Sadhguru faces legal scrutiny: Madras HC asks 'Why he encourages young women to shave their heads and renounce worldly life?'
PTC Web Desk: The Madras High Court has raised questions about why spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, who arranged the marriage of his own daughter, is encouraging young women to shave their heads and renounce worldly life to live as hermits. The court's inquiry follows a petition by a retired professor, S Kamaraj, who claimed that his two highly educated daughters were "brainwashed" into staying permanently at the Isha Yoga Centre.
The petition sought the personal appearance of the two women, aged 42 and 39, in the court. On Monday, both women confirmed that they were staying at the Isha Foundation of their own free will and had not been detained. Similar statements had been made earlier during the decade-old legal case, in which the parents argued that their lives had become "hell" since their daughters "abandoned" them.
Despite these testimonies, a Bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and V Sivagnanam directed the police to provide a list of all cases related to the Isha Foundation, expressing concern over the situation.
"We want to understand why a man who married off his own daughter and ensured her a settled life is now advising others' daughters to shave their heads and live as hermitesses," remarked Justice Sivagnanam.
In response, the Isha Foundation reiterated that the women were staying there voluntarily, stating, "We believe that adults have the freedom and wisdom to choose their life paths. At the Isha Yoga Centre, we do not impose either marriage or monkhood, as both are personal choices. The Centre hosts thousands of non-monks alongside a few who have chosen the path of Brahmacharya."
The foundation also clarified that it only has one ongoing police case, with another having been stayed by the court.
- With inputs from agencies
