Prophet Muhammad, Jesus Christ's ancestors were Sanatani Hindus: Shankaracharya Swami

Bhubaneshwar, Jan 31: Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati has stirred a controversy by claiming that the ancestors of Prophet Muhammad and Jesus Christ have been proven to be Sanatani Hindus, ANI reported.

"Opposition members in America have raised this issue in Parliament. Ancestors of Muhammad and Christ have been proved to be Sanatani Hindus," the news agency quoted him as saying.

However, the seer is not averse to controversy. Last year, he had stoked controversy by claiming that Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed were Hindus. He had stated that Jesus' 10 years of life has not been recorded in the Bible and during that period he was in India.

In fact, Jesus, according to him, had stayed in Puri in three years. Christ was a Vaishav and followed Hindu rituals. His remarks had created a controversy. Responding to the issue, the Public Relation Officer (PRO) of the Govardhan Peeth, Matrudatta had said, "This is not the first time, in fact, Shankaracharya has many times said that Jesus Christ was in India for 10 years and his ancestors were Hindu. If you take the birth of Christ into account, then Hinduism is way older than him. It's natural that his ancestors would be Hindus."

Following his remarks, many had alleged him of taking the path of the RSS. "I do not follow RSS. If they want, they can follow me. Even the RSS Chief, Mohan Bhagwat sits in front of me like 'Bal Gopal' (Baby Krishna)," a website quoted him as saying.

Meanwhile, he has urged the government not to take over temples and math. He said, "The governments shouldn't have control over temples and Matth, and there is a need to spend money for the development to every corner," On asking about the lost key of the Puri's Ratna Bhandar, he said, "The Odisha government and Jagannath temple administration never consulted over any issues regarding the temple. Why should I interfere in the missing key issue of Ratna Bhandar?" There are a total of seven treasuries within the temple, out of which one remains open at all times.

It has to be noted that the keys to four treasures have gone missing around 38 years ago and only two keys are with the District Collector.