Chant to keep COVID-19 at bay and other shocking ‘words of wisdom’ from Indian gurus and Hindutva brigade

There is no dearth of ‘ancient wisdom’ in India, but the sheer number of self-styled ‘godmen’ issuing controversial statements has been astounding in recent years. It is not clear whether they make these proclamations for mere publicity or they actually believe in them. The fact of the matter is that they defy science, common sense and logic and give an insight into the dirty mind at work. Here are some of the choicest ones:

ERADICATING COVID-19 WITHOUT MEDICINE OR VACCINE? Well, that's what Pragya Singh Thakur, Member of Parliament of India's Bharathiya Janata Party, has to offer: "Recite the Hanuman Chalisa (Hanuman Chalisa is a Hindu devotional hymn) five times a day until August 5 to end the coronavirus pandemic," Pragya Singh Thakur tweeted recently. The member of parliament believes reciting the hymn will get rid of coronavirus. "Recite 'Hanuman Chalisa' five times a day at your home from July 25 to August 5," the Bhopal parliamentarian tweeted. "Conclude this ritual by lighting lamps on August 5 and offering 'aarti' to Lord Ram at home," she added.

CANCER CURED WITH COW URINE: Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, BJP MP from Bhopal and an accused in 2008 Malegaon blast case, is not new to controversial statements. Like many from the Hindutva faction, she is also a firm believer in the magical powers of cow urine. “I was a patient of cancer and I cured myself by consuming gau mutr (cow urine) and panchgavya (five cow products) mixed with ayurvedic herbs,” she said.

EGG IS BIRD EXCRETA: Yoga guru-turned entrepreneur Baba Ramdev's views on consumption of eggs are shocking to say the least. In a video he asks: "Does the egg come from behind the hen or from the front? If it comes from the back, then it is shit, right?" He then goes on to say that since people are eating a hen's poo for protein, we might as well eat ours, because it probably has many vitamins.

COWS AND HUMANS: BJP leaders seldom miss an opportunity to brag about the unique tie between humans and cows. Top leader and defense minister Rajnath Singh is no exception. “Cows and humans share 80% of the same genes. So there is not much difference between us,” he said. This was stated on November 6, 2016 to drive home his call to all states to ban cow slaughter.

WHEN POLICY FAILS TO WIN VOTES, INVOKE THE CURSE: Sakshi Maharaj, the religious leader from BJP, is known for his venomous statements aimed to harm communal unity. He also took recourse to "I am a saint. It is written in Shastras that when a Sanyasi asks for something and is not provided with, then he takes away all the good deeds and gives sins in return."

YOGA IS BETTER THAN SEX EDUCATION: Another gem from Baba Ramdev, the yoga guru who is the co-founder of Pathanjali Ayurveda: “Sex education in schools need to be replaced by yoga education. The government should stop polluting the minds of innocent young children with sex education.”

KARNA A PRODUCT OF GENETIC ENGINEERING: According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the warrior Karna from the Sanskrit epic of Mahabharata is a product of Genetic Engineering. “We can feel proud of what our country achieved in medical science at one point of time,” Modi told a gathering of doctors and other professionals at a hospital in Mumbai. “We all read about Karna in the Mahabharata. If we think a little more, we realise that the Mahabharata says Karna was not born from his mother’s womb. This means that genetic science was present at that time. That is why Karna could be born outside his mother’s womb,” he said.

SEEING IS BELIEVING: Former BJP minister of State for HRD Satyapal Singh caused an uproar when he stated that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is scientifically wrong because no one saw an ape turning into a man.

YOGA CAN CURE CANCER: Understandably, yoga in an obsession with them. Minister of State Shripad Naik claims the practice of yoga can cure major diseases including cancer. In 2016, he also stated that the Government could come out with scientific evidence of it in a year. “It is a proven fact. We have visited the Bengaluru-based Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (S-VYASA) institute, where many people told us they have been cured of cancer by regular practice of yoga. The institute has found a technique of yoga for the prevention and cure of cancer,” Naik had said. Unfortunately, no evidence has been available to substantiate the claim.

