'I Am Neither Happy Nor Unhappy'

A Shankaracharya is supposed to have renounced worldly pleasures. As a sanyasi, he is not supposedto get emotionally attached to his actions. But when I met the Kanchi Shankaracharya, two days after theAIMPLB rejected his new "formula", Jayendra Saraswati seemed more thrilled by the media attentionthan a Sania Mirza would have felt. He  seemed no less detached from life and the emotions lesser mortalsare prone to: "You are from Outlook? These days everyone is writing about me. The Week, Outlook.I am on TV, and on the front pages of all newspapers," he gushed unselfconsciously.

The Shankaracharya, who this March celebrated the golden jubilee of his ascension to sanyasa withgreater pomp than Mayawati did her birthday -- a special postal cover was released, the king of Nepal, unionhome minister L.K. Advani, former president R.Venkatraman, former prime minister P.V.Narasimha Rao, amongothers, were in attendance in Chennai, while the function at Delhi included Prime Minister Vajpayee and theleader of opposition, Sonia Gandhi --  certainly doesn't mind being celebrated and feted by the adulatorypoliticians and media.

Unattached that he is, the Shankaracharya is unruffled by the fact that his fresh effort to broker peacehas come to a naught. "I am neither happy nor unhappy. It is poor innocent people who will be killed ifthere are communal clashes." He holds the AIMPLB responsible for the situation. "After I sent themthe June16 letter, they asked for clarifications. In the process of clarifying, I amplified certain things andthis was distasteful to them. Instead, if they had accepted the five-point formula as it was, the issue couldhave been settled by now."

The June 16 letter signed by the trustee of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam Charitable Trust, N.Sundaresan,alludes to only the "undisputed area". However, in the letter of July 1, the Kanchi math-headseems to come around to the VHP/ RSS hard line on the "disputed area" describing it as "a placehighly revered by Hindus". The July1 letter, which rattled the AIMPLB, states: "The status quo position is that Rama is sitting overthere"

His explained to Outlook "If a tenant occupies a property for more than 12 years, he can claimownership. And Lord Rama has been in the disputed area for more than that," pointing out that "thisis accepted even by the courts. So it is AIMPLB that is against the court."

He also chides the AIMPLB for harking back to the March 2002 resolution they had passed saying one cannotbe stuck in the past. He also hinted that it was the AIMPLB that was leaking contents of their correspondenceto the media. "So many people came and saw me in between - Jaswant [Singh], [George] Fernandes, RSS chief[K.S. Sudarshan] and others. But I did not discuss what was between me and the AIMPLB with them."

But what really made the Shankaracharya change tack between June 16 and July 1 is that the RSS chief K.S.Sudershan came calling on him on June 30 and a strident VHP was talking of a sellout. The contents of thereply to Maulana Syed Mohamed Rabey Nadwi, president of AIMPLB, bear testimony to this influence.

However, it is not as if the Kanchi Shankaracharya ever believed in a "formula" that led toanything other than a temple at the disputed site. On June 26, 2001 he had said:  "Ram templealready exists there. The court would find it difficult to change the status quo. Any verdict, which is not infavour of the temple construction would not be welcomed." Or witness another statement that year: "Atemple should be built there at any cost. This is the aspiration of the majority. How can that beignored?"

And his earlier March 2002 effort also failed precisely because he managed to project himself as someoneinterested in a peaceful resolution - thanks to the political class, led by the PMO, legitimising him - whilenurturing interests no different from those of the VHP. All that was different for practical purposes was thetone and the civil manner which, in contrast with the VHP venom, did seem like a welcome change.

And the Shankaracharya  made it clear to Outlook: "I entered the field at my own behest.Nobody - not the prime minister, nor the RSS or VHP - approached me. It is the Muslims who come to me. I havea lot of Muslim devotees. If they (the Muslims) approach me again, my doors are open."

The Lucknow-based AIMPLB might have dared to trust the Kanchi Shankaracharya, but not everyone in Kanchiappears free of skepticism and cynicism. Much has been made of the mosque that stands close to the Kanchimath. When his attention was drawn to this, the Shankaracharya was not amused: "Just because there's amasjid standing next to our math, do you think we must allow one near every temple?"

