Low Morale at the Brahmasthan

DISCLAIMER: Presented here are eyewitness reports and the best information available at this time. However, in order to arrive at the complete truth about these matters, what is required is an independent, ongoing, randomly scheduled, third-party investigation.Show more

LOW MORALE AT THE BRAHMASTHAN: Is Maharishi’s Pandit Program in crisis?

This video was recorded on or around December 11, 2021 at the Brahmasthan of India, a donor funded facility in the state of Madhya Pradesh, administered by three charitable organisations founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It shows pandits who are supposed to be performing Vedic rituals paid for by (mostly) Western donors, goofing off on their cell phones when they’re supposed to be chanting the mantras for Vedic yagya ceremonies. Another, similar video was recorded in September, 2021, which you can view here: https://rumble.com/vrqb5u-maharishi-vedic-pandit-gives-a-tour.html

From Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation marketing communications: ‘If you contribute $1,250 or more, you will be personally acknowledged on each day of the Vedic performance. Or you may designate your family, another person, a company, or a group to be named’.

REPORTS THAT BRAHMASTHAN PANDITS ARE MISTREATED

A Maharishi Vedic Pandit who formerly lived in the Brahmasthan reports: ‘2 pundits [the pandit who recorded the December 11 video and another pandit] were beaten up by the [Brahmasthan] officials and driven away in the night while the pundits did not have the rent [taxi fare] to reach home, they stayed overnight in the cold, in the morning I was called by the pundits, then we sent them money, so they Pandit reached home’.

The thousands of Maharishi Vedic Pandits throughout India, whether currently employed in Maharishi-founded institutions or not, are intensely networked. It appears virtually every one of them is aware this happened. No Maharishi Vedic Pandit, whether inside the facility or outside will allow himself to be named in connection with any firsthand reports they have provided.

‘Prakash [Shrivastava, nephew of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a managing trustee of the Brahmasthan facility] says that the one who tells our words to foreigners is a devil and drives them out of the ashram, so don't tell my name to anyone.’

On December 20, Prakash Shrivastava addressed the pandits at the Brahmasthan. Two reports are as follows:

‘If you do not want to perform yagyas properly, then I’ll close this facility and spend my money in any other business’.

‘On 20th December, Prakash ji had come to Brahmasthan, he abused 1 Acharya [teacher], and 1 Pandit in front of all the Pandits and insulted them a lot. And they have threatened the Pandits, whoever shares the position of Pandit Brahmasthan will be punished. And Prakash ji has also said that we will close Brahmasthan by removing everyone and we will invest the money here in some business’.

It appears clear the conditions have become even more oppressive since December. Multiple sources report that:

1. Wages that were already oppressively low are often paid late. But worse, since December they have been reduced even further for 300 pundits.

2. Lacking any negotiating power, the pandits have resorted to performing rituals and praying that the gods will intercede to improve their situation.

3. Thugs with sticks patrol the alleys of the Brahmasthan occasionally beating Pandits.

4. Pandits attempting to report wrongdoing are expelled without compensation, coerced into signing a ‘statement of apology’ and branded ‘traitors’.

5. Phones are confiscated.

6. Threats are made to families.

7. The food, reported to be almost inedible, has not improved in quality nor quantity after a brief improvement.

8. 1500 pandits are in the Brahmasthan, 60% reportedly without proper training or Vedic knowledge.

9. Rehabilitation of the buildings, which photographic evidence shows are very run down, is very limited.

MONEY DONATED TO USA AND EUROPEAN CHARITABLE TRUSTS GOES TO THE BRAHMASTHAN

From the Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation’s website marketing messaging:

‘Funding for the group of Maharishi Vedic Pandits is organized and administered by the Brahmananda Saraswati Trust in The Netherlands, and the Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation in the USA’. [Both founded in 2008, the year of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s passing. Chief Executive Officer: Harris Kaplan]

‘The mission of the Trust and Foundation includes overseeing a worldwide fundraising program, receiving donations, and managing the investment of the endowment fund. They jointly direct and monitor all disbursements to their managing partners in India …’ [The managing partners are Maharishi Veda Vigyan Vishwa Vidya Peetham (MVVVVP), an Indian charitable educational trust. Managing trustees: Girish Chandra Varma (‘Girish’, cousin of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi), Ajay Prakash Shrivastava (‘Prakash’)]

https://vedicpandits.org

A BRAHMASTHAN ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER RESIGNS IN PROTEST

‘Dear friends जय गुरुदेव [Jai Guru Dev] I'm Sushil kumar Pandey, Brahmin by birth, Native of village Dharwara about 12 KMs from bramisthan (Karondi), Ret officer of india border guarding force. I retired in July 2015 and joined at Karondi (bramisthan) on September 1st, 2015 as Adam [Admin] officer. Raja Harris [Kaplan, CEO, Brahmananda Saraswati Trust and Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation] and his family knows me well. I want to improve the life of vedik pundits and over all improvements of the dream of Maharishi ji. My hands were tide [tied] with no power and work. I understood My position [was] to become [a] showpiece without power. I was posted just as showpiece. Raja Harris and Mataji want improvement which was not in my hand due to many reasons. All depend on Mr Girish verma. Hence I resign. Still [I] want to do the work for organization. Without any interest, Jay गुरुदेव [Guru Dev]’ December 16th 2021

QUESTIONABLE CLAIM OF EMPLOYMENT POTENTIAL FOR PANDIT TRAINEES

Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation website: ‘MVVVVP has become a leading institution for training Vedic Pandits with its graduates highly sought after by institutions throughout India …’.