PLASTIC SURGERY AND LORD GANESHA: Prime minister Modi also thinks that it was plastic surgery that helped to shape the elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha. “We worship Lord Ganesha. There must have been some plastic surgeon at that time who got an elephant’s head on the body of a human being and began the practice of plastic surgery,” he said.

INDIA’S NUCLEAR TEST 100,000 YEARS AGO: According to BJP MP from Hardwar and former Uttarakhand CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, (centre), India is a veteran in nuclear technology. In fact, a sage had conducted a nuclear test thousands of years ago, he claimed. The bizarre claim happened in Indian parliament itself. Participating in a debate in Lok Sabha, Nishank had reportedly said, “Today we are talking about nuclear tests. Thousands of years ago, Sage Kanad had conducted a nuclear test. Our knowledge and science do not lack anything”.

NITHYANANDA’S CONCEPT OF NATION: Controversial Indian godman Swami Nithyananda is notorious for his bewildering statements. Recently, Nithyananda declared that he bought an island to form a nation called Kailasa. "We are the only nation with no tax, completely run on voluntary contribution. We only pray to Param Shiva. Param Shiva and Mahakala Bhairava protect us. This is the only protection we have,” Nithyananda said.

TEST TUBE BABIES AND FLYING OBJECTS IN ANCIENT INDIA: India's Andhra University vice-chancellor G Nageswara Rao, a professor of inorganic chemistry, claimed at one of the Indian science congresses that the Kauravas, a clan from the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata, were test-tube babies and that Ravana, a character from another Indian epic the Ramayana, possessed 24 aircraft and that Sri Lanka at the time had airports.

'NARENDRA MODI WAVES': KJ Krishnan, a scientist at a centre in Tamil Nadu, during one of the Indian science congresses said that scientists Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein were both wrong and that gravitational waves would soon be rechristened “Narendra Modi waves”.

LAW OF GRAVITY – NEWTON OUT, INDIA IN: Vasudev Devnani, Education and Panchayati Raj Minister in the Indian state of Rajasthan came up with a statement that it was not Issac Newton who discovered the law of gravity. It was in fact discovered by the Indian scientist Brahmagupta II one thousand years before Newton, he said. Three-four days ago, I was reading about who discovered the law of gravitation. It was mentioned that Newton did it… But if you go deeper, you would know Brahmagupta II had given this law of gravitation 1000 years prior to that. Why don’t we connect that? The mechanism was developed later.

GHOSTS OF FAMILY MEMBERS AND ALIENS ON EDUCATIONAL TOURS: Godman-on-the-run Swami Nithyananda’s revelations about ghosts are alarming: "If you feel the ghost of your family member is present in your house, don't be afraid. They may be just begging you for help." And his understanding about aliens are shocking: "There are millions of planets where life exists and they are regularly visiting the planet earth for educational tours."

COW INHALES AND EXHALES OXYGEN, CURE TB: Cows are the only animal which can inhale and exhale oxygen, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said a while back. He didn't stop there, he went on to say that massaging the cow can cure breathing problems in humans. In a viral video, Rawat could be seen admiring the medicinal properties of cow milk and urine and prophesized that cows can cure tuberculosis.

PEACOCKS DO NOT MATE: Justice (retired) Mahesh Chandra Sharma of the Rajasthan High Court, India, claimed that peacocks do not mate. “A peacock is a lifelong celibate", it gets pregnant after "swallowing the peacock’s tears and a peacock or peahen is then born."

MOTHER PRODUCES DIFFERENT TYPES OF MILK: Indian yogi Jaggi Vasudev, popularly referred to as Sadhguru, made a controversial remark about mother’s milk and how a mother produces different “type of milk” from each breast if she gives birth to opposite sex twins. The statement was apparently made at gynecologists’ conference where Sadhguru was a guest speaker.

WOMEN TO BE REBORN AS DOGS: Another guru who found himself suddenly popular is Swami Krushnaswarup Dasji of Swaminarayan Temple in Bhuj in Gujarat. “Menstruating women who cook food for their husbands will take birth as dogs in their next life while men consuming food prepared by women having periods will reborn as bullocks, as per religious texts,” he said during a sermon. The swami belongs to "Nar-Narayan Devgadi" of Swami Narayan Sect.