Those who commit betrayal, can’t be Hindus: Jyotirmath Shankaracharya in Mumbai

Mumbai, July 15 (IANS) The Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati said that in tenets of Hinduism, treachery is considered to be one of the biggest sins, and “those who betray cannot be a Hindu”, here on Monday.

“We are Hindus and followers of the Sanatan Dharma that believes in ‘punya’ (virtue) and ‘paap’ (sin), wherein ‘vishwasghat’ (betrayal) is said to be among the biggest sins. The same happened here (in Maharashtra),” said Shankaracharya in a brief media interaction.He said that while the one who commits betrayal cannot be a Hindu, the one who is betrayed and tolerates it can be a Hindu.The Shankaracharya was in Mumbai at the invitation of Shiv Sena (UBT) President and ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his family. He visited their home ‘Matoshri’ in Bandra and performed a special Pooja, while his hosts also undertook the traditional ‘paduka pooja’ on the occasion.“Uddhav Thackeray called me and I came. He welcomed us… We told him how we are anguished over the betrayal done to him. Our pain will not end till he becomes the CM again,” said the Shankaracharya referring to the toppling of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in July 2022.He said that the people of entire Maharashtra are also distressed by that ‘betrayal’, and that was proved in the outcome of last (Lok Sabha) elections in the state.“Betrayal cannot be tolerated. Breaking a government midway in its tenure and insulting the public mandate is not acceptable. We are not concerned with