Puri: A controversy appears to have emerged over the animated film on Lord Jagannath and the proposed serial ‘Jai Jagannath’, with Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati strongly opposing its release.
According to a press release issued by the residential office Puri’s titular King Dibyasingha Deb in this regard, the Shankaracharya of Govardhan Math has expressed his views on the animated productions made by Ele Animations Pvt Limited, Bhubaneswar. The Muktimandap Pandit Sabha in Puri subsequently informed the Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb about the seer’s decision.
Terming the depiction of Lord Jagannath as contrary to the scriptures and an “unforgivable” offence, the Shankaracharya has called for restrictions on the film’s release and circulation through all forms of media.
Portraying sacred deities in distorted forms without adhering to the established religious traditions requires serious scrutiny on philosophical, scientific and practical grounds, he said, adding that such depiction could adversely affect the traditional understanding of Lord Jagannath’s culture, philosophy and rituals.
The Muktimandap Pandit Sabha has also sought reconsideration of the apex court’s earlier decision declining to halt the film’s release.
Presenting ‘Daru Brahma form’ (God particle manifested through sacred wood) described in the Atharvaveda Parishishta, Gopala Sahasranama and other scriptures in a distorted form is a grave violation of human rights. Even intervention by the highest court recognised in the religious and spiritual sphere is entirely improper when it amounts to exceeding the limits of the judiciary’s jurisdiction, the Puri seer said.
He also called for a review of the earlier Supreme Court decision that had refused to stay the film’s release.
“Tat-tva-pakshapato hi svabhavo dhiyam” — the natural tendency of the intellect, according to this maxim, is to favour facts. Disregarding it is extremely destructive, both for oneself and for society. The philosophical, scientific and practical foundations of the formless and the manifest forms of God are well established.
It is impossible to establish the existence of the unmanifest without the manifest form. The burning and illuminating nature of fire is completely unproven without its manifest form. Therefore, before the disappearance of the spiritual traditions established in Sanatana principles, the distorted form of Lord Jagannath and other deities should not be accepted; otherwise, a revolutionary situation could arise on a global scale, the Shankaracharya warned.
It is an established fact on the historical grounds that Sanatan Vedic Arya Hindus are the descendants of all ancestors. The principles of creation, preservation, dissolution, concealment and grace constitute the essence of the Panchakritya. Any project that is disrespectful to these principles is harmful to oneself and to all individuals connected with the self, he claimed.
“Therefore, the distorted forms of Shree Jagannath and other deities, as conceived in the Sanatan Vedic scriptural tradition, as well as unverified moving images depicting their divine pastimes, should be completely prohibited from being circulated through any medium,” the seer added.