Vishwesha Tirtha Swami of Pejawar Math has said that there would be no damage to the Hindu religion if the practice of made snana was given up.
Speaking to presspersons here on Wednesday, the Pejawar seer said it was not necessary to have a practice where devotees roll over the plantain leaves containing leftovers of meals consumed by Brahmins, which was why he had come up with the concept of ede snana.
Under ede snana, instead of rolling over plantain leaves containing leftovers of food eaten by Brahmins, devotees could roll over the ‘prasada’ or “food offered to the deity”.
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There was no scope for controversy under ede snana. Instead of opposing both mada snana and ede snana, had the progressive writers and intellectuals agreed to the latter, it would have put an end to the inhuman tradition of made snana, he said.
To another question, the Pejawar seer said there should be debate on what constituted superstition. To the atheists, ‘puja’, ‘pradakshina’, ‘homa’, and festivals were all superstitions.
“Instead it is necessary to ban inhuman practices and traditions such as casteism, violence against animals, untouchability, Devadasi system, as they are bad for the health of the society. But there should be clarity over what constituted superstition. I am ready for a debate on this matter,” he said.
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On legal action by courts against some seers, the Pejawar seer said that nobody was bigger than the law of the land and the decisions of the courts had to be accepted. But there should no witch-hunt against anybody.
It was necessary to get to the bottom of truth in each case. The decision of the courts on potency test related to a few holy men had to be accepted, he said.