First person accounts from Maharishi Vedic Pandits contradict this claim. One such Maharishi Vedic Pandit, on reading the ‘About Us’ page on the BSF website commented, ‘I read out all. Many fraud’. Many individuals, longtime followers of Maharishi’s practices are bombarded on social media by requests from unemployed or underemployed Maharishi Vedic Pandits to pay them for personal yagyas. This is so common and the entreaties can be so persistent and desperate people frequently block the pandits to stop their messages.

‘I was 11 years old. Because I have spent my whole childhood in studying Vedas in Maharishi Ashram, that's why I have no identity outside [Maharishi’s ashrams]. India is very [has many] pundit, so it is difficult to get everyone's [anyone’s] temple [jobs] because there are already pundits in those temples’. (The jobs are passed down in families. They are almost never vacant.)

In fact, pandits report that to get employment, in many instances (e.g., any teaching position supported by the Indian government) a pandit needs certification from a Sanskrit university or institute. This is difficult to attain and there are examination fees the pandits are unable to afford because of their oppressively low pay. It is reported that only 20% or less of Maharishi Vedic Pandits have such certification.

ARE INCOMING PANDITS ADEQUATELY TRAINED?

There are concerns about the level of qualification of the newer, younger Maharishi Vedic Pandits who are replacing senior pandits that have left and continue to leave the Brahmasthan in large numbers. Conveniently for the Brahmasthan administrators, less trained, junior pandits will accept lower pay than senior pandits.

It is reported that newer pandits are not trained to the same level. It isn’t clear how many of them are fully qualified Purohit pandits (compared to minimally trained Pujari pandits). Several veteran pandits have said that a high percentage of the present group of Brahmasthan pandits ‘do not have knowledge of Veda’. They say 60% or even 80% of the pandits performing now do not have knowledge of the Veda and only chant from rote without deep insight into the basis of the performances.

This is especially concerning because Maharishi emphasized the importance of performing yagya while established in the deepest level of transcendental pure consciousness within. ‘Performance from within Para’, he said. Less experienced, less learned pandits, who have not been meditating as many years as the departing and already gone senior pandits, are not going to perform yagyas with the same power.

OPPRESSIVELY LOW PAY REPORTEDLY CAUSING GENERATIONAL HARDSHIP IN PANDIT FAMILIES

One of the most frequent complaints from Maharishi Vedic Pandits is that they are not able to provide support for their aging parents, as Indian culture and tradition require. (There is not a government social safety net that provides retirement support and medical coverage. Children are expected to provide for their elderly parents.) They confess profound shame because of this. Some say they wish they had never entered training to become Maharishi Vedic Pandits, saying ‘I have wasted my life.’ It is reported that many have abandoned the pandit dharma entirely.

‘Many pundits who get any job they leave ashram. Many join company. They work as helper’.

Pandits frequently describe the difference in the treatment they received while Maharishi was alive and now. ‘Maharishiji was good to us. Girishiji doesn’t care about pandits’. Maharishi treated the young pandits with respect and affection, in stark contrast to the treatment they have received since his passing. He showered his caring attention on them. Living conditions were better. The pandits were happy. ‘Maharishiji was God to us young pandits’. Morale was high, in stark contrast to the situation now.

But now in pandit families where there are few sons, a pandit son’s inability to contribute to his parents’ support as they entered old age has driven some pandit families into severe poverty. There are reports of instances where the pandit’s father has had to sell his land over a period of time to pay dowries, medical costs, etc., eventually becoming destitute in old age.

PAY STRUCTURE APPEARS RIGGED TO ALIENATE SENIOR PANDITS

The way stipends are managed appears designed to drive senior pandits out so less money will have to be paid. Senior pandits have more financial responsibility to their families, since more of them are established with wives and children and their parents are older.

Knowledgeable and senior pandits who are in touch with many other pandits, have repeatedly affirmed that new pandits are being hired in the range of 5000 to 9000 rupees/month ($67 - $121US). The number most often mentioned is 7000. Every opportunity is taken to let the more expensive, senior pandits go and hire untrained or less-trained pandits for around Rs.7000. For example, when the ashrams were permitted to start re-hiring pandits after the pandemic, in many cases they chose not to re-hire experienced and faithful pandits who may have been paid as much as Rs. 16,000/month, in favour of pandits at around Rs. 7000.

There is a growing demand from Maharishi Vedic Pandits to be paid a minimum of Rs. 15,000/month ($201). That will help retain the more qualified pandits and dramatically improve morale at the Brahmasthan. In a single stroke, it will greatly improve the quality of the yagyas the Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation is promoting. Rs. 15,000/month is still less than most similarly qualified pandits are paid outside Maharishi’s institutions.

Here is an example of how the compensation structure is rigged to keep the pay artificially low and drive senior pandits out of the Brahmasthan:

‘Actually the ashram has its own rule, this rule has been implemented for the last 5-6 years, according to this rule, every year the dakshina [pay] of the pundits increases by ₹ 500 to ₹ 700, but … If we do not do 280 days duty here [in a year], then … dakshina is not increased … . If we want to increase our money, then it is necessary to do duty for 280 days… . It is a very bad rule for us because we are all Pandits from other states, some are residents of Assam, Nepal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and all Pandits have their own families. We have siblings, wife, children, we have to go home … and due to this we are not able to do 280 days of duty, due to which our money does not increase’.

IT IS UP TO THE DONORS TO DEMAND ANSWERS AND DRIVE THE SOLUTIONS

The financial affairs of MVVVVP, the organisation administering the Brahmasthan, are far from transparent. It is thus impossible to assess what exactly is being done with the money given by donors to BSF/BST. Clearly the pandits are not supported adequately. Is that because there simply isn’t enough money, or is money is being siphoned off? Is all of the money going to legitimate charitable purposes?

For these matters to be resolved, the direct providers of the funds, the donors themselves, will have to take control. How that might come to pass is not clear. It will be up to the donors to decide how to organise together and go about setting matters straight.