U'khand: Sanyasi Akharas oppose Swami Avimukteshwaranand as new Sankaracharya

Haridwar: A rift has appeared among Hindu saints over the appointment of new Shankaracharya of Sharda Peeth and Jyotish Peeth following the death of Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati earlier this month. Swami Swaroopanand, who was the Shankracharya of Dwarka, Sharda, and Jyotish Peeth and was not keeping well for over a year, passed away at his Ashram in the Narsinghpur district of Madhya Pradesh at around 3:30 pm on September 11.

Shortly after Swami Swaroopanand was given a Bhoo Samadhi (burial), Swami Sadananda Saraswati and Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati were declared the new Shankaracharya of the Dwarka–Sharda Peeth, and the Jyotish Peeth respectively in a ceremony held at the Paramhansa Ganga Ashram in the Narsinghpur district. Swami Avimukteshwaranand was later coronated for the post.

However, it is learned that the Sant Samaj is not unanimous about this announcement. While some have recognized Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati as Shankaracharya, others have refused to accept him. The Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad has declared Avimukteshwaranand's appointment illegal.

However, Baba Hathayogi, a former spokesperson of the Akhara Parishad, has come out in his support and justified the appointment of Shankaracharya. The saints opposing the appointment have been accused of spreading false propaganda. Baba Hathyogi said that the appointment of Shankaracharya has nothing to do with the Akharas nor do the Akharas appoint Shankaracharya. Shankaracharya is elected by the Kashi Vidvat Parishad.

Hathyogi said that Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati has himself named his disciples as Shankaracharya which should be respected by all the saints. Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati and Swami Sadananda Saraswati are scholars of high order and are currently eligible for the post of Shankaracharya, Hathyogi said.

Mahant Ravindra Puri, President of Akhara Parishad, however, hit back at Hathyogi saying that “those who have nothing to do with the subject are jumping into the matter unnecessarily. This matter is not of the Akhara Parishad, but of the Sanyasi Akharas. Sanyasi Akhara chooses their Guru together. That's why he is called Shankaracharya,” he said.

“Our opposition is against Jyotish Peeth in Uttarakhand whose Shankaracharya is the guru of all of us ascetics. If anyone becomes our guru without asking us, how will we accept him? The sages who have come there after eating Bhandara, they will speak in their favor,” he said. He reiterated that the Sanyasi Akhara will not accept Swami Avimukteshwaranand as Shankaracharya under any circumstances.