It is another matter that the Sunnath Jamaat Jumma Masjid in Kanchi has been standing there since over 350years (it was built in 1106 Hijri). And the 65-year-old trustee of the mosque, Syed Nazeer Basha, points outthat it is the math that was a small, inconsequential structure during his childhood. "It is onlyin the last 20 years that this building has come up after people like R.Ventakaraman became followers of the math."

The math, originally located in Kumbakonam, was shifted to Kanchi in the 20th century by the lateChandrasekhara Saraswati. In fact, the Kanchi math is not recognised as one of the four peethas- Puri, Badrinath, Sringeri and Dwaraka. However, since Jayendra Saraswati assumed charge of the math,he has wielded tremendous political clout promoted primarily by R.Venkatraman and P.V. Narasimha Rao. The legislature (Narasimha Rao and A.B. Vajpayee as prime ministers), the executive (R.Venkatraman and A.P.J.Abdul Kalam as presidents) and the judiciary (Ranganath Mishra as chief justice) have lowered their headsbefore the Kanchi math head.

It is the importance given by political heavyweights that has made Jayendra Saraswati a figure to reckonwith. And also, needless to say, for suspicion, cynicism and skepticism to creep into people's perception ofhim, which his July 1 letter only seeks to confirm. On the other hand, Jayendra Saraswati's predecessorChandrashekara Saraswati is remembered with respect and regard. "He was really a nice man who minded hisown business," Nazeer Basha points out.

As prime minister, Rao had asked the Kanchi math head to appeal for calm in the aftermath of theBabri demolition. Jayendra Saraswati obliged and Rao was quick to reciprocate - he granted deemed universitystatus to the Kanchi math-run Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Swami Viswa Mahavidyalaya in 1993. Inreturn, Jayendra conferred on Rao the National Eminence Award soon after he was convicted in the JMM case. Inthis mutual admiration society, conduct certificates are mutually exchanged. Witness this December 2000statement: "Narasimha Rao's tenure was any day better. The way Atalji is functioning is very sad. Hecan't take even one decision on his own. His hands are tied."

Jayendra Saraswati has been a reasonably consistent admirer of the RSS and Shiv Sena. In December 2000, hesaid: "If the Sena is getting aggressive it is purely because it is the need of the times. Even thescriptures recommend this. The Muslims have their supporters in the Persian Gulf, the Christians keep gettingbig money from the West... So what happens to the majority? It is here that leaders like Thackeray who canmobilise Hindus become crucial. If his style is high-handed then so be it. It is necessary." JayendraSaraswati then proceeded to inaugurate an international convention of the RSS where he said: "The RSS andits frontal organisations act as a 'generator' of Hindu awareness around the world."

Unlike his predecessor Chandrasekhara Saraswati, the present Kanchi Shankaracharya has always been a keentraveller. Though his visits to Delhi or Lucknow are today much publicised, some of his earlier sojourns havebeen steeped in mystery. On the midnight of August 22, 1987, he disappeared from the math.R.Venkatraman, an ardent devotee of the math, then president, led a frantic search for the missingsaint from behind the scenes. RV's wife pitched tent in Chennai till Jayendra was "found" afterseven days. The disappearance happened during chatur-masya, a period when a sanyasi is not supposed totravel from his camping station. An upset Chandrasekhara Saraswati crowned Vijayendra the next Sankaracharya.But with political backing, Jayendra made a comeback after he was traced at Talakaveri, the source of theCauvery in Karnataka.

Besides such controversial trips to undisclosed destinations, Jayendra Saraswati got himself an officialinvite to China in May 2001. The trip is yet to materialise. He also criss-crosses India for causes like cowprotection sometimes using special planes. He has kept pace with time - he was quick to support the Vajpayeegovernment's nuclear initiatives - and perhaps believes Adi Sankara too would have used special aircraft ifthey had been available.

For now, Jayendra Saraswati is content to rest in his comfortable cushion chair at the Kanchi math,giving morning and evening darshan to a small queue of devotees. If Vajpayee, Jaswant Singh, GeorgeFernandes or even the AIMPLB wish to knock the Kanchi math door again, they can always jump the queue.Anything for a temple.