Now what right-minded Bharati does not know is that the great goal of realising Vishwaguru status can happen only when the realm first becomes a full-blown Hindutva theocracy.

To this end, the exertions of the saffron-clad, clerical chief executive of the largest, hallowed state of Uttar Pradesh have been exemplary, down to coining the ringing slogan “batoge tou katoge” (thou shalt be mauled should thou be divided), since the godless forces of secularism are ever waiting to strike at the Vishwaguru cause by engineering such a calamitous division among Hindus in treacherous league with the sons of Babar.

Thus do wail, O progeny of Sanatan, at what folly has been issued from the administration of the saffron-clad chief minister of Ayodhya state.

A superior saint who claims to have been duly designated the Shankaracharya of one of the four Matths which constitute the religious scaffolding of the Sanatan at the pinnacle of the Hindutva edifice, and is so acknowledged by vast numbers of followers, was prevented by the Yogi police from taking that so-holy Maag mela (festival) dip in the sacred waters of the Ganges at the Sangam and asked to prove his credentials of being a Shankaracharya within 24 hours. Additionally, his devotees, young and old, clad in saffron, were mercilessly belaboured to the point of their ritual tresses being pulled.

It is the case proffered by the state that Avimukteshwaranand Sarawaati’s claims of being a Shankaracharya are unsubstantiated , and apparently the matter is now before the top court of the wretchedly still-secular republic.

But, the unthinkable injury vented upon Avimukteshwaranand Maharaj has been received as a last straw that has broken the back of devotees who have hitherto refrained from ever letting the unlovely cat of the internal goings-on of the saffron establishment out of the bag.

The cry of trahi trahi (curse the unendurable) can be heard loud and clear.

The question is begging itself: look who is dividing Hindus in Bharat, and at the level of the pulpit too?

The dastardly secularists of course are seizing the opportunity to say “we told you so” – that this notion that all Hindus are one has always been a made-up story.

See for yourself how open is the wrangling among the top of the caste heap, namely the Brahmins.

Then of course there is the canny speculation that what is on show may seem an internecine religious imbroglio , but is at bottom a no-holds-barred fight for political spoils preparatory to the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh which houses Maryada Purushottam Ram.

Grapevine has it that at the centre of that fight is the future of the clerical head of the state, namely Yogi Adityanath.

It is speculated that the mainstream Hindutva establishment led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has little love lost for Yogi ji, since his religious moorings belong away from the authorised Sanatan establishment in what is called the Nath Panth.

It is their wish therefore to see that Yogi’s ambition to succeed Narendra Modi as prime minister is stopped in its upstart tracks by having him defeated in the next assembly election in Uttar Pradesh.

Thus, such intra-church contention fuels the rumour that the political forces who now stand with the claims of Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati who has been so humiliated by the Yogi dispensation may comprise more than just the anti-BJP parties, drawing breath from another puissant claimant from the Hindutva right-wing to the legacy of Shri Modi.

Whereas most media outlets and channels do their best to play down, if not obliterate, the damaging goings on along the banks of the holy Ganges, sadly there still are one or two media channels who seem to take delight at highlighting the ruckus.

It remains to be seen how soon these anti-Hindu mavericks may receive that gentle nod from above to suspend coverage of the so entertaining contention.

I take the opportunity in the meanwhile to register my deep hurt and chagrin as a top dog Kashmiri Brahmin at the so-injurious fracturing of the forces of the Sanatan.

Clearly, my dream of being witness to Vishwagurudom in my lifetime may, alas, remain but a dream.

Badri Raina taught at Delhi University.

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