By Ruma Dubey

Spiritual guru.

What does this mean to you and me? In an ideal world, in which probably our parents lived, a spiritual guru was one who guided us onto the path of knowledge, wisdom and helped us find the purpose of life. His teachings were more about delving into oneself and cleansing one from all the “mayajaals” of life. He preached a life of detachment – it did not mean living away from the loved ones but learning to live a balanced life like a mountain on the shores rather than a boat in the wild sea, threatening to drown any time. One teaching which every guru, from almost every faith indoctrinated was learning to stay away from the lures of everything materialistic. Spirituality in one essence meant all that which took us away from the material to the sublime and eternal.

But look around you today and what is one common factor amongst almost all the spiritual gurus? They all invariably have become profit centers, they are run like a company; each guru sustains on heavy advertising and PR.

Look at the way in which Patanjali, Baba Ramdev’s runway success is heading. In Mumbai, most of the times, our experience has been that a visit to any Patanjali outlet meant waiting for your turn to buy things in long serpentine queues. The rush is these shops needs to be seen to be believed. Baba Ramdev talks like a corporate honcho, saying that he wants his company to hit Rs.5000 crore revenue mark this fiscal. He advertises heavily, right from hoardings, TV ads, print ads, internet ads; Patanjali is in your face all the time.

Many have questioned how a Baba could get so commercial? To give this Baba his due credit, he never professed spirituality; he is a yoga guru and never preached about spirituality in that sense. Thus he is like a yoga institution, growing bigger, giving MNCs a run for their monies.

But what is bewildering is when “pure” spiritual gurus get into this bandwagon of commerce. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and his organization are planning to take their ayurvedic brand all over India. Known as Sri Sri Ayurveda plans to expand its network of retailers from current 600 to 2500 stores by 2017. There is a murmur about Future group tying up with Sri Sri Ayurveda for distribution.

Edelweiss has put out a report stating that other “gurus” contemplating becoming FMCG behemoths are Pujya Bapuji Sant Shri Asaramji Ashram, Aurobindo Ashram and Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha. All have one USP – cater to the spiritual needs but also become a FMCG player to reckon with.

And then there is Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan or MSG as he is well known, thanks to the movies that he starred, scripted and ensured it ran. He not only produced a sequel to his earlier movie – MSG and then MSG2, he also makes biscuits and other FMCG products – some 150 of them. His Cream wafers are sold under the brand name of Love Charger! Any takers?

Many will defend these actions of their Godmen, justifying these commercial pursuits as need to collect funds for more philanthropic work.  But then how does one differentiate between a guru for enlightenment and guru for profit? The lines between what is material pursuits and spiritual growth are getting blurred.

Nothing sells like religion in India. And the Godmen are making the most of this weakness. It is ultimately up to us, we need to have the wisdom to discern between what is right and wrong.