‘Only four out of 100 women are pure’: Premanand Maharaj's remarks stoke row

Lucknow: Prominent Hindu seer Premanand Maharaj, whose disciples includes star Indian cricketer Virat Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma, stirred a major controversy with his remarks questioning chastity of men and women in the modern times.

‘’In the modern times, rarely 2-4 out of 100 girls are chaste… all the rest have boyfriends,’’ according to a video, purportedly containing the remarks of Premanand Maharaj, which has gone viral on social media.

‘’If a man makes sexual relations with four women then he will not be satisfied with his wife as he becomes accustomed to promiscuity… on the other hand, a woman, who has sexual relations with four men, will not be happy with one husband,’’ he said further.

‘’These days there are rarely two-four girls, who are chaste and are committed to only one man,’’ the seer remarked in the video.

The seer’s remarks evoked mixed reactions within the saint community with a section of the saints voicing their objections to them.

Mahant Rahu Das, a prominent Ayodhya based seer, welcomed the remarks saying that he had only spoken the truth. ‘’Obscenity is increasing in the society... the society will not accept it,’’ the Mahant said.

Another Ayodhya based seer Shashikant Das, however, said that Premanand Maharaj was a respected saint and that he should avoid making such remarks. ‘’Such remarks leave an impact on the society as millions listen to Premanand Maharaj,’’ he said.

Vrindavan based Premanand is a hugely popular seer and has millions of followers.

The seer’s remarks came close on the heels of controversial remarks by famous Mathura based seer and ‘katha vachak’ (narrator of Hindu religious texts) Aniruddhacharya, who had reportedly said that in the old times, the girls used to get married at the age of 14 and get settled. But now they got married at the age of 25 and by that time they already established physical relationship three-four times.