Communist leader MB Rajesh has stirred a controversy with his derogatory remarks against Adi Shankaracharya. In a statement, Rajesh said Shankaracharya was not the Acharya of Kerala as he “preserved caste system and varnashrama system”. Rajesh made the controversial statement at an inaugural event of an organisational meeting linked to the Sivagiri Pilgrimage.
Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan condemned Rajesh’s statement and said both Adi Shankara, the Vedanta Philosopher and Sree Narayana Guru, the saint and social reformer, belonged to the same ascetic linage of the country. He added that Rajesh’s attempt to create a division in Hindu dharma and his statement should be condemned. He added that his statement showed the intolerance of the communists towards ancient Indian traditions and philosophy. Calling it false propaganda, Union Minister said even a hundred Communists’ manifestos could not match the philosophy propagated by Adi Shankar and Sree Narayan Guru.
MB Rajesh’s controversial statement
In his statement, Rajesh claimed that Shankaracharya preserved the caste system while Gurudeva worked on weeding it out from society. He added that Shankaracharya was the “implementer of the cruel caste system based on Manusmriti”. He claimed that the devotees realised by the teachings of Swami Chidanandapuri that Guru’s vision had nothing to do with other Indian Sanyasa Traditions.
Notably, Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Pandita Sannyasivaryan Chidanandapuri Swami recently noted the similarities in the works of Shankaracharya and Sree Narayana Gurudeva and stated they both are the same. Their statement allegedly angered the left, leading to the statement by Rajesh.
