A Tonga Driver To Asaram Bapu: When thousands of people bow down before you and give you so much respect that they touch your feet with their head, then it is bound to be proud of being God. Similar is the story of Asaram Bapu. How did a person who used to wait for people handling the rope of a tonga reach the status of God?
From self-proclaimed saint to rapist…
Asaram Bapu is such a self-proclaimed saint who has thousands of followers across the country. But it is also surprising that many cases of rape have been registered against him. He was sentenced for the rape of a 16-year-old girl from Uttar Pradesh. In this case, he was serving life sentence in Jodhpur.
The arrest took place in Indore in August 2013. On Tuesday, January 31, the Gandhinagar court sentenced Asaram to life imprisonment in the rape case of two sisters. From running an empire worth thousands of crores to being a prisoner facing charges under the POCSO Act, he is now on a jail journey.
Don’t you think that the journey of Asaram Bapu’s life has been very interesting. Actually in 1941 a child was born in Berani village of Pakistan. Named Asumal Sirumalani. After partition, the family of this child moved to Ahmedabad. His father was a businessman of coal and wood, so after his father’s death, Asumal Sirumalani took over his ancestral business. But soon Asumal’s family moved to Vijapur in Mehsana district of Gujarat.
During this period, Kishore Asumal often stayed away from home and was engrossed in his efforts to turn towards spirituality. The family thought that if they tie the knot, then the boy’s feet will stay in the house. It is said that at the age of 15, he ran away to an ashram just before his marriage.
However, the family brought her back home after persuading her and got her married immediately. Asumal’s mind did not stay at home even after marriage and at the age of 23, once again he ran away from home. During this he came in contact with his spiritual master Leelashahji Maharaj.
Asumal walks the path of spirituality
Spiritual Guru Leelashahji Maharaj made Asumal his disciple and took him towards the path of spirituality. Then came the time when Asumal gave himself a new name Sant Shri Asaramji Maharaj on 7 October 1964. Perhaps Guru Leelashahji Maharaj had already realized about the future exploits of the disciple. This was the reason that he showed Asumal the way out of the ashram. Then what was Asumal got a free hand and he i.e. Saint Shri Asaramji started propagating his brand of Hinduism.
Asaram’s ashram became
When Asumal started becoming famous as Saint Shri Asaramji, he started his first ashram in 1972 with about 5 to 10 followers in Motera city of Gujarat. When Asaram turned to Surat, innocent tribals easily became his followers. After this, self-styled godman Asaram’s courage kept rising and he opened ashrams all over the state and country.
There were more than 40 Gurukuls (schools) in these, so Asaram, who came from a business family, did not forget business either. When he started a printing press, he also opened the business of products like soaps, shampoos, medicines etc. By the year 2008, Asaram’s empire reached Rs 5000 crore. This disclosure was made in the charge sheet filed by the police.
Leaders and governments became followers
Asaram became famous and with this the number of his followers also increased. Large groups of followers attracted the attention of politicians. Everyone started following the saint, along with the Congress, the BJP governments gave him land for his projects.
Read this also: Asaram Bapu Case: Asaram Bapu convicted in 2013 rape case with female disciple, sentence may be announced today