charge of engineering explosions outside a religious place in Malegaon, Maharashtra that killed six persons!!

The life sketches of the likes of the above show how these nondescript people, who somehow found the moneyto buy their grandiloquent titles,came to sully and ultimately criminalise the faith.The officials involved in providing fat to the fire also now backtrack to save their skins. Every name loves limelight but the harsh glareof exposure isn't as sweet!Such is the murky world of these new age shankaracharyas! There is no hierarchy and absolutely no checks and balances. For a price, anyone can claim to be a pandit, an acharya, a ramanujacharya,a mahandleshwar or a shankaracharya.

But what about the people who know the truth? In principle,these imposters would only reach out to the masses that remain unaware of the tradition of the Great seers and not dare to approach the learned masses for fear of exploitation! fair enough. Thats the way the game is played.
I, as an individual am aware of this tradition. The genuine and the fake. Its a personal responsibility to ensurethat lovers of my religion and faith donot get way laid. In my own individual capacity, I can only spread the word. As a collective group, I can spread awareness in similar minded circles. As part of a larger community, I can go further out and use my education and this wonderful media called the "net" to safeguard many devotees out there in the world.

So - to many of you devotees of the Lord above - and I address all of you, regardless of caste, community, nationality or religion:
"when we choose a Guru (a spiritual teacher),its a gift we give ourselves. Like we would never choose something detrimental to value, or a scarred gem, or a worthless piece of art, or even a secondhand garment; why then should we be hasty in choosing someone that would lead me to purgatory rather than Heaven..."

"kabira sangat saadhu ki, jyo gandhi ki baas,jo gandhi kuch de nahi, to bhi baas subaas"

- the great seer kabir says that one virtue of a saint is that inner goodness he possesses. To identify a true sage,his presence is like heavy perfume. Even if He does not sprinkle any drops on you personally, the sheer presence of an exalted soul would rub on you to leave around you his divine scent.