On Tuesday, Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati said that the ancestors of Prophet Muhammad and Jesus Christ were Sanatani Hindus and the same has been proved in the past. “Opposition members in America have raised this issue in Parliament. Ancestors of Prophet Muhammad and Jesus Christ have been proved to be Sanatani Hindus,” he was quoted as saying.
The seer also stated that Prophet Muhammad and Jesus Christ were themselves Hindus for years before they accepted Islam and Christianity respectively. According to reports, Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati has been repeating this for years. He sparked outrage last year when he said that Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed were Hindus. He said that Jesus’ ten years of existence were not mentioned in the Bible and that he was in India throughout that time.
He said that Jesus had spent three years in Puri and that Christ was a Vaishav who practised Hindu ceremonies. His comments sparked outrage back then. “This is not the first time Shankaracharya has many times said that Jesus Christ was in India for 10 years and his ancestors were Hindu. If you take the birth of Christ into account, then Hinduism is way older than him. Naturally, his ancestors would be Hindus,” PRO of the Govardhan Peeth, Matrudatta then had responded.
At that time, there were also comments that he was following the path of RSS. However, Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati denied the claims and said, “I do not follow RSS. If they want, they can follow me. Even the RSS Chief, Mohan Bhagwat sits in front of me like ‘Bal Gopal’ (Baby Krishna).”
Swami on Tuesday also stated that the governments shouldn’t have control over the temples and math. ““The governments shouldn’t have control over temples and Matth, and there is a need to spend money for the development to every corner,” he said.
When questioned about the lost key of the Puri’s Ratna Bhandar, Shankaracharya remarked, “The Odisha government and Jagannath temple administration never consulted over any issues regarding the temple. Why should I interfere in the missing key issue of Ratna Bhandar?”
Reports mention that there are a total of seven treasuries within the temple, one of which is always open. The keys to four treasuries were lost around 38 years ago, but only two keys are there with the District Collector.
Meanwhile, Swami also commented on the Joshimath issue and said that proper balance should be maintained between development and the nature. “The word development should be understood in its proper context. Earth, water and air are sources of energy. It is our job to keep the earth and environment clean and pollution free. Proper balance should be maintained,” he